todaysdocument:

Opinion of the Supreme Court in United States v. the Amistad, 3/9/1841

Senior Justice Joseph Story wrote and read the decision of the Court. The Supreme Court ruled that the Africans onboard the Amistad were free individuals. Kidnapped and transported illegally, they had never been slaves. The decision affirmed that “…it was the ultimate right of all human beings in extreme cases to resist oppression and to apply force against ruinous injustice.” The Court ordered the immediate release of the Amistad Africans.

via DocsTeach »

Yay!

todaysdocument:

Challenger’s resting place

On January 28, 1986, at 11:30, A.M. just one minute after lift off, the Space Shuttle Challenger and its crew were destroyed in an explosion. After pieces of the Challenger were examined, they were lowered into their permanent storage area in the Minuteman missile silo at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

:-(

OurPresidents:

WIN

In 1970s-speak that’s, “Whip Inflation Now.”  On October 8, 1974 Gerald Ford announces his WIN program to a joint session of Congress. 

- WIN in the Presidential Timeline

I should save this picture to post as a response to certain things.

(via todaysdocument)

todaysdocument:

October 6 , 1979 - Pope John Paul II Visits the White House

During his first papal pilgrimage to the United States in October 1979, Pope John Paul II was welcomed to White House by President Jimmy Carter on October 6, 1979. The two men met privately in the Oval Office for an hour — President Carter’s notes from that historic meeting are shown here.

Cool!

todaysdocument:

October 2 - Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall began his first term on the Supreme Court on October 2, 1967.

Photograph of Thurgood Marshall, 06/13/1967

Nice!

todaysdocument:

USS Nautilus (SS-571), the Navy’s first atomic powered submarine, on its initial sea trials, 01/20/1955

The first operational nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus was commissioned in the US Navy on September 30, 1954.

I’ve been to the Nautilus in Groton. It’s a museum now and you can go inside. 

I should go back sometime…

todaysdocument:

Around the World by Airplane

At 1:28 p.m. on September 28, 1924, two planes landing in Seattle made history. The Chicago and New Orleans had flown 26,345 miles in 66 days to become the first airplanes to circumnavigate the globe.

OMG! This was today? I think this is one of the coolest little-known milestones in aviation history. Every time I’m in the Pioneers of Flight gallery at the National Air and Space Museum, I make a beeline for the Chicago. 

Have I mentioned I like the history of aviation?

And world records?

And the 1920s?

todaysdocument:

Dated September 27, 1939, this passenger manifest from the SS Bergensfjord includes the von Trapp family, making their second musical tour of the United States.

Passenger list of the SS Bergensfjord, dated September 27, 1939 (page 1 detail); Passengers and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service

Cool!

todaysdocument:

Constitution of the United States

Drafted in secret by delegates to the Constitutional Convention during the summer of 1787, this four-page document, signed on September 17, 1787, established the government of the United States.

I just showed “The Preamble” from Schoolhouse Rock to my roommate in honor of today.

todaysdocument:

For anyone near the National Archives in Washington DC today:

usnatarchivesexhibits:

Today from 1-2 pm in the Jefferson Room:

In a special program in celebration of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, the first 224 guests will join First Lady Dolley Madison for an ice cream social as she describes White House entertainment in the early 19th century.

Happy Constitution Day!