President Bush fainted after choking on a pretzel while watching football alone
George W. Bush lost consciousness for a few seconds when a pretzel lodged in his throat, causing him to fall and bruise his face. The leader of the fr...
Historical Events
2002
1982
AT&T agreed to break up its monopoly into seven regional companies
After an eight-year antitrust lawsuit, the telecommunications giant settled and agreed to divest its local exchange service operating companies. This...
1964
President Lyndon B. Johnson declared 'unconditional war on poverty' in his State of the Union address
LBJ announced ambitious programs including Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, and Head Start as part of his Great Society initiative. While poverty rate...
1959
Charles de Gaulle was inaugurated as the first President of France's Fifth Republic
The WWII hero and political leader assumed the presidency under a new constitution he helped create. De Gaulle would go on to serve until 1969, fundam...
1947
David Bowie was born as David Robert Jones in South London
The future music icon and chameleon of rock started life with a very ordinary name in post-war Britain. He would go on to create dozens of personas in...
1935
Elvis Presley was born in a two-room shotgun house in Tupelo, Mississippi
MajorThe future King of Rock and Roll entered the world in extreme poverty alongside his stillborn twin brother, Jesse Garon. Elvis would later say he felt...
1918
President Woodrow Wilson delivered his Fourteen Points speech outlining his vision for post-World War I peace
MajorWilson's address to Congress proposed principles for peace negotiations including self-determination for nations, freedom of the seas, and the creatio...
1889
The first tabulating machine using punched cards was patented by Herman Hollerith
Hollerith's invention revolutionized data processing and reduced the 1890 U.S. Census tabulation from eight years to just one year. His Tabulating Mac...
1867
African American men were granted the right to vote in Washington, D.C.
Congress passed the Franchise Act over President Andrew Johnson's veto, making D.C. the first place in the former slaveholding territories where Black...
1835
The United States became completely debt-free for the first and only time in history
MajorUnder President Andrew Jackson, the U.S. Treasury announced the entire national debt had been paid off. This remarkable achievement lasted less than a...
1675
The first corporation received a charter in America when the New York Fishing Company was established
New York's colonial governor granted this fishing enterprise special legal status as a corporation. This seemingly mundane administrative act laid the...
