today’s image: Civil War Soldier Col. Alfred N. Duffie, 1st Rhode Island Cavalry, U.S.A

Civil War Soldier
Col. Alfred N. Duffie, 1st Rhode Island Cavalry, U.S.A. is poses for a photo during the American Civil War. Note the flag in the tent behind him.

Photo: Library of Congress

– See more at: http://www.historynet.com/picture-of-the-day#sthash.JWmKPwMR.dpuf

picture of the day: Abraham Lincoln ratifies The Thirteenth Amendment

The Thirteenth Amendment
On February 1, 1865 Lincoln’s home state of Illinois became the first to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery throughout the United States. President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation two years earlier, but it had not effectively abolished slavery in all of the states–it did not apply to slave-holding border states that had remained with the Union during the Civil War. After the war, the sentiment about blacks was mixed even among anti-slavery Americans: some considered Lincoln’s address too conservative and pushed for black suffrage, arguing that blacks would remain oppressed by their former owners if they did not have the power to vote. After the amendment was passed, the Freedmen’s Bureau was created to help blacks with the problems they would encounter while trying to acquire jobs, education and land of their own.

Image: Library of Congress

– See more at: http://www.historynet.com/picture-of-the-day?podMonth=2&podDay=1&pod=GO#sthash.l1mr06rn.dpuf

Today In History: What Happened This Day In History “History is never OLD: The fleeting moment is…HISTORY!”- George-B

History is never OLD: The fleeting moment is…HISTORY!

Today In History: What Happened This Day In History

A chronological timetable of historical events that occurred on this day in history. Historical facts of the day in the areas of military, politics, science, music, sports, arts, entertainment and more. Discover what happened today in history.

Today in History
January 1

1500		The Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral searches the coast of Brazil and claims the region for Portugal.
1586		Sir Francis Drake launches a surprise attack on the heavily fortified city of Santo Domingo in Hipanola.
1698		The Abenaki Indians and Massachusetts colonists sign a treaty halting hostilities between the two.
1766		The Old Pretender, son of James III, dies.
1788		The Times, London’s oldest running newspaper, publishes its first edition.
1808		A U.S. law banning the import of slaves comes into effect, but is widely ignored.
1824		The Camp Street Theatre opens as the first English-language playhouse in New Orleans.
1830		William Lloyd Garrison publishes the first edition of a journal entitled The Liberator, calling for the complete and immediate emancipation of all slaves in the United States.
1863		Confederate General Braxton Bragg and Union General William Rosecrans readjust their troops as the Battle of Murfreesboro continues.
1863		President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves in the Confederacy.
1891		Facilities opened on Ellis Island, New York, to cope with the vast flood of immigrants coming into the United States.
1907		The Pure Food and Drug Act becomes law in the United States.
1915		The German submarine U-24 sinks the British battleship Formidable in the English Channel.
1918		The first gasoline pipeline begins operation. Along the 40 miles and three inches of pipe from Salt Creek to Casper, Wyoming.
1923		Sadi Lecointe sets a new aviation speed record flying an average of 208 mph at Istres.
1937		At a party at the Hormel Mansion in Minnesota, a guest wins $100 for naming a new canned meat–Spam.
1945		In Operation Bodenplatte, German planes attack American forward air bases in Europe. This is the last major offensive of the Luftwaffe.
1959		Fidel Castro seizes power in Cuba as General Fulgencio Batista flees.
1986		As the United States builds its strength in the Mediterranean, Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi threatens to retaliate if attacked.
Born on January 1
1735		Paul Revere, U.S. patriot.
1752		Betsy Ross, flag maker.
1879		E.M. [Edward Morgan] Forster, English novelist (A Passage to India, A Room With a View).
1895		J. Edgar Hoover, founding director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).
1919		J.D. [Jerome David] Salinger, U.S. novelist (The Catcher in the Rye, Franny and Zooey).

– See more at: http://www.historynet.com/today-in-history#sthash.ey3JXbrM.dpuf

this day in the yesteryear: Liberia Gains Independence (1847)

Liberia Gains Independence (1847)

Situated on the west coast of Africa, Liberia was founded by the American Colonization Society (ACS), a controversial group of white Americans—including both slaveholders and abolitionists—who aimed to colonize Africa with freed slaves. ACS officials obtained Cape Mesurado in 1821, and the first African-American immigrants arrived a year later. By the 1840s, however, the ACS was facing bankruptcy, and Liberia became independent in 1847. What African country had Britain settled similarly? More… Discuss

Today’s Birthday: FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER (1825)

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825)

Born free in Baltimore, Maryland—where slavery was still in place—Harper was raised by an abolitionist uncle and published her first volume of poetry when she 20 years old. In 1854, she gave her first anti-slavery lecture. Her second volume, Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects, made her the best known African-American poet of the era. Her short story, “The Two Offers,” was probably the first such published work by any African American. How old was she when she published her first novel? More… Discuss