Video: 'Fugitive Slave Act & Uncle Tom's Cabin'
(Wednesday, September 18, 1850) — The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, requiring that all escaped slaves, upon capture, be returned to their masters and that officials and citizens of free states had to cooperate, was signed into law today by U.S. President Millard Fillmore. Continue reading President Fillmore signs act requiring escaped slaves be returned to their owners 170 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 18 1850)
Video: 'California - 50 States - US Geography'
(Monday, September 9, 1850) — California, located in the Pacific Region of the United States, became the 31st state in the Union today as part of the Compromise of 1850, which defused a political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired in the Mexican–American War (California was admitted as a free state). Continue reading California becomes 31st state of the Union 170 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 9 1850)
Video: 'Millard Fillmore: Last of the Whigs (1850 - 1853)'
(Wednesday, July 10, 1850, 12 noon local time) — Vice President Millard Fillmore was formally sworn in as the 13th President of the United States today at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., following the death of President Zachary Taylor the previous evening from a severe intestinal illness. Continue reading Millard Fillmore formally sworn-in as 13th U.S. President 170 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jul 10 1850)
Video: 'Zachary Taylor | President's Day | Kentucky Life | KET'
(Tuesday, July 9, 1850, 10:35 p.m local time) — Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of the United States since March 4, 1849, died tonight in the White House of gastroenteritis. Continue reading U.S. President Zachary Taylor dies, succeeded by VP Millard Fillmore 170 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jul 9 1850)
Video: '24th November 1859: Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species'
(Thursday, November 24, 1859) — On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, a work of scientific literature by British naturalist Charles Darwin which explained his theory of evolution by means of natural selection, was published today by John Murray. Continue reading Darwin’s ‘On the Origin of Species’ proposes continual evolution of species 160 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 24 1859)
Video: 'U.S. Slavery John Brown Raid'
(Sunday, October 16, 1859, evening local time; during John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry) — Abolitionist John Brown led a group of 21 men in a raid this evening on the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry in western Virginia to initiate an armed slave revolt in Southern states. Continue reading Abolitionist John Brown leads raid on Harpers Ferry in Virginia 160 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 16 1859)
Video: 'Top 20 Sites in Oregon for 2015!'
(Monday, February 14, 1859) — President James Buchanan signed a bill today officially admitting Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region on the West Coast of the United States, as the 33rd State in the Union. Continue reading Oregon admitted to Union as 33rd state 160 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 14 1859)
Video: 'Theodore Roosevelt - 26th U.S. President & Nobel Peace Prize Winnter | Mini Bio | BIO'
(Wednesday, October 27, 1858) — Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th (and at age 42, the youngest ever) President of the United States (1901-1909) and the 25th Vice President of the United States, under President William McKinley (1901), was born today in his family’s home at 28 East 20th Street, between Broadway and Park Avenue South, in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Continue reading U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt born 160 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 27 1858)
Video: 'Inside The Lincoln Douglas Debates - Documentary'
(Saturday, August 21, 1858, 2:30 p.m. local time) — The first of seven Lincoln–Douglas debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate for the United States Senate from Illinois, and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate, took place today in Ottawa (click here to watch a reenactment of today’s debate). Continue reading First Lincoln–Douglas debate held 160 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Aug 21 1858)
Video: 'The World's First Transatlantic Cable : Documentary on the First Transatlantic Telegraph Cable' (Aug. 16, 1858, at 31:04)
(Monday, August 16, 1858, 7:00 p.m. local time) — Britain’s Queen Victoria inaugurated the new transatlantic telegraph cable today, sending a telegram of congratulations to U.S. President James Buchanan at his summer residence at the Bedford Springs Hotel in Pennsylvania, expressing hope that it would prove “an additional link between the nations whose friendship is founded on their common interest and reciprocal esteem.” Continue reading Transatlantic telegraph cable inaugurated 160 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Aug 16 1858)
