U.S. History Fact-O-Rama

[Warph]

http://www.civil-liberties.com/factoids/july4_03.htm


The First Blood Shed for the Revolution

The first casualty associated with the start of the American Revolutionary War was a man named Crispus Attucks, who died alongside several associates during the infamous "Boston Massacre." Attucks was 27 years old and a natural born leader, according to his friends. He was also an escaped slave.


Truly Outstanding Work

In the late 1960's a Texas legislator became annoyed with his fellow legislators' habit of passing bills without giving them proper study and consideration. He therefore introduced a bill commending Mr. Albert DiSalvo for his outstanding work in population control. At the time, Mr. DiSalvo was on trial for a series of murders and was better known by his nickname, The Boston Strangler. The Bill passed unanimously.


The Pearl Harbor Conspiracy

The U.S. knew the Japanese were going to bomb Pearl Harbor a full ten hours before the attack on December 7, 1941. American forces intercepted a 14-part Japanese message and deciphered it by 4:37 a.m. Washington time. The message supposedly remained in the code room for 3 hours before President Roosevelt was notified. By 11:00 a.m., the message was transmitted to all areas of the Pacific except Hawaii, where the receiver was supposedly not working. Pearl Harbor finally received the message 3 hours after the attack and after 3000 people lost their lives.

Some historians believe that President Roosevelt deliberately withheld the message from Hawaii in order to provide the U.S. with adequate justification for entering World War II. The ensuing military buildup succeeded where Roosevelt's New Deal had failed, pulling the United States out of the state of bankruptcy on a tide of crimson and steel.


American History Factoids

Until 1796, there was a State called Franklin which is now part of the State of Tennessee. There were  other short lived States including Jefferson, Shasta, Klamath (all between Oregon and California), Superior (Upper Michigan) and Nickajack (Northern Alabama).

Deleware was originally part of Pennsylvania.

Utah was originally established as the State of Deseret.

West Virginia was originally established as the State of Kanawha.

Texas is allowed to divide itself into as many as 5 new States.

According to the writers of the U.S. Constitution, a National tax would be an External Tax. An Internal tax is a local tax within a State, Territory or the District of Columbia.

In 1914, the first year that the Federal Income tax was imposed, only one percent of the U.S. population was required to pay the new tax. Per capita, the average tax was .41 cents per person.

Until 1863, postal service in the United States was free. In that year, the U.S. entered an international treaty requiring nations to pay for their mail delivery to other countries.

Although Betsy Ross ran a munitions factory from her basement, she did not design the American Flag. It was designed by Congressman Francis Hopkinson, a naval flag designer, who was paid by the U.S. government for his design.

The U.S. Congress regulates the number of Justices on the Supreme Court. Originally having only six Justices, it had as many as ten at one time. In 1826, Congress voted to set the membership at nine.

When it was first established, the U.S. Supreme Court used juries.

The White House was originally called the Presidential Palace and the President was addressed as "His Excellency."

The dome on Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home, conceals a billiards room. In
Jefferson's day, billiards were illegal in Virginia.

George Washington became the only 6 Star General in the History of the U.S. Military when President Jimmy Carter ordered a promotion in the Founding Father's rank.   


High in the Middle and Round on Both Ends

Was President/Supreme Court Justice William Howard Taft a citizen of the United States? Taft,  citizen of Ohio, was elected President and appointed to the Supreme Court during a 150 year period when Ohio was not actually a State of the Union, due to a legal technicality. Although Ohio had met all the requirements for Statehood in 1803, Congress did not approve Ohio's Statehood at the time. It wasn't until August 7th, 1953 that Ohio reapplied for Statehood. Congress approved the application and made it retroactive to 1803. But since the Constitution prohibits Congress from passing retroactive legislation, everything that William Howard Taft had done in his career as President and Supreme Court Justice would legally become null and void. To avoid a Constitutional crisis, the U.S. Courts refused to discuss the issue, referring concerned citizens to address the matter with Congress, which has refused to approach the matter.


But... But... What About the Pilgrims?

The Continental Congress had a Thanksgiving Holiday on Thursday, December 18, 1777, to celebrate the defeat of General Burgoyne at Saratoga. In 1789, George Washington had a one-time Thanksgiving Holiday on Thursday, November 26 to celebrate the new Constitution. Because President Jefferson felt that proclaiming a national holiday was extremely unconstitutional, the idea of a Thanksgiving Holiday was dropped... until Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Godey's Lady's Book, entered the scene in 1846. After campaigning for years to have Thanksgiving proclaimed a national holiday, even in the midst of the Civil War, Mrs. Hale finally convinced President Lincoln to proclaim the last Thursday of each November as a National holiday for Thanksgiving. (FDR moved the holiday to the 3rd Thursday of November to allow retailers more time to cash in on the Christmas season.)


I Pledge Allegiance to the Officially Designated Flag

The Pledge of Allegiance was written by Francis Bellamy in 1892 for a children's magazine to commemorate Columbus Day. It originally read, "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands -- one nation indivisible -- with liberty and justice for all." The verse became a popular Columbus Day tradition and later, a daily school recital. In 1923, the U.S. Flag Association replaced "my flag" with "the flag of the United States of America." In 1954, Congress added "under God."


In God We Twist

"In God We Trust" has appeared on most U.S. coins since about 1864. During the Civil War, rising popular religious sentiment prompted Secretary of Treasury Salmon Chase to back U.S. money with God. It was not until 1956 that Congress made the motto a legal requirement on U.S. currency.


This Law only Applies to YOU.

The Emancipation Proclamation abolished slavery only in the Southern States that were under the control of the rebellious Confederate government. With Slavery remaining legal in the rest of the States that previously allowed it, it was not officially abolished until the passage of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.


Presidency for Sale

The Presidential Election of 1876 was won by Samuel J. Tilden, a Southern Democrat sympathetic to Southern States who were imposed with puppet governments after the Civil War. The Republicans, in charge of the post Civil War reconstruction and biased against the Southern States were not willing to allow a Southern Democrat into the office of President and thus ordered Federal military troops to change the results of the election in favor of Republican Rutherford B. Hayes by using voter fraud, bribery, forgery and perjury. On November 8 of that year, Tilden had won the election with 4.3 million votes over the 4 million votes for Hayes and 193 electoral votes over Haye's 173 electoral votes. After having many Democratic votes thrown out for various made up reasons, the final result of the election was left in the hands of J. Madison Wells, the election board chairman for the State of Louisiana. Realizing what was going on, Wells demanded bribes for his votes from both political parties. After giving the election to Hayes, Wells received a large compensation package from the Republican party. With Wells final support for Hayes, the Democrats cried foul and threw the election results into the hands of a special Congressional commission stacked with Republicans who then favored Republican Hayes. The Democrats, still upset, protested in Congress but agreed to stop contesting Hayes election to the Presidency in exchange for Federal troops being removed from the Southern States.


Sorry, George... Its Just Not Working Out

It's a little-known fact that the American colonies actually declared their independence from the British empire on July 2, 1776. However, this declaration was not approved until July 4, 1776. Only two founding fathers signed the declaration that day: John Hancock and Charles Thomson. John Adams wrote, "The 2nd of July will be a memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival."

Colonel John Nixon gave the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 8, 1776, to a crowd at Independence Square in Philadelphia. The Declaration of Independence was read aloud to George Washington and his troops in New York City on July 9, 1776. The crowd gathering there became so excited upon hearing the Declaration that a statue of King George was torn from its pedestal and melted into 42,000 patriot bullets.

The names of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were withheld from the public until 1777, because their treasonable act would result in death if the Revolution were unsuccessful. Nonetheless, five signers were captured by the British and brutally tortured as traitors. Nine fought in the War for Independence and died from wounds or from hardships they suffered. Two lost their sons in the Continental Army. Another two had sons captured, and the British pillaged and burned the homes of at least a dozen of the fifty-six signers.

Today, America honors the sacrifices of these revolutionaries by filling its fat collective gut with beer and red meat, yelling at television sets purchased with fiat currency and bloated credit. Declare your independence from freedom! Death of the Republic sale going on now at McBeastly's! EVERYTHING MUST GO!!!

[W. Gray]

Those are good factoids and a few caught my attention.

The White House was originally called the Presidential Palace and the President was addressed as "His Excellency."

In 1870, when Reuben H. Nichols, R. J. Johnson, and James C. Pinney formally requested permission from the governor of Kansas to organize Howard County, they addressed him as "Your Excellency." As a side note, Elk County did not have to request permission from the governor to organize since state law provided that authority upfront.

George Washington became the only 6 Star General in the History of the U.S. Military when President Jimmy Carter ordered a promotion in the Founding Father's rank.   

George Washington was actually the second six-star general, however, no one outranks him. John J. Pershing was the first promoted to that rank in September 1919. The Carter administration recommended Congress provide George Washington with the same rank but with a date of rank retroactive to July 4, 1776. That way George would never be outranked. Among soldiers having the same rank insignia, the superior is determined by his date of rank.

The Emancipation Proclamation abolished slavery only in the Southern States that were under the control of the rebellious Confederate government. With Slavery remaining legal in the rest of the States that previously allowed it, it was not officially abolished until the passage of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The Emancipation Proclamation was a political document and had no force except or until southern territory came under Union control. After issuance of the proclamation, all slaves continued to be slaves except those that were emancipated because of invasion. In addition, the proclamation did not free slaves in the slave states of the north: Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware, and the western counties of Virginia, which stayed in the Union forming the state of West Virginia. Thirteen parishes in Louisiana were also exempt from the proclamation.