Prohibition began in the U.S. with the passage of the National Prohibition (Volstead) Act by Congress. Sales of drinks containing more than one half of one percent of alcohol became illegal. Called a “noble experiment” by Herbert Hoover, prohibition last nearly 14 years and became highly profitable for organized crime which manufactured and sold liquor in saloons called speakeasies

Congress passed the Volstead Act providing for enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified nine months earlier. Known as the Prohibition Amendment, it prohibited the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” in the United States.

Source: history.com

1775 – Continental Congress approved resolution barring Blacks from the army.

1864 – During the U.S. Civil War, Union forces led by Gen. Samuel R. Curtis defeated the Confederate forces in Missouri that were under Gen. Stirling Price.

1910 – Blanche S. Scott became the first woman to make a public solo airplane flight in the United States.

1915 – The first U.S. championship horseshoe tourney was held in Kellerton, IA.

1915 – Approximately 25,000 women demanded the right to vote with a march in New York City, NY. 

1929 – In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged starting the stock-market crash that began the Great Depression. 

1930 – J.K. Scott won the first miniature golf tournament. The event was held in Chattanooga, TN.

1942 – During World War II, the British began a major offensive against Axis forces at El Alamein, Egypt.

1944 – During World War II, the Battle of Leyte Gulf began.

1946 – The United Nations General Assembly convened in New York for the first time. 

1956 – Hungarian citizens began an uprising against Soviet occupation. On November 4, 1956 Soviet forces enter Hungary and eventually suppress the uprising.

1956 – NBC broadcasted the first videotape recording. The tape of Jonathan Winters was seen coast to coast in the U.S.

1958 – Russian poet and novelist Boris Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. He was forced to refuse the honor due to negative Soviet reaction. Pasternak won the award for writing “Dr. Zhivago”.

1962 – During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the U.S. naval “quarantine” of Cuba was approved by the Council of the Organization of American States (OAS).

1962 – The U.S. Navy reconnaissance squadron VFP-62 began overflights of Cuba under the code name “Blue Moon.”

1971 – The U.N. General Assembly voted to expel Taiwan and seat Communist China.

1973 – U.S. President Richard M. Nixon agreed to turn over the subpoenaed tapes concerning the Watergate affair. 

1978 – China and Japan formally ended four decades of hostility when they exchanged treaty ratifications.

1980 – The resignation of Soviet Premier Alexei N. Kosygin was announced.

1984 – “NBC Nightly News” aired footage of the severe drought in Ethiopia.

1985 – U.S. President Reagan arrived in New York to address the U.N. General Assembly.

1989 – Hungary became an independent republic, after 33 years of Soviet rule.

1992 – Japanese Emperor Akihito became the first Japanese emperor to stand on Chinese soil.

1993 – Joe Carter (Toronto Blue Jays) became only the second player to end the World Series with a homerun.

1995 – Russian President Boris Yeltsin and U.S. President Bill Clinton agree to a joint peacekeeping effort in the war-torn Bosnia.

1998 – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat reach a breakthrough in a land-for-peace West Bank accord.

1998 – Japan nationalized its first bank since World War II.

2000 – Universal Studios Consumer Products Group (USCPG) and Amblin Entertainment announced an unprecedented and exclusive three-year worldwide merchandising program with Toys “R” Us, Inc. The deal was for the rights to exclusive “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” merchandise starting in fall 2001. The film was scheduled for re-release in the spring of 2002.

2001 – NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft began orbiting Mars. In 2010, it became the longest-operating spacecraft ever sent to Mars.

GSA and the African Burial Ground

GSA’s African Burial Ground project began in 1991, when, during pre-construction work for a new federal office building, workers discovered the skeletal remains of the first of more than 400 men, women and children. Investigations revealed that during the 17th and 18th centuries, free and enslaved Africans were buried in a 6.6 acre burial ground in lower Manhattan outside the boundaries of the settlement of New Amsterdam, which would become New York.

Over the decades, the unmarked cemetery was covered over by development and landfill. The finding deeply impacted the descendant and broader community and, at the same time, renewed awareness in cultural significance and historic preservation.

Managed by GSA, the overall project is a testimonial to a positive and collaborative partnership between many parties, including the Department of the Interior’s National Park Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, Howard University, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the African American community.

Through the community’s activism and commitment, the African Burial Ground was awarded designation as a National Historic Landmark in 1993 and was named a National Monument in 2006. The African Burial Ground National Monument, located at the corners of Duane and Elk Streets in lower Manhattan, is operated by the National Park Service. For directions to the site, the Visitor Center, and more information, visit nps.gov/afbg.

GSA’s African Burial Ground Project was an extensive mitigation response to the unexpected discovery of the 300-year old burial ground. In 2008 the project was recognized by the White House with a Preserve America Presidential Award. These awards honor exemplary work in the preservation of cultural or national heritage assets. This complex project had several major components:

Scientific research

GSA contracted with Howard University’s Cobb Laboratory to conduct research on the skeletal remains from the burial ground and to produce reports on the history, skeletal biology and archaeology, as well as an integrated and a general audience report on the project. In addition details on the non-mortuary use of the site are in companion reports prepared by John Milner Associates.

Reinterment of human remains

In October 2003 the human remains were reburied in an event that garnered national and international attention. Mindful of the dignity and respect befitting the burial ground, GSA consulted with interested parties, including the New York Public Library – Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture to plan and coordinate this comprehensive and inclusive ceremony.

Exterior memorial

In 2005 GSA, partnering with the National Park Service in a process that included substantial public outreach, selected architect Rodney Leon to create a permanent memorial at the African Burial Ground that would befit the significance of the discovery and the site. The African Burial Ground Memorial was dedicated in 2007.

https://www.gsa.gov/africanburialground