Thursday, November 24 — Today is Thanksgiving Day. One of the most traditional of American holidays, it’s thought to have begun in 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The holiday became national in 1863, and the fourth Thursday of the month […]
Wednesday, November 23 — It used to be that going to the bank was somewhat of a chore — with inconvenient hours and locations, and waiting in line for a teller. Now, many of us rarely see the inside of […]
Tuesday, November 22 — National Farm-City Week began last Friday and ends on Thanksgiving Day, when agricultural bounty is most notable. First declared by congressional resolution in 1956, the occasion recognizes that farms are a necessary precondition for town life […]
Profile America — A key part of daily telecommunications is 65 years old this month, as direct-dial telephone area codes for transcontinental calling were introduced in 1951. The mayor of Englewood, New Jersey, made the first official call, picking up […]
Profile America — One of the most renowned of America’s historically black colleges was founded on this date in 1866 as the Howard Theological Seminary. Named after Civil War general and post-war Freedmen’s Bureau Director Oliver O. Howard, the seminary […]
Profile America — The first automatic toll collection station went into service on this date in 1954. It was installed at the Union Toll Plaza on New Jersey’s Garden State Parkway. Motorists dropped coins into a wire mesh hopper, triggering […]
Profile America — On this date 50 years ago, a 1,100-year-old religious injunction was lifted for America’s 46-million Roman Catholics. In recognition of Friday as a day of penance, Pope Nicholas I had decreed in the 9th Century that Catholics […]
Profile America — The United States Congress met for the first time in the District of Columbia on this date in 1800. Up until then, it did its squabbling, vituperating and, most importantly, legislating in Philadelphia. Ever since President George […]
Profile America — This month in 1883, the ancestor of today’s familiar U.S. time zones first appeared at the initiative of the American Railway Association. The idea was to rationalize railroad timetables, there being 80 time standards then in use […]
Tuesday, November 15 — This month marks the 152nd anniversary of absentee ballot voting in the U.S. This measure was introduced during the Civil War to permit Union army soldiers in the field to choose between re-electing Abraham Lincoln or sending […]
Monday, November 14 — The way to make a small fortune investing in stocks is to begin with a large one. That old joke seems apt in these recent years of Wall Street turbulence, but in the long run, the market […]
Sunday, November 13 — November is National Family Caregivers Month, honoring the great number of relatives, friends and neighbors involved in caring for those Americans needing assistance in the home. The nonprofessional caregivers render an important and devoted service, not just […]
Saturday, November 12 — Public education in the U.S. traces its birth to very early in the Colonial era. This month in 1647, the Massachusetts Bay Colony authorities ordered that every township with 50 or more householders assign at least one […]
Friday, November 11 — Today is Veterans Day. It originated on this date in 1919 to commemorate the first anniversary of the end of combat in World War I. Known as Armistice Day, the occasion kept its name and focus until […]
Thursday, November 10th. November is designated every year as National Diabetes Month. The goal is to make the public more aware of the serious nature of the disease, and how to detect and control it. When our bodies are […]
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