History Today

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on March 7th. Four out of five Americans today own a smartphone, most of which are so sophisticated they bear only a passing resemblance to their common ancestor: the telephone that Alexander Graham Bell patented on this day in 1876. Three days after filing the patent, his telephone carried its first intelligible message–the famous “Mr. Watson, come here, I need you”–from Bell to his assistant.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on March 6th. It’s the most widely used drug in the world--aspirin was patented by the German company Bayer on this day in 1899. Although the main ingredient in aspirin had been known to relieve pain for centuries, it was used sparingly because of its unpleasant taste and tendency to damage the stomach.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on March 5th. It was an event that helped spark the American Revolution--on this day in 1770, British soldiers fired on residents of Boston in what became known as the Boston Massacre. The incident began when angry colonists began taunting a British soldier on guard outside the British Custom House, and it ended in the deaths of five colonists.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here's what happened on March 4th. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” --those famous words were uttered by Franklin D. Roosevelt on this day in 1933, when he was inaugurated as the 32nd U.S. president during the height of the Great Depression.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on March 3rd. The veto power--it’s a way for the president to limit the power of Congress by refusing to sign legislation into law. Of course, Congress gets another chance to vote on it, but can only override the veto with a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on March 2nd. Say happy birthday to Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. If you remember his books from childhood, you’re not alone--more than 1 in 4 American children receive a Dr. Seuss book as their very first book, and his books have sold more than 650 million copies worldwide.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on March 1st.

It was a crime that captivated the nation: On this day in 1932, the 20-month-old son of aviation hero Charles Lindbergh was kidnapped from the family’s mansion in Hopewell, New Jersey.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here's what happened on Leap Day, February 29th. This month's Academy Awards were once again criticized for lacking diversity, even as the South Korean film Parasite was honored as Best Picture. In fact, fewer than a dozen Black women have won Oscars in the actress categories since this day in 1940, when Hattie McDaniel became the first Black woman ever to win an Oscar for her supporting role performance as Mammy in Gone with the Wind.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on February 28th.

It’s estimated that more than 26 million Americans have taken an in-home DNA test. The science has come a long way in the mere 67 years since Watson and Crick discovered the chemical’s double helix structure of DNA on this day in 1953. The two Cambridge scientists also deduced how DNA replicated itself, by separating into individual strands, which then each become a template for a new double helix.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on February 27th.

Two days after revelers took to the streets of New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras, we look back to this day in 1827, when a group of masked students danced through the city, kicking off the famous tradition. The students were inspired by their experiences partying on Fat Tuesday while studying in Paris.