On this date August 4th, back in 1735, a German-American man named John Peter Zenger was acquitted of libel in colonial New York. Zenger was the writer of the New York Weekly Journal and had been charged with seditious libel by the royal governor. The jury found him innocent and concluded that “the truth is …
On Aug. 3rd, back in 1492, many worlds began to end and others began anew as Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain on his first voyage. They spotted a “new world” later in October. In March of 1493 Columbus returned back to Spain. Upon his return, the Admiral of the Ocean Sea immediately wrote a …
On August 2nd, back in 1858, the first mailboxes were installed in Boston and New York City streets. The first U.S. letterbox sanctioned by the United States Postal Service was patented on March 9, 1858, by Philadelphia iron products manufacturer Albert Potts. Potts devised containers that were incorporated into street lamp posts. He called his …
On July 17, back in 1996, just minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, TWA Flight 800, bound for Paris, exploded off the coast of Long Island. The plane split in two and crashed into the ocean killing all 230 passengers and crew. After an unprecedented four-year investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board …
On July 16, back in 1854, African-American schoolteacher Elizabeth Jennings Graham was thrown off a Manhattan Third Avenue streetcar reserved for whites. With the support of the community and the help of famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass, she sued the streetcar company and won. Jennings was legally represented by 24-year-old lawyer Chester A. Arthur, future President …