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Farther west, control of the Mississippi River became a central Union objective. After a bold overland campaign that saw victories at Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hill, and the Big Black River, General Ulysses S. Grant brought his army up to the defenses of Vicksburg, Mississippi. On May 19th, 1863, he ordered an immediate assault, hoping to capitalize on Confederate disarray and seize the fortress city by
The same date that Marines were struggling ashore on Saipan also saw the debut of a new weapon in the air war over Asia. On June 15th, 1944, Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers of the United States Army Air Forces flew from forward bases in China to strike industrial targets in Japan in the first mission of its kind.
A year after Tehran, another kind of reach took shape when Boeing B-29 bombers lifted off from freshly built airfields in the Mariana Islands for the first raid on Tokyo from that direction.
A year later and hundreds of miles to the north, American troops faced a British advance aimed at cutting New England off from the rest of the colonies.
On this day delegates from twelve colonies gathered in Philadelphia to respond to what they called the Coercive or Intolerable Acts, punitive measures imposed after the Boston Tea Party.
Four days after the creation of that new engineering district, another milestone unfolded in the skies over occupied Europe on August 17th, 1942. That day, B-17 Flying Fortress bombers of the Eighth Air Force launched the first American heavy bomber raid against a target in occupied France, striking railyards and industrial facilities around Rouen.
On November 14th, 1910, civilian pilot Eugene Ely coaxed his fragile Curtiss pusher airplane down a narrow wooden platform built over the bow of the cruiser USS Birmingham off Hampton Roads, Virginia.
Just eight years after the Wright brothers’ first powered flight, naval officers were already asking what airplanes might do for fleets at sea. On January 18th, 1911, civilian pilot Eugene Ely approached the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay, aiming at a temporary wooden deck built over the ship’s stern.
The American Civil War produced acts of courage on both sides, but the Union government sought a formal way to recognize extraordinary valor in its ranks. On March 25th, 1863, in a ceremony at the War Department in Washington, the first Medals of Honor were presented to a group of Union soldiers known as Andrews’ Raiders.
Three years after major Confederate armies surrendered, the scars of the Civil War still marked towns and families across the reunited country. On May 30th, 1868, mourners gathered at Arlington National Cemetery and other burial grounds to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers, flags, and wreaths. The observances followed a general order from a veterans’ organization calling for a national “Decoration Day”
Exactly one year after Pearl Harbor’s date on the calendar, December 2nd, 1942, a small team of scientists and technicians gathered under a stadium in Chicago carried out an experiment that would change warfare forever.
With war raging in Europe and Asia, but before the United States formally entered the conflict, the government took a historic step by registering millions of men for possible military service under a new Selective Service law.
In early August 1950, the Korean War had entered a precarious phase as North Korean forces pushed United Nations troops back toward the southeastern tip of the peninsula. On August 7th, the First Provisional Marine Brigade, formed from elements of the First Marine Division, arrived at the port of Pusan to reinforce the hard-pressed defenders.
On May 15th, 1918, Army Air Service pilots take off from Washington, D.C., carrying sacks of mail on a timed route toward Philadelphia and New York. The flights mark the start of regularly scheduled airmail service, and while it is a civilian function, the work rests on military pilots, aircraft, and support crews. Flying fragile biplanes over unfamiliar routes and variable weather, the fliers must navigate with litt
When the United States entered World War I in April 1917, its small regular army was nowhere near large enough to fight on the Western Front. Congress responded by passing the Selective Service Act, and on June 5th, 1917, the nation held its first massive draft registration day. Across cities, small towns, and rural crossroads, millions of men lined up at local boards, filling out forms under the eyes of community le
On August 29th, 1949, far away on the Eurasian steppe, the Soviet Union detonated its first atomic device, abruptly ending the American monopoly on nuclear weapons.
On January 27th, 1943, Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress crews climbed into icy English skies and headed for the German port of Wilhelmshaven. The mission marked the first all-American heavy bomber raid deep into Germany, part of a growing campaign to hit U-boat bases, shipyards, and industrial centers. The crews flew in daylight formations, relying on tight discipline and concentrated defensive fire to survive f
Back in the United States on December 1st, 1969, millions of young Americans gathered around televisions and radios to watch a different kind of drawing.