Video: '7/7/81: 1st Female High Court Justice'
(Tuesday, July 7, 1981, 10:54 a.m. EDT) — President Ronald Reagan announced today that he would nominate Sandra Day O’Connor, a 51-year-old judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals, to become the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Continue reading Sandra Day O’Connor nominated to become the first female justice on U.S. Supreme Court 40 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jul 7 1981)
Video: 'Did You Know: Abraham Lincoln's First Vice President'
(Independence Day, Saturday, July 4, 1891, 8:15 p.m. local time) — Hannibal Hamlin, the 15th vice president of the United States from 1861 to 1865 during the administration of President Abraham Lincoln, which included all but the last month of the American Civil War, died tonight in Bangor, Maine. He was 81. Continue reading Former U.S. Vice President Hannibal Hamlin, 81, dies in Bangor, Maine 130 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jul 4 1891)
Video: 'The American Presidents: James Monroe'
(Independence Day, Monday, July 4, 1831, at about 3:15 p.m. local time) — James Monroe, the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825, died today at his son-in-law’s home at 63 Prince Street at Lafayette Place in New York City from heart failure and tuberculosis. He was 73. Continue reading Former U.S. President James Monroe, 73, dies in New York City 190 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jul 4 1831)
Video: 'The Assassination of James Garfield'
(Saturday, July 2, 1881, 9:30 a.m. local time; during the Assassination of James A. Garfield) — U.S. President James A. Garfield, on his way to his alma mater Williams College, where he was scheduled to deliver a speech before beginning his summer vacation, was shot today at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station on the southwest corner of Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. Continue reading U.S. President James A. Garfield fatally shot by disappointed and delusional office seeker 140 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jul 2 1881)
Video: 'Freedom of the Press: New York Times v. United States'
(Wednesday, June 30, 1971, 2:30 p.m. EDT; New York Times Co. v. United States) — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that The New York Times and The Washington Post newspapers could publish articles based on the then-classified Pentagon Papers on the origins of the Vietnam War, rejecting government injunctions as unconstitutional prior restraint. Continue reading Supreme Court allows publication of top-secret ‘Pentagon Papers’ history of Vietnam War 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 30 1971)
Video: 'Top News Story June 27, 1991'
(Thursday, June 27, 1991, 1:00 p.m. EDT) — U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall, 82, the first Black jurist to sit on the nation’s highest court and a living hero of the civil rights movement, announced his retirement today after 24 years. Continue reading Justice Thurgood Marshall retires from U.S. Supreme Court in blow to progressives 30 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 27 1991)
Video: 'Was President Zachary Taylor POISONED?'
(Monday, June 17, 1991) — The remains of Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of the United States, were delicately removed today from the crypt in which he was entombed at the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky, to prove or disprove rumors he was killed by arsenic poisoning (click here for video of the exhumation beginning at 2:02). Continue reading Remains of U.S. President Zachary Taylor exhumed to determine if he was poisoned 30 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 17 1991)
Video: 'President Nixon Declares Drug Abuse "Public Enemy Number One"'
(Thursday, June 17, 1971, 11:00 a.m. EDT) — President Richard Nixon today began the “War on Drugs,” declaring that “America’s public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse. In order to fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new, all-out offensive.” Continue reading President Nixon begins ‘War on Drugs,’ declaring drug abuse ‘America’s public enemy number one’ 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 17 1971)
Video: 'The Marriage of Patricia Nixon and Edward Finch Cox'
(Saturday, June 12, 1971, 4:48 p.m. EDT) — After a tension-filled delay because of rain, Tricia Nixon was married today in the Rose Garden of the White House to attorney Edward Finch Cox, 24, the man she has described as “my first and last love.” Continue reading President Nixon’s daughter, Tricia, takes wedding vows at White House Rose Garden 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 12 1971)
Video: 'June 6, 1961 - John F. Kennedy report to the American people on his trip to Europe'
(Tuesday, June 6, 1961, 7:00 p.m. EDT; during the Cold War) — U.S. President John F. Kennedy reported to the nation tonight that his talks with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev should at least have lessened chances of a “dangerous misjudgment” on either side. Continue reading President Kennedy addresses nation on TV, says talks with Premier Khrushchev in Vienna eased peril of a ‘misjudgment’ 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 6 1961)
