Monthly Archives: March 2012

1789 – The first session of the United States Congress opened in New York City.

1791 – Vermont became the 14th state admitted to the union.

1880 – Halftone engraving was used for the first time as the Daily Graphic was published in New York City.

1881 – Eliza Ballou Garfield became the first mother of a U.S. President to live in the executive mansion.  She moved into the White House with her son James, the President.

1925 – Calvin Coolidge took the oath of office in Washington, D.C.  The presidential inauguration was broadcast on radio for the first time.

1942 – The Stage Door Canteen opened on West 44th Street in New York City.  The canteen became widely known as a service club for men in the armed forces and a much welcomed place to spend what would otherwise have been lonely hours.  The United Service Organization (USO) grew out of the ‘canteen’ operation, to provide entertainment for American troops around the world.

1952 – President Harry Truman dedicated the Courier, the first seagoing radio broadcasting station, in ceremonies in Washington, D.C.

1820 – Congress passed the Missouri Compromise, a bill that temporarily resolved political clashes between pro- and antislavery interests by granting statehood to Missouri and forbidding slavery north of the 36^th parallel.

1845 – Congress overrode a presidential veto for the first time.  President John Tyler had vetoed a Congressional bill that would have denied him the power to appropriate federal funds to build revenue-cutter ships without Congress’ approval.  With the override, Congress insisted that the executive branch get the legislature’s approval before commissioning any new military craft.

1845 – Florida became the 27^th state.

1863 – Congress passed a conscription act that produced the first wartime draft of U.S. citizens; all males aged 20 – 45 had to register by April 1 that year.

1873 – Congress passed the Comstock Act, making it illegal to send any “obscene, lewd, or lascivious” material through the mail.

1875 – The first indoor game of ice hockey was played in Montréal, Québec.

1877 – Rutherford B. Hayes is sworn in as the nation’s 19^th president in a private White House ceremony.

1879 – Congress created the U.S. Geological Survey, an organization that played a significant role in the exploration of the West.

1915 – Director D.W. Griffith’s controversial Civil War epic The Birth of a Nation debuted in New York City.  At 2 hours and 40 minutes, it was unusually long for its time and utilized then-revolutionary filmmaking techniques, such as editing, multiple camera angles and close-ups.

1923 – The first issue of Time magazine appeared on newsstands.

1931 – The Star-Spangled Banner, written by Francis Scott Key, officially became the national anthem of the United States.

1938 – A world record for the indoor mile run was set at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH.  Glenn Cunningham made the distance in 4 minutes, 4.4 seconds.