1910: 100 feet over New York City’s Sheepshead Bay Race Track, Lt. Jacob E. Fickel becomes the world’s first aerial gunner. Sitting in the biplane’s passenger seat, with Glenn Curtiss …
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1861: The U.S. Army’s Departments of Northeastern Virginia, Washington, and Shenandoah merge into one outfit: the Army of the Potomac. Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, the only Union general with …
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1777: A force of militiamen from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Vermont – led by Gen. John Stark – clash with a detachment of British General John Burgoyne’s army in the …
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1934: The Marines depart Haiti, ending the United States’ 19-year occupation of the Caribbean island. 1942: U.S. Navy destroyers finally manage to deliver the first load of supplies to Marines …
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1812: Near Bermuda, the frigate USS Essex fires a devastating broadside at the British sloop HMS Alert. In just eight minutes, Capt. John Porter has captured the first warship of …
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1861: Confederate troops led by Brig. Gen. Benjamin McCulloch and Maj. Gen. Sterling Price’s Missouri State Guard clash with the Union’s “Army of the West” in present-day Springfield, Mo.. The …
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1863: Following his defeat at Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate president Jefferson Davis. Davis will refuse. 1918: 100 years ago today, ten Allied …
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1782: General George Washington establishes the Badge of Military Merit, America’s first military decoration and perhaps the first-ever decoration awarded to common soldiers. A purple heart, made from a cloth …
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1763: With Ottawa chief Pontiac laying siege to Fort Pitt (modern-day Pittsburgh), a force marches to the frontier fort to break the siege, consisting of Pennsylvania rangers and Scottish soldiers …
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1804: During the First Barbary War, Commodore Edward Preble’s Mediterranean Squadron begins his first bombardment of Tripoli Harbor. Commanding a division of ships is Stephen Decatur, the youngest sailor ever …