Rob’s Daily History

Aug 6, 2015

August 6

On this day on 1926, 20-year-old swim prodigy Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to successfully swim across the English Channel, clocking…

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Aug 5, 2015

August 5

Congress approved the first income tax in American history on this day in 1861. In order to raise money for the incipient war effort, the Revenue Act of 1861 levied a flat tax of 3% on all annual incomes over $800, in addition to a new property tax and a tariff increase. “This bill is a most unpleasant one,”…

Rob Winder in Rob’s Daily History

Aug 4, 2015

August 4

Louis Armstrong, the man whom Bing Crosby called “the beginning and the end of music in America,” was born 114 years ago today. If jazz had a…

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Aug 3, 2015

August 3

On this day in 1936, African-American track & field star Jesse Owens won his first of four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics; edging out his…

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Jul 30, 2015

July 30

Beginning at 2:08 A.M. on this day 99 years ago, the New York metro area was rocked by a series of powerful explosions at a munitions depot near…

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Jul 29, 2015

July 29

On this day in 1862, Belle Boyd, the 18-year-old “Cleopatra of the Secession” and “Siren of the Shenandoah,” was arrested for her contribution to Stonewall Jackson’s victory at the Battle of Front Royal. On the orders of War Secretary Edwin Stanton, the unlikely Confederate spy was taken to Washington, D.C. and…

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Jul 28, 2015

July 28

On this day 70 years ago, at about 9:50 on a foggy Saturday morning, a B-25 bomber piloted by Lieutenant Col. William F. Smith crashed into the 78th and 79th floors of the Empire State Building at a speed of approximately 200 miles per hour. Fourteen people were killed, including all three aboard the plane, while…