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Category: Today in History

Color photo of a man wearing a colorful shirt, seated at a desk with two computer monitors in front of him showing different images of Abraham Lincoln.

160 Years Later … Where Did Lincoln Stand While Delivering the Gettysburg Address?

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

Christopher Oakley, a prominent film animator turned university historian, used his knowledge of computer modeling -- and his research at the LIbrary of Congress -- to help solve a small but important mystery: Where exactly did Lincoln stand while delivering his famed Gettysburg Address?

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

A President and a King, George Washington and King George III, in a Dangerous Year

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

This is a guest post by Julie Miller, a historian in the Library’s Manuscript Division. For both George Washington and King George III of England, the summer of 1788 began a year shaped by illness and worry. Even though the sources of their troubles differed, each George had reason to look anxiously across the Atlantic. …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

This Day in History: Wright Brothers Take Flight

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

On a dark and windy morning on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, 114 years ago this Sunday, Orville Wright took flight in a tiny airplane he and his brother Wilbur had painstakingly constructed. The 605-pound craft flew all of 120 feet and remained airborne only 12 seconds. After Orville’s first success, Wilbur set the …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

This Day in History: James Baldwin

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

This post draws on an essay about Baldwin’s life and achievements by Alan Gevinson of the Library’s National Audio-Visual Conservation Center. James Baldwin was born 93 years ago today, on August 2, 1924, in New York City. His many novels include his first, “Go Tell It on the Mountain” (1953), considered an American classic. He …