Ethan Allen bats for the Phillies during the first ever MLB regular-season night game on May 24, 1935 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The Phils lost to the Reds 2-1.
Polo Grounds, right field bleachers
1913 World Series
Bain News Service photo via Library of Congress
“I must say frankly that measures indicated in your statement constitute a serious threat to peace and to the security of nations. The United States has openly taken the path of grossly violating the United Nations Charter, path of violating international norms of freedom of navigation on the high seas, the path of aggressive actions both against Cuba and against the Soviet Union.”
- Nikita Khrushchev, letter to President Kennedy re: quarantine, 10/23/62
Pictured: Khrushchev’s official letter to President Kennedy. Read the translation here.
The National Archives’ latest exhibit: “To the Brink: JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis” covers the 13 days when the world teetered on the brink of thermonuclear war.
Love looking at old LIFE magazines. I’m not sure what to make of the cover girl, but I’m particularly intrigued by the headline up top: “Men At Most Primitive” is certainly not a 21st-century way to say, “White dudes intruded upon previously undisturbed, self-sufficient aboriginals.”
life:
On this day in LIFE Magazine — May 19, 1958: How the Girl’s Grown: Margaret O’Brien
This is the way I do it,” he says. “I’m not saying this is the right way to do it, but this is the right way for me to do it.
I did all right, but Wilt had the big game,” Attles said. “He was really dominant. Wilt had a tremendous game. It’s been 50 years since that happened. It’s the 50th anniversary of that game. It’s truly stood the test of time. The thing I remembered about the game is Wilt didn’t want to score 100. He wanted to come out of the game. Frank [McGuire, the Warriors’ coach] kept him in the game. Wilt was very careful. He didn’t want to rub it in. He was very conscious of that. We had some good players on both teams. Guy was a fantastic player. But Wilt was really special that game.
Just 36 days left until the release of the 1940 Census!
Caption for image: “Geographers Division, Draftsmen, Before the Census was Taken, the Entire United States was Carefully Mapped”
Will you be ready to dive in and start researching? This census will not have a name index when it opens on April 2, 2012. In order to locate someone, you will need to know his or her address and the Census enumeration district in which that address was located.
You can start to prepare now:
- Make a list of all the people you want to look for in the 1940 census
- Collect addresses for these people for whom you plan to search.
- Identify the enumeration district (ED) in which each address was located.
More information about how to get ready and find the enumeration district is on our website. Or, attend a 1940 lecture near you!
(via todaysdocument)
January 29, 1861 Kansas is admitted as the 34th U.S. state.
Map of Nebraska and Kansas Territories, showing the location of the Indian Reserves according to the treaties of 1854
“THIS IS NOT A DRILL”
At 7:55 a.m. December 7, 1941, Japanese bombers and torpedo planes attacked the U.S. Pacific fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor, catapulting the United States into World War II. In less than 2 hours, the U.S. Pacific Fleet was devastated, and more than 3,500 Americans were either killed or wounded.
An introduction to newspaper journalism, such as it was in 1940 (by Brain Pickings)
Lincoln at Gettysburg
In November 1863, four months after the battle, President Abraham Lincoln came to Gettysburg to dedicate the national cemetery for the Union dead. In his remarks, he paid tribute to the brave men who died there and insisted that their sacrifice would increase the will of the people to fulfill America’s promise. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, a rhetorical masterpiece delivered in less than three minutes, defined the war as necessary for the survival of the nation and its ideals.
This rare photo from a glass plate negative by Matthew Brady is the first–and possibly only–photograph of Lincoln at Gettysburg.
Electric Cars, A Better Idea (In 1896)
The Electric Vehicle Co. introduced electric cabs to New York City in 1896, and by 1899 the city had more than 60 of them. The cars were intended to fix the significant waste problem from horse-drawn carriages. Cab companies didn’t believe there was a market for personal cars because it would require knowledge of electricity, but consumers did end up purchasing their own because of how easy they were to use. (NPR)
Photo: Electrobat cabs in front of the Old Metropolitan Opera House in New York in 1898. (AP/Museum of Modern Art)
93 years ago, a now-defunct job getting vaguely progressive — but only because the fellas were off fighting.
November 12, 1918:
Girls operate stock boards at Waldorf-Astoria. The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel is employing girls to operate tickers and stock exchange boards. The Waldorf is the first to employ girls in its various departments, in order to release men for war work.
(via todaysdocument)
This was W.C. Fields. Silent films, vaudeville, alcohol, comedy, movie history, quotes and more — he affected all of it.
W.C. Fields
(via bronxbanter)
Jackie Robinson
January 31, 1919 - October 24, 1972
Jack Roosevelt Robinson was the first African American to “officially” play in Major League Baseball. When he retired from the game, Jackie Robinson went on to champion the cause of civil rights from his position as a prominent executive of the Chock Full o’Nuts Corporation.
Robinson had grown increasingly impatient with what he regarded as President Eisenhower’s failure to act decisively in combating racism. In this letter, he expresses his frustration and calls upon the President to finally guarantee Federal support of black civil rights.
Shown here is Robinson’s 1958 letter to President Eisenhower, and a photo of Robinson with his son at the March on Washington D.C. in 1963.
Jackie Robinson passed away on this day, 39 years ago.
(via todaysdocument)







