19111776 Club

Atwood lands on the White House lawn after flying 576 miles from Boston

Taft walks out to meet him; the pilot took his first flying lesson just three months ago.

Eight years after the Wright brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk, aviation was still a novelty act, not a mode of travel. Harry Nelson Atwood, who had taken his first flying lesson only three months earlier, changed that impression on July 14, 1911, when he touched down on the White House's South Lawn after a 576-mile journey from Boston. President William Howard Taft walked out to greet him, and the Aero Club of Washington later struck him a gold medal for the feat…

1776 Club

This story is held for members.

Members read every story of the day — and tomorrow's, and the next.

Join the 1776 Club

$17.76 your first year · then $39.99/yr · cancel anytime

It is now a federal crime to publish "false or malicious" criticism of officials; Adams signs the Sedition Act

The last of four laws Congress has passed since June, the act caps a Federalist push to silence perceived French sympathizers working against the government.

1881

Garrett fires in the dark, and Billy the Kid is dead at twenty-one

The outlaw walks into Pete Maxwell's bedroom at Fort Sumner asking "¿Quién es?"; Garrett's first shot strikes just above the heart.

1943

Roosevelt signs a monument into existence for Carver; no Black American has been honored this way before

The site near Diamond, Missouri, where Carver was born into slavery, becomes the first national monument built to honor a private citizen.

20031776 Club

Two senior administration officials are the columnist's sources, eight days after Wilson accused the White House of twisting Iraq intelligence.

Read this as a member →

Read the full July 14 edition →Everything that happened on July 14 →

Guiteau hangs at the Washington jail; Garfield's killer takes nine months to follow him

The self-declared savior of the Republican Party had bought his ivory-gripped revolver with a museum in mind. The jury was not sympathetic.

1898

Roosevelt and the Buffalo Soldiers take Kettle Hill; San Juan Heights fall to the Fifth Corps

Outnumbered 16-to-1, Spanish defenders under Linares y Pombo inflict punishing losses before the heights are carried and the road to Santiago opens.

1890

Harrison signs Idaho into the union; the 43rd state misses the Fourth by one day

Delegate Dubois had asked the President to wait and sign on July 4th; Harrison declined, ending twenty-seven years of territorial status a day early.

1898

McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution; Hawaii is annexed, and its $4 million debt with it

The House voted 209 to 91 and the Senate 42 to 21, with a Pacific war making the islands' coaling station and anchorage look essential to Washington.

The Daily Record · free by email

Tomorrow's edition in your inbox — one featured story, one quote, and today's flag status. Free, every morning.