Today in History

Take a moment to see what happened in the history of the USA on this date.

The Library of Congress offers a view of each day in history through its American Memory page: Today in History

The History Channel offers more world wide coverage, and starts off with a brief video of each day's major historic events: This Day in History

History.net provides a list of important events on today's date, and a list of memorable people born on this date: Today in History

On any of these sites you can look up your birthdate and see what happened in US history on that date.

Other sites which offer similar information are:

• Fact Monster
• On This Day
• ESLcafe
• Ambit ...... and others.

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....

... Read more

Labor Day

In 1882, Peter J. McGuire, a leader of the labor union the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners (joiner being "a craftsman who constructs things by joining pieces of wood" or "a worker in wood who does more ornamental work than a carpenter") proposed a day to honor laborers. Laborers were considered a new class that worked in the factories and plants created by the Industrial Revolution. Labor Day became a national holiday on which workers in the 1890s and early 20th century used to call attention to their grievances. There were often parades, political speeches, fireworks, and a picnic. Today, Labor Day, celebrated on the first Monday in September (as of 1894, by law), simply honors anyone who works. The date has no traditional or historic significance but was picked because it filled a gap in the schedule of legal holidays. Canada also celebrates Labor Day on the first Monday in September; many other countries observe this on May 1. 
Labor Day  Weekend (Saturday, Sunday and Monday) is generally regarded as the end of summer, even though the season does not officially end until September 21st. In the northern U.S. students generally go back to school in the week after Labor Day weekend. Labor Day weekend is often celebrated with last trips to the beach, barbecues and other festivities. Families with school-age children take it as the last chance to travel before the end of summer recess. Similarly, some teenagers and young adults view it as the last weekend for parties before returning to school. 

In U.S. sports, Labor Day marks the beginning of the NFL and college football seasons. NCAA teams usually plays their first games the week before Labor Day, with the NFL traditionally playing their first game the Thursday following Labor Day.

Hello - Howdy - Hi

We use hello several times a day to greet people or attract attention. But as prevalent as the word is, “hello” is relatively new. 

Hello came into existence in the mid-1800s. It is an alteration of hallo, which was an alteration of holla or hollo. These words were used to attract immediate attention and demand that the listener come to a stop or cease what he or she was doing.  Hallo was used to incite hunting dogs.

Hello gained widespread usage though the increased use of the telephone. Alexander Graham Bell had originally suggested the telephone greeting ahoy. But the greeting that stuck was hello, which may have been suggested by Thomas Edison. Hello-girls were the name for the the central telephone exchange operators.

Hullo is the interjection used in Great Britian. However, hello has become just as common.

A more modern use of the word calls into question the common sense or comprehension of the person being addressed. For example, “You’re actually going to eat that rotten peach?!Hello!”

One might assume that hi is an abbreviation of hello. In fact, the first recorded use of hi as a greeting comes from an 1862 speech given by a Kansas Indian. It is also thought that hi is probably a variant of the Middle English hy.

The upbeat greeting howdy was first recorded as a contraction of “how do you do” in 1632. An earlier version comes from “how do ye.”

from hotword.dictionary.com