Navy

David Glasgow Farragut was born in Campbell’s Station (now Farragut), Tennessee, on July 5, 1801.  A Civil War naval commander, the rank of admiral was created specifically for him.

On June 21, 1945, US troops captured Okinawa from the Japanese.  It was the last major WWII battle in the Pacific and has been called the “typhoon of steel” for the fierce fighting, intense kamikaze attacks, and large number of Allied ships and vehicles that assaulted the island.

One June 3, 1942, Japanese forces kicked of the 14-month Aleutian Islands Campaign. The campaign’s two Japanese invasions were the only ones on US soil during the war.

Explorer Robert Edwin Peary Sr. was born on May 6, 1856, in Cresson, Pennsylvania. Peary claimed to have been one of the first people to reach the North Pole. Though his claim has been debated, historians generally agree he at least came very close.

On April 28, 1948, Fort Sumter National Monument was established to preserve the site where the opening shots of the Civil War were fired. Twelve years later, nearby Fort Moultrie was added to the protected area. Together, they honor and preserve generations of American seacoast defense from the American Revolution to World War II.

The SS Saint Paul was launched on April 10, 1895. It was the first commercial ship commissioned for the Spanish-American War and later served during World War I.

Actor, director, race car driver, and philanthropist Paul Leonard Newman was born on January 26, 1925, in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

Thomas Macdonough (born McDonough) Jr. was born on December 31, 1783, in New Castle County, Delaware.  The town in which he was born was later named McDonough in his honor. 

On December 29, 1812, the USS Constitution scored another American victory at sea in the War of 1812.