On July 30, 1619, the first representative legislative assembly in the American colonies convened in a church in Jamestown, Virginia. This modest gathering of 22 burgesses, as the representatives were called, established a precedent for self-government that would eventually flower into American democracy. The Virginia General Assembly met at the request of the Virginia Company…
On March 24, 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, spilling approximately 11 million gallons of crude oil into one of America’s most pristine ecosystems. The tanker had departed the Valdez oil terminal shortly before midnight, carrying 53 million gallons of North Slope crude. To avoid…
On December 25, 1776, General George Washington led the Continental Army across the ice-choked Delaware River in a desperate gamble that would change the course of the American Revolution. The daring nighttime crossing, followed by a surprise attack on Hessian forces at Trenton, New Jersey, revived a cause that had seemed on the verge of…