Reverdy Johnson On May 21, 1796, attorney and statesman Reverdy Johnson was born in Annapolis, Maryland. Johnson represented Maryland, a slaveholding state south of the Mason-Dixon line, as a Whig, in the U.S. Senate from 1845-49 and again following the Civil War as a Democrat from 1863-68. Under President Zachary Taylor, he served as attorney […]
Oz As Allegory Is the Wonderful Wizard of Oz a political allegory of the turbulent 1890s? In a 1964 American Quarterly article, Henry M. Littlefield suggested this wonderful American fairy tale spoke to the political and economic climate that produced the Populist movement. “Wizard of Oz: Parable On Populism” noted Baum’s years as a journalist […]
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors. Army Cpl. Primo C. Carnabuci of Old Saybrook, Conn., will be buried May 12 in his hometown. […]
Jamestown On May 14, 1607, English settlers arriving under the authority of the Virginia Company of London chartered by King James I established the first permanent British settlement in North America at a place they named Jamestown, Virginia.”We landed all our men,” George Percy wrote in his account of the event, “which were set to […]
Coca-Cola Dr. John S. Pemberton, a pharmacist and inventor of patent medicines, sold the first Coca-Cola on May 8, 1886, at Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia. Pemberton’s bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, coined the name and it is his handwriting we recognize as the Coca-Cola trademark. Originally marketed as a tonic, the drink contained extracts of coca […]
Lusitania Lost! On May 7, 1915, the German U-20 (submarine) sank the British ocean liner Lusitania. Approximately 1,200 civilians died; more than 100 were U.S. citizens. In reply to President Woodrow Wilson’s protest, Germany justified the attack on grounds that the British government intended to arm merchant ships. Prior to the Lusitania’s departure, the German […]
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors. Pfc. Robert B. Bayne, of Dundalk, Md., will be buried on May 7 in his hometown. […]
Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Leonard Boswell voted to keep oil and natural gas that is produced in the United States solely for American consumption. “Domestic oil production is currently at a 10-year high, increasing by one-third in the last two years, yet gas prices are still rising as Big Oil and Wall Street are […]
Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Leonard Boswell requested a full House Agriculture Committee hearing and investigation into the relationship between rising oil prices and Wall Street speculators. “As Ranking Member of the Agriculture Subcommittee that oversees the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, I have a responsibility to ensure speculators are not exploiting oil supply fears […]
Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Leonard Boswell voted to protect comprehensive health care services for women and to prevent tax increases on women and small businesses. “During the 111th Congress, we made it illegal for insurance companies to charge a woman a higher premium just because she is female, and we did this because to […]
