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The Siege of Boston
In advance of the Continental Army's occupation of Dorchester Heights, Massachusetts, General George Washington orders American artillery forces to begin bombarding Boston from their positions at Lechmere Point, northwest of the city center, on this day in 1776. -
Yankees route Rebels at the Battle of Waynesboro
On this day in 1865, at the Battle of Waynesboro, Virginia, Union General George Custer's troops rout Confederate General Jubal Early's force, bringing an end to fighting in the Shenandoah Valley. -
Theodor Seuss Geisel's Birth Day (D. Seuss)
Also known as Dr. Seuss, Theodor Seuss Geisel was a famous childrens literature writer.One of his best pieces was the well known, Cat And The Hat. He was born on March 2nd, 1904 and died on September 24th, 1991 age 87 in San Diego California, U.S. -
Congress passes the Jones Act
The Jones Act, the last gasp of the Prohibition, is passed by Congress. Since 1920 when the Eighteenth Amendment went into effect, the United States had banned the production, importation and sale of alcoholic beverages. But the laws were ineffective at actually stopping the consumption of alcohol. The Jones Act strengthened the federal penalties for bootlegging. Of course, within five years the country ended up rejecting Prohibition and repealing the Eighteenth Amendment. -
John Irving is Born
American writer John Irving is born in Exeter, New Hampshire. Irving never met his real father and was raised by his mother and her second husband, who taught Russian history at Phillips Exeter Academy, which Irving attended. Having decided during his teens that he wanted to become a writer, Irving graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1965 and went on to study fiction writing at the University of Iowa, where he received a master of fine arts degree in 1967. -
Train passengers suffocate
On this day in 1944, a train stops in a tunnel near Salerno, Italy, and more than 500 people on board suffocate and die. Occurring in the midst of World War II, the details of this incident were not revealed at the time and remain somewhat murky. -
Grave robbers steal Charlie Chaplin’s body
In one of history’s most famous cases of body-snatching, two men steal the corpse of the revered film actor Sir Charles Chaplin from a cemetery in the Swiss village of Corsier-sur-Vevey, located in the hills above Lake Geneva, near Lausanne, Switzerland, on this day in 1978. -
Bush honors the Boston Red Sox
On this day in 2005, at a White House ceremony, President George W. Bush congratulates the 2005 World Champion Boston Red Sox baseball team for winning their first World Series since 1918. Massachusetts Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, and former Red Sox players were among those on hand for the event. Before saluting the Red Sox, Bush also paid tribute to one of baseball's greatest African-American players, Jackie Robinson.
