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Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond
On this date in 1862, the Medal of Honor was authorized by the United States Congress. Here are some things you may not have known about America’s highest military honor. The medal is sometimes known as the Congressional Medal of Honor, as it is awarded by the President in the name of the Congress, although…
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Hamilton: The World Was Wide Enough
On this date in 1804, former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton was shot in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr. Here are some things you may not have known about the duel. Alexander Hamilton was born in the West Indies and was orphaned as a child. His intelligence impressed local businessmen, who sent…
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Wall Street Journal: Financial News since 1889
On this date in 1889, the Wall Street Journal was published for the first time. Here are some things you may not have known about the newspaper. The company started by publishing news bulletins delivered by hand to traders at the New York Stock Exchange in the early 1880s. Eventually, the updates would be combined…
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Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate
Today is International Chocolate Day. Here are some things you may not have known about chocolate. Chocolate is made from the cacao tree, which is native to Mexico and Central America. Early on most chocolate was consumed as a beverage. Samples of fermented cacao beans have been found at sites dating to 1900 BC on…
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Louis Pasteur: Saving Lives, One Microbe at a Time
On this date in 1885, Louis Pasteur tested his vaccine for rabies on a boy who had been bitten by a rabid dog. Here are some things you may not have known about Pasteur. Louis Pasteur was born in 1822 in eastern France. As a child Pasteur didn’t show much inclination toward science, focusing instead…
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Secret Service: Protecting the President and Catching Counterfeiters
On this date in 1865, the United States Secret Service was formed. Here are some things you may not have known about the agency charged with protecting the President of the United States. The Secret Service was created as a division of the Treasury Department with the aim of suppressing currency counterfeiting. At the time,…
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Fireworks: A Fire in the Sky
Today is Independence Day in the United States. Here are some things you may not have known about fireworks. The history of fireworks can be traced to the seventh century in China, which is also where gunpowder was developed. Fireworks have played an important role in many Chinese cultural celebrations ever since. Eventually fireworks and…
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Tour de France: A Long Ride
On this date in 1903, the first Tour de France bicycle race began in Paris. Here are a few things you may not have known about the Tour de France. The 1903 race was sponsored by a sports newspaper called L’Auto as a publicity stunt. Its circulation was sagging compared to its main competitor Le…
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Asteroids: A Threat from Space
Today is Asteroid Day, marking the anniversary of the 1908 Tunguska Event, the largest asteroid impact on earth in recent history. Here are some things you may not have known about both of them. On the morning of June 30, 1908, an explosion over eastern Siberia flattened 770 square miles of forest. It’s believed that…
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Apple I: Function over Form
On this date in 1975, Steve Wozniak tested the first prototype of the Apple I computer. Here are some things you may not have known about the beginning of Apple. Steve Wozniak met Steve Jobs in 1971 while working during the summer at Hewlett-Packard. Wozniak, inspired by the first meeting of the Homebrew Computer Club,…