Category Archives: U.S. Presidents

Truman lays keel for first atomic sub 60 years ago today (1952)


Video: 'Atom Sub. President Officiates At Laying Of Keel 1952 Newsreel'

(Saturday, June 14, 1952) — U.S. President Harry S Truman officiated at the keel-laying of the nuclear-powered submarine USS Nautilus today at the Electric Boat Shipyard in Groton, Connecticut.

JFK calls for cooperation of business in Yale speech 50 years ago today (1962)


Video: 'President John F. Kennedy's Commencement Address at Yale University, June 11, 1962'

(Monday, June 11, 1962) — President John F. Kennedy urged today that his economic critics get in step with the times and said the government must be a partner with all sectors of society if America is to propser. Continue reading JFK calls for cooperation of business in Yale speech 50 years ago today (1962)

Plane trouble delays Nixon’s departure from Moscow 40 years ago today (1972)


Video: May 29, 1972 (at 3:18)

(Monday, May 29, 1972, during the Cold War) — President Richard Nixon landed at Kiev’s Boryspil International Airport one hour late today after an engine failed to start on the plane which his Russian hosts had provided him for the trip from Moscow. It was Nixon’s last stop on the first visit by a sitting U.S. president to the Soviet Union.

First First Lady Martha Washington dies 210 years ago today (1802)


Video: Martha Washington (at 1:03)

(Saturday, May 22, 1802)Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, the first First Lady of the United States from 1789 to 1797 as the wife of President George Washington, died today in Mount Vernon, Virginia. She died 11 days before her 71st birthday.

Roosevelt signs law creating Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps 70 years ago today (1942)


Video: FDR signs law creating WACs (at 5:24)

(Friday, May 15, 1942. during World War II) — President Franklin D. Roosevelt today signed a measure creating the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, whose members came to be known as WACs.

Also today: wartime gasoline rationing went into effect in 17 Eastern states, limiting sales to three gallons a week for non-essential vehicles.

Bush finds ‘horror’ on Los Angeles tour 20 years ago today (1992)

(Thursday, May 7, 1992) — Expressing “horror and dismay” at what he saw, U.S. President George H.W. Bush toured the broken and blackened districts of riot-ravaged South Central Los Angeles today and confronted the resentment of minority groups who feel cheated of justice and prosperity by the established power that he represents.

Roosevelt, 26 other governors dine at Hoover White House 80 years ago this hour (1932)


Video: FDR at White House, April 28, 1932 (at 2:33)

(Thursday, April 28, 1932, 8:00 p.m. EDT) — 27 governors, including New York’s Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democratic candidate for president, sat down dinner tonight at the White House as guests of President and Mrs. Hoover, thus closing their 24th annual conference, which began Apr. 25 in Richmond.

Nixon, Trudeau sign pact to clean up Great Lakes 40 years ago today (1972)

(Saturday, April 15, 1972) — U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau signed a joint agreement today in Ottawa to begin the large-scale job of cleaning up the Great Lakes, the world’s largest reservoir of fresh water.