Civil War

William Tecumseh Sherman was born on February 8, 1820 in Lancaster, Ohio. His tough “scorched earth” policy was a severe blow to morale in the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Aviation pioneer Charles Augustus Lindbergh was born on February 4, 1902, in Detroit, Michigan. He was the first person to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean and helped to promote and expand aviation and airmail.

Newspaper publisher Horace Greeley was born on February 3, 1811, in Amherst, New Hampshire.  His newspapers championed a number of causes, including abolition, temperance, railroads, and westward expansion.

On January 30, 1975, the USS Monitor National Marine Sanctuary was established off the coast of North Carolina.  It was America’s first national marine sanctuary created under the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act, passed three years earlier.

On January 16, 1786, Virginia enacted Thomas Jefferson’s Statute for Religious Freedom. It was one of the most important laws ever passed by the Virginia Assembly, provided inspiration for the Bill of Rights, and was one of the achievements of which Jefferson was most proud.

After a life of wandering the frontier as a lawman, businessman, and gambler, Wyatt Earp died on January 13, 1929. Many of his exploits were embellished for books and early films, though he was present at the famed shootout at the OK Corral.

On December 29, 1845, Texas was admitted as America’s 28th state. Texas joined the US after 10 years as an independent republic.

Clara Barton was born on December 25, 1821, in North Oxford, Massachusetts. She was known as the “Angel of the Battlefield” during the Civil War and later founded the American Red Cross.

Christopher Houston Carson was born December 24, 1809, in Richmond, Kentucky. Better known as Kit Carson, his contributions to the westward expansion of the United States rank him as one of the nation’s great folk heroes.