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Around the world, 1969 was a year for the ages: the Vietnam War reached its bloody peak, the United States took a giant leap for mankind and safely landed astronauts on the moon, and a youth-driven counterculture emerged that would come to define the next decade through protests and music.
Public debates have recently focused on school history standards – what the Advanced Placement program should teach in its African-American Studies course and what the state of Florida should say about the effects of slavery. These are important questions. But I’m concerned about a longer-term problem: the danger of making American history and civics dull.
“I want to be a dictator for one day,” proudly declared former President Donald Trump to the New York Young Republican Club on December 9, 2023. Two hundred and forty years earlier on December 23, 1783, General George Washington humbly informed Congress that he did not want to be a dictator – not even for one moment. That day is when the victorious commander-in-chief willingly gave up power at the end of the American Revolution.
Jed Jacobsohn // Getty Images
From wars to elections, international incidents to civil unrest, entertainment to sports, the key defining moments of history profoundly influence who and what we are today.
To discover some of the most iconic moments from each of the last 100 years, Stacker mined historical data, government reports, and newspaper accounts. While most years offered more than one major incident that helped mold our attitudes and beliefs, we strove to provide the most important, defining event of each year since 1920.
Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason established a friendship on the set of "The Hustler" (1961). At one point, Newman got a little cocky about his newfound pool skills and challenged the much more experienced Gleason to a $50 bet on a game. Newman broke, then it was Gleason's turn. He knocked all 15 balls in and Newman never got another shot. Gleason recalled that the next day Newman paid him off with 5000 pennies.
The pendant and medallion shield were added to the center of the dome during the 1917 renovation. The pendant is 12 feet long and the medallion shield is 27 feet in diameter.
Southern Indiana History
On February 27, 1987, West Baden Springs Hotel in French Lick was named a National Historic Landmark.
Troy, Indiana
Land Purchased.
Land at Maxville has been purchased and deed recorded in Spencer County for a small tract of land near the bridge that spans Anderson River on the Maxville side. The land was transferred to a committee headed by Mike Bettinger of Tell City. There is to be a marker erected in honor of Abraham Lincoln who operated a ferry at that place at one time. It is said that the ground will finally go to the state and be maintained as a park. (Oct. 22, 1926 Cannelton Telephone)
Rockport, Indiana
Lincoln Pioneer Village is an unusual example, unique in Indiana, of an educational tourist attraction built under the auspices of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration(FERA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
The ball turret of the B-17 Flighing Fortress.
Due of the size of the ball turret, the gunners best suited to take the position were typically the smallest airmen in a crew; taller individuals would have struggled in the cramped, tiny spaces. The gunner would wear a flak jacket and an electrically-heated flight suit.
Cigarettes
Does anyone out there flip one cigarette in the pack? You may be following a GI tradition.
Whenever the troops sent to Europe or the Pacific would light up, they would flip all of the cigarettes inside the pack except for one. This is so that the brand stamp on the cigarette butt would not tell the enemy the country of origin of the smoker as it was burnt first. As for the last unflipped one, well, if you lived long enough to smoke your way through an entire pack, that last cigarette was your lucky one.
William Stokes Garwood Home
Newburgh, Indiana
This house is one of the earliest houses in Newburgh. The house sets on four lots. According to Warrick County assessors the house was built in 1842; the two lots of which the house was built on was purchased by Francis Macy in 1850 for $125.
First Settlers Of Crawford County, Indiana
Commercialization the County.
From the 1840's on there was a tremendous business done by flat-boating on the Ohio River. The flatboat was loaded with corn, lime or other articles. The hay boat or corn boat was much more pleasant on which to work. The lime boat was dangerous should any water get on the lime barrels. The boats stopped at most all the towns and sold corn and other produce. The man when he reached the Gulf of Mexico qith his flatboat either sold the boat or had it towed back upriver to his home.
So, for those that wondered about the hems of dresses getting dirty, or why escorts helped ladies across streets….another side of “The Gilded Age”:
The Horse Manure Problem of 1894
The 15 to 30 pounds of manure produced daily by each beast multiplied by the 150,000+ horses in New York city resulted in more than three million pounds of horse manure per day that somehow needed to be disposed of. That’s not to mention the daily 40,000 gallons of horse urine.
Image: The Historic Daniel Boone Home in winter.
One of the most asked questions at our site is: Why is this called the Daniel Boone Home when it is really the Nathan Boone Home?
Cash & Kristofferson
Here’s an interesting read: Johnny Cash Once Demanded that Kris Kristofferson, who was a janitor at the time for Columbia Records, be allowed to sit in on one of his recording sessions.
It all started with Kristofferson being banned from Johnny’s recording sessions…Kris in his own words:
The Real Popeye
His real name was Frank "Rocky" Fiegel.
He was born in 1868, in Poland and, as a child, immigrated to the United States with his parents, who settled down in a small town in Illinois.
As a young man, Rocky went to sea.
After a 20-year career as a sailor in the Merchant Marines, Fiegel retired.
He was later hired by Wiebusch's Tavern in the city of Chester, Illinois as a ‘Bouncer’ to maintain order in the rowdy bar.
Happy birthday to Tom Selleck who turned 79 years old today(January 29, 2024).
During the 1980s, Tom Selleck was mostly known for the TV series Magnum, P.I. Frank Sinatra was a fan of the show, so much that he volunteered to be in it and even offered to do it for expenses only. Tom Selleck loved the idea and called Sinatra personally. Selleck said they would write an episode especially for him and asked him what he wanted to do.
Locating a Home
When the white men first came into the hills of Crawford County, the land was a howling wilderness over which wild animals roamed at will. Probably the entire county was covered with a heavy growth of timber. At first the settlers chose the uplands for their homes because the lowlands were so heavily wooded that they were unable to clear it readily, making it unhealthy and the water impure. Many pioneers squatted on the land which they bought later from the government at $1.25 an acre. This land was called the "Congress Land."
RECIPES
Compiled by Women’s Society of Christian Service
Methodist Church
Grandview, Indiana
1955
Peach Ice Cream
Legacy of Mabel K Scifres
Grandview, Indiana
2 cups canned peaches (mashed)
1 cup milk
19 marshmallows
1 ½ cups whipping cream
An elderly Florida lady did her shopping and, upon returning to her car, found four males in the act of leaving with her vehicle. She dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream at the top of her voice, "I have a gun and I know how to use it! Get out of the car!" The our men didn't wait for a second invitation. They got out and ran like mad.
Across the world, wake up!
When I was a HS sophomore – decades ago! – my World History teacher was Mrs. Holloway, but we all called her Granny Holloway. She was a slight woman, scarcely 5 feet tall, seemingly fragile, but full of vim and vinegar….you know the type. She could speak for hours about the Fall of the Roman Empire, the Inquisition, the Industrial Revolution, and the World Wars.
Everett Collection // Shutterstock
What Life Was Like In The Roaring Twenties
The 1920s in America really did roar. People revved up their car engines, took off in planes, and, like never before, made their voices heard literally and figuratively.
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans got married on New Years Eve in 1947. The couple remained hitched until the Singing Cowboy's death in 1998.
Dale Evans and Roy Rogers were married on New Year's Eve 1947 at the Flying L Ranch in Davis, Oklahoma, where they had earlier filmed the movie Home in Oklahoma. The marriage was Rogers' third and Evans' fourth but was successful; the two were a team on- and off-screen from 1946 until Rogers' death in 1998.
This is a picture of Tom Brauns in his garage wearing a hat with the Texaco Logo and a shirt with the Logo, also.
Tom's first job was at the Sandridge, Indiana, Texaco station. He started there when he was 15 years old.The building is still there. Now it has a sign "BJ's Pizza."
Photo: This poignant photograph from 1922 captures Annie Oakley at 62.
Born on August 13, 1860, in a log cabin near the village of North Star in Darke County, Ohio, Phoebe Ann Moses, better known as Annie Oakley, developed her sharpshooting skills at the tender age of eight. By turning fifteen, she emerged victorious in her first shooting competition. In 1885, Annie became part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, earning the moniker "Watanya Cicilla" (Little Sure Shot) from fellow performer Sitting Bull (1831-1890).
Lines of farmers bring cucumbers to market for the pickle industry in Mt. Olive, NC in June of 1947.
In 1926 the Mt. Olive Pickle Company was formally incorporated by local business people in Wayne County. The effort to start the company arose within the community, and the original group of 13 local shareholders invested $19,500 to establish a company to pack and sell pickles.
The shareholders purchased an acre of land for $1,000, constructed a 3,600-square-foot building and hired a factory superintendent and a sales representative.
Kentucky, 1916...
Caption
Willie Nall, 11 years old; Raymond Jones, 10 years old; Denver Jones, 5 years old; plowing on farm. They had just finished a job of hauling. Location: Elizabethtown vicinity, Kentucky...
Source
National Child Labor Committee Lewis Hine photographer
Harlan County, Kentucky, 1946...
Caption
Franklin D. Sergent sledding home household coal from the mine. The company charges $2.80 monthly for household coal, designating certain coal which the miners may haul away themselves; if the company does the hauling a charge of $1.50 per ton is made for haulage. P V & K Coal Company, Clover Gap Mine, Lejunior, Harlan County, Kentucky., September 12, 1946...
Source
National Archives Russell Lee photographer
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75 years ago today, January 12, 1949, Kukla, Fran and Ollie premiered on NBC. Originally created for children but soon watched by more adults than children. It did not have a script and was entirely ad-libbed. It was first aired from 1947 to 1957. The first NBC network broadcast of the show took place on January 12, 1949. It aired from 6–6:30 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday from Chicago.
Navy Patch
James Bullington
Does anyone know what the insignia in the shape of a book stands for on a Navy Uniform?
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Gen. Patton
Tom Mlinar