I Have a Dream

Excerpts from one of the most famous American speeches. Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream Speech, given in Washington D.C. on August 28th, 1963. Hardly any U.S. citizen can hear the words "I have a dream." and not think of this speech. It has become part of the national culture.

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National Aviation Day

August 19th is the anniversary of Orville Wright's birthday, and is celebrated as National Aviation Day.

The story of the invention of the airplane is a Puritan fairy tale. It is the story of how two honest, straightforward, hard-working Americans accomplished something fantastic and magical -- creating a craft of stick and fabric that mounted the air like the chariots of the gods, opening the skies to all humankind. Their success came so suddenly and from such an unexpected quarter that their contemporaries could not believe the Wrights had done what they claimed. After all, if prominent scientists and engineers the world over had been confounded in their efforts to invent the airplane, how could two common men from rustic America have succeeded?
Like many fairy tales, the story also has a dark and unhappy ending...read more

Read Orville's personal story of How We Made the First Flight   or learn more about the history and science of flight as well as about the Wright brothers at First Flight.


The Wright brothers' story is one of hard work and perserverence, along with much ingenuity. They knew it could be done and were willing to put in all the hours necessary to achieve their dream.

The 19th Amendment

The Nineteenth Amendment (Amendment XIX) to the United States Constitution prohibits each state and the federal government from denying any citizen the right to vote because of that citizen's sex. It was ratified on August 18, 1920.


One of the major forces in the suffragist movement was the lNational Women's Party, and Alice Paul was one of the party's important activists.


Throughout the winter of 1917, Alice Paul and her followers in the National Women's Party picketed the White House. They stood silently at the gates, holding signs that said "Mr. president, how long must women wait for liberty?" The picketers were suffragists. They wanted President Woodrow Wilson to support a Constitutional amendment giving all American women suffrage, or the right to vote.

At first, the suffragists were politely ignored. But on April 6, 1917, the United States entered World War I. The suffragists' signs became more pointed. They taunted Wilson, accusing him of being a hypocrite. How could he send American men to die in a war for democracy when he denied voting rights to women at home? The suffragists became an embarrassment to President Wilson. It was decided the picketing in front of the White House must stop....

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