History Today

Happy New Year, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on January 1st. More than a century and a half after his death, Abraham Lincoln remains one of our most admired presidents--thanks in large part to what he did on this day in 1863. That’s when Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation, calling on the Union Army to free all slaves in states still in rebellion.

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Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on December 31st. New Year’s Eve looks a little different this year, but the ball drop in New York City is still on, albeit without an audience. As you say goodbye to 2020 and watch the brightly lit ball descend tonight, you might take a minute to thank Thomas Edison, who made the first public demonstration of his incandescent light bulb on this day in 1879.

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Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on December 30th. Though it lasted less than 70 years, it had an enormous impact on world history: On this day in 1922, the USSR, or Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was established. The new state was the first country in the world to be based on Marxist socialism.

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Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on December 29th. Today marks 130 years since the U.S. Army’s 7th Cavalry killed 146 Lakota Sioux at Wounded Knee on the PIne Ridge reservation in South Dakota. The cavalry initially surrounded a group of Lakota and demanded they surrender their weapons. As this was happening, a fight broke out between one of the Lakota and a U.S. soldier, and a shot was fired, though is unclear which side fired it.

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Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on December 28th. The humpback whale. The bald eagle. The gray wolf. What do all these animals have in common? Their survival was ensured by the Endangered Species Act, which was signed into law on this day in 1973. The act, which was championed by President Richard Nixon, is considered one of the most significant and successful environmental laws in American history.

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Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on December 27th. If you’ve ever dreamed about life in Neverland with Wendy, Tinkerbell and the Lost Boys, then you know the story of Peter Pan by British author JM Barrie. Years before Peter Pan was adapted into a book, it was written as a stage play, which was first performed in London on this day in 1904.

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Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on December 26th. If you’re celebrating Kwanzaa today, you’re taking part in a tradition that dates back to this day in 1966. That’s when the very first Kwanzaa was celebrated in Los Angeles under the direction of Cal State professor Maulana Karenga. The seven-day holiday was designed by Dr. Karenga as a celebration of African American family, community, and culture.

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Merry Christmas, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on December 25th. It’s a reminder that the holiday spirit can persist even in the toughest of times: Just after midnight on Christmas 1914, during World War I, the majority of German troops stopped firing their guns and artillery and began to sing Christmas carols.

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Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on December 24th. It’s become a beloved annual tradition, and it all began on this day in 1923, when President Calvin Coolidge lit the first national Christmas tree ever to grace the White House grounds. Not only was this the first White House “community” Christmas tree, but it was the first to be decorated with electric lights–a strand of 2,500 red, white and green bulbs.

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Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on December 23rd. If you know anything about Vincent Van Gogh, you likely know what happened on this day in 1888. That’s when the Dutch painter, suffering from severe depression, cut off the lower part of his ear with a razor. He later documented the event in a painting titled Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear.

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