January 4, 1877

Cornelius Vanderbilt dies

Fiercely competitive and fabulously wealthy, Cornelius Vanderbilt, one of America's archetypal businessmen, died on this day. Vanderbilt's early life plays like a page out of a Horatio Alger novel: born to a downtrodden family in 1794, he fled school at age eleven to work on New York's waterfront. A budding young capitalist, Vanderbilt bought a boat in 1810 and started a small ferry business. However, Vanderbilt sold his schooners in 1818 to go and learn the steamer business under the wing of Thomas Gibbons. By 1829, Vanderbilt had purchased his own steamship; by aggressively slashing fares and lavishly appointing his steamers, Vanderbilt became the ruling force in the shipping industry. In 1862, he turned his attention to the burgeoning rail industry, using his trademark competitive touch to build an empire that included the New York and Harlem Railroad, as well as the New York Central Railroad. Toward the end of his life, Vanderbilt tempered his competitive zeal with a touch of altruism. He donated $1 million to Central University (later renamed Vanderbilt University) and masterminded the construction of New York's Grand Central Terminal, which employed a number of the workers who were devastated by the Panic of 1873. When Vanderbilt died in 1877 with an estate of some $100 million, he was the wealthiest man in America.

January 4, 1965

CBS buys guitar company

On this day in 1965, an ailing Leo Fender sold his guitar and amplifier company to broadcasting behemoth CBS. Starting in the early 1940s, Fender gave the world a steady stream of sweet singing guitars including Telecaster and the Stratocaster; Fender also designed innovative bass guitars, as well as a fleet of increasingly sophisticated amplifiers. CBS held on to the Fender Guitar Company until 1985, when the decision to shed its non-broadcast holdings triggered the sale of the landmark guitar concern to a small contingent of employees and investors led by William Schultz.

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Debate continues over greenbacks

By 1875, the United States was involved in a roiling debate over greenbacks, the paper currency issued during the Civil War. So-called "soft money" supporters had taken up the cause of the greenback and successfully pushed for the paper notes to stay in circulation following the close of the war. However, "hard money" forces in the House fired back, and on January 14, they engineered the passage of the Specie Resumption Act, a legislative salvo against paper currency. The bill directed the Treasury to begin exchanging legal tender for gold on January 1, 1879; it also mandated that the number of greenbacks in circulation be trimmed down to $300 million. Treasury Secretary John Sherman stocked up on gold and, by the dawn of 1879, the specie exchange program was up and running. But, at the same time, greenbacks had become just as valuable as gold on the exchange market; the public was reluctant to swap their paper currency for coinage and the exchange program turned out to be a flop.

January 14, 1949

Justice Department pursues AT&T

The Department of Justice went trust busting on January 14 and filed an anti-trust suit against AT&T. The suit was designed to break AT&T's choke hold over the industry by forcing the company to relinquish ownership of Western Electric, a potent manufacturing concern. After much wrangling, the suit was settled in 1956, when AT&T consented to limit the scope of its business to the national phone network and government jobs.

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January 17, 1894

U.S. gold supplies are depleted

The passage of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1893 took a heavy toll on America's financial well being, effectively depleting the nation's gold supplies. In April of 1893 the gold reserves dwindled below the $100 million mark; Congress, however, refused to heed President Grover Cleveland's call to remedy the situation by rolling back the silver purchase legislation. After months of wrangling, the House killed the Sherman Act in November of 1893. But, the eleventh-hour repeal couldn't prevent the depletion of the precious metal; by the end of the year, the gold reserves had dipped to a scant $80 million. So, on January 17, 1894, the Treasury Department issued a $50 million bond in hopes of replenishing the nation's sagging gold supplies. Though well-intentioned, the bond issue proved to be a resounding flop: the public refused to nibble, forcing banks to buy up a good bulk of the bonds. The gold reserves continued to suffer until 1896, when Cleveland mandated a public subscription that helped staunch the bleeding.

January 17, 1950

Boston thieves pull off historic robbery

On this day in 1950, 11 men steal more than $2 million from the Brinks Armored Car depot in Boston, Massachusetts. It was the perfect crime--almost--as the culprits weren't caught until January 1956, just days before the statute of limitations for the theft expired.

The robbery's mastermind was Anthony "Fats" Pino, a career criminal who recruited a group of 10 other men to stake out the depot for 18 months to figure out when it held the most money. Pino's men then managed to steal plans for the depot's alarm system, returning them before anyone noticed they were gone.

Wearing navy blue coats and chauffeur's caps--similar to the Brinks employee uniforms--with rubber Halloween masks, the thieves entered the depot with copied keys, surprising and tying up several employees inside the company's counting room. Filling 14 canvas bags with cash, coins, checks and money orders--for a total weight of more than half a ton--the men were out and in their getaway car in about 30 minutes. Their haul? More than $2.7 million--the largest robbery in U.S. history up until that time.

No one was hurt in the robbery, and the thieves left virtually no clues, aside from the rope used to tie the employees and one of the chauffeur's caps. The gang promised to stay out of trouble and not touch the money for six years in order for the statute of limitations to run out. They might have made it, but for the fact that one man, Joseph "Specs" O'Keefe, left his share with another member in order to serve a prison sentence for another burglary. While in jail, O'Keefe wrote bitterly to his cohorts demanding money and hinting he might talk. The group sent a hit man to kill O'Keefe, but he was caught before completing his task. The wounded O'Keefe made a deal with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to testify against his fellow robbers.

Eight of the Brinks robbers were caught, convicted and given life sentences. Two more died before they could go to trial. Only a small part of the money was ever recovered; the rest is fabled to be hidden in the hills north of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. In 1978, the famous robbery was immortalized on film in The Brinks Job, starring Peter Falk.

January 17, 1991

Gulf War affects Wall Street

After months of lobbing threats and stern words at Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, President George Bush ordered the U.S. military into action on this day in 1991. American forces inaugurated the Persian Gulf War by launching a full round of air strikes against Iraq, which Bush and the military cautiously deemed a success. News of the military's opening salvo sent Wall St. into a tizzy of trading and the Dow, mired in a long-standing slump, surged by 114.60 points to close at 2623.51, marking one of the biggest single-day gains in market history. Traders also defied conventional wisdom regarding the war's impact on oil prices: rather than soaring, as most experts expected, oil went into a spectacular free-fall. By the time the markets closed for the day, the price of oil had set a record for the single largest one-day decline on the New York Mercantile Exchange, spiraling to $10.56 a barrel. However, financial officials remained doubtful about the global economy's prospects for pulling out of its prolonged recession. Their fears seemed well founded: when Saddam Hussein responded with an attack on Israel later that day, the Japanese stock market promptly plummeted.

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January 24, 1916

Top court defends federal income tax

Although the Constitution explicitly forbade direct taxation of citizens, the United States flirted with the notion of an income tax during the latter half of the nineteenth century. In fact, the government briefly instituted a tax during the Civil War. This tax was repealed in 1872, but legislators, casting about for ways to raise federal funds, continued to push for an income tax. Congress gave the green light to a income tax bill in 1894, only to watch as the Supreme Court deemed the tax unconstitutional on the grounds that it failed to raise revenues that were commensurate with the various populations of AmericaÝs states. Undeterred, Congress passed the Sixteenth Amendment in 1909 that, after state ratification in 1913, effectively granted the federal government constitutional authority to levy an income tax. Again, the legislation was taken before the Supreme Court for review. On January 24, 1916, the Court handed down a decision that no doubt still causes some Americans deep anguish, ruling in favor of the amendment and paving the way for the federal income tax.

January 24, 1994

The ax falls at Nynex

With the wave of deregulation in the 1980s, competition in the telecommunications industry heated up and profit-conscious companies moved to contain costs by slashing their employment rolls. On January 24, 1994, the Nynex Corporation, one of New York's leading phone providers, announced that it was laying off 16,800 workers over the next three years. Along with the cuts, which represented 20% of Nynex's work force, the company reported that it would take a hefty $1.6 billion charge for the year. Although these moves partially stemmed from the company's disappointing fourth quarter performance, they also reflected Nynex's drive to protect its stake in one of the nation's prime communication markets. Company chairman and CEO, William C. Ferguson conceded that the layoffs were "painful," although he tended to focus more on the bottom line than on the human consequences. "This is a significant step," he reasoned. "e have to this to be a viable company moving forward."

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January 25, 1890

United Mine Workers of America founded

On this day, a fleet of workers whose jobs were spread throughout the massive coal industry banded together to form the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). The UMWA rapidly became one of America's most potent, and at times most troubled, labor organizations. In its earliest incarnation, the coal union was a close affiliate of Samuel GompersÝs America Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.). The partnership not only helped legitimize the UMWA, but also shaped its politics, as GompersÝs A.F. of L. placed its conservative stamp on the new coal union. However, by 1935, UMWA chief John L. Lewis had grown disenchanted with the A.F. of L. and in the same year, Lewis and the UMWA joined forces with seven other unions to form the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The partnership didnÝt last long, at least for the coal workers: in 1942, the UMWA pulled up its stakes and withdrew from the CIO. On its own, the UMWA often fell prey to the anti-union tendencies of the federal government: in 1946 and 1948, Lewis and his union were found guilty of criminal contempt for failing to avert coal strikes. The UMWA persevered through the 1950s, but Lewis's retirement in 1960 badly rattled the union. By the late 1960s, the UMWA was riddled with corruption and internal struggles. The UMWA seemingly hit bottom in 1970, when reform minded president Joseph A. Yablonski, as well as his wife and daughter, were found murdered. However, a few years later, the situation turned even uglier when W.A. (Tony) Boyle, who had preceded Yablonski as the union's chief, was convicted of ordering the murders. The chaos continued until Richard Trumka's rise to the presidency in 1982: he cleansed some of the corruption and brought a modicum of stability back to the organization. In 1989, the UMWA ended its long stint as a lone wolf and joined forces with the AFL-CIO.

January 25, 1905

World's largest diamond found

On January 25, 1905, at the Premier Mine in Pretoria, South Africa, a 3,106-carat diamond is discovered during a routine inspection by the mine's superintendent. Weighing 1.33 pounds, and christened the "Cullinan," it was the largest diamond ever found.

Frederick Wells was 18 feet below the earth's surface when he spotted a flash of starlight embedded in the wall just above him. His discovery was presented that same afternoon to Sir Thomas Cullinan, who owned the mine. Cullinan then sold the diamond to the Transvaal provincial government, which presented the stone to Britain's King Edward VII as a birthday gift. Worried that the diamond might be stolen in transit from Africa to London, Edward arranged to send a phony diamond aboard a steamer ship loaded with detectives as a diversionary tactic. While the decoy slowly made its way from Africa on the ship, the Cullinan was sent to England in a plain box.

Edward entrusted the cutting of the Cullinan to Joseph Asscher, head of the Asscher Diamond Company of Amsterdam. Asscher, who had cut the famous Excelsior Diamond, a 971-carat diamond found in 1893, studied the stone for six months before attempting the cut. On his first attempt, the steel blade broke, with no effect on the diamond. On the second attempt, the diamond shattered exactly as planned; Asscher then fainted from nervous exhaustion.

The Cullinan was later cut into nine large stones and about 100 smaller ones, valued at millions of dollars all told. The largest stone is called the "Star of Africa I," or "Cullinan I," and at 530 carats, it is the largest-cut fine-quality colorless diamond in the world. The second largest stone, the "Star of Africa II" or "Cullinan II," is 317 carats. Both of these stones, as well as the "Cullinan III," are on display in the Tower of London with Britain's other crown jewels; the Cullinan I is mounted in the British Sovereign's Royal Scepter, while the Cullinan II sits in the Imperial State Crown.

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January 28, 1791

Hamilton announces plan for national mint

The dawn of the 1780s found America a nation in need of a standard currency. Following the Revolutionary War, the U.S. seemed as though as it would adopt copper as its coin of choice. However, various efforts to produce and standardize copper proved futile. Congress pushed on and, in 1786, signed off on Thomas Jefferson's proposal for a dollar-driven currency. Of course, the nation also needed to develop a means for producing this currency and on this day in 1791, Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton stepped before the House to deliver a report on the establishment of a national mint. Hamilton's work helped pave the way for the authorization of the United States Mint on April 2, 1792.

January 28, 1902

Carnegie Institution established

Andrew Carnegie spent a good chunk of his life building a chokehold over the steel industry. However, after years at the lead of the second Industrial Revolution, he decided to cash in his chips in 1901 and sold his stake in the mighty Carnegie Steel concern then worth roughly $40 million to the United States Steel Corporation for $250 million. Rather than retire and play with his riches, Carnegie followed his belief that a "man who dies rich dies disgraced" and set to doling out his fortune to various philanthropic causes. All told, Carnegie donated $350 million, $10 million of which he handed over on this day in 1902 to establish the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C. According to Carnegie, the Institution was designed "to encourage, in the broadest and most liberal manner, investigation, research, and discovery, and the application of knowledge to the improvement of mankind." Carnegie's lofty mission translated into an organization dedicated to research and education in "biology, astronomy, and the earth sciences."

January 28, 1986

Challenger explodes

At 11:38 a.m. EST, on January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Christa McAuliffe is on her way to becoming the first ordinary U.S. civilian to travel into space. McAuliffe, a 37-year-old high school social studies teacher from New Hampshire, won a competition that earned her a place among the seven-member crew of the Challenger. She underwent months of shuttle training but then, beginning January 23, was forced to wait six long days as the Challenger's launch countdown was repeatedly delayed because of weather and technical problems. Finally, on January 28, the shuttle lifted off.

Seventy-three seconds later, hundreds on the ground, including Christa's family, stared in disbelief as the shuttle exploded in a forking plume of smoke and fire. Millions more watched the wrenching tragedy unfold on live television. There were no survivors.

In 1976, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) unveiled the world's first reusable manned spacecraft, the Enterprise. Five years later, space flights of the shuttle began when Columbia traveled into space on a 54-hour mission. Launched by two solid-rocket boosters and an external tank, only the aircraft-like shuttle entered into orbit around Earth. When the mission was completed, the shuttle fired engines to reduce speed and, after descending through the atmosphere, landed like a glider. Early shuttles took satellite equipment into space and carried out various scientific experiments. The Challenger disaster was the first major shuttle accident.

In the aftermath of the explosion, President Ronald Reagan appointed a special commission to determine what went wrong with Challenger and to develop future corrective measures. The presidential commission was headed by former secretary of state William Rogers, and included former astronaut Neil Armstrong and former test pilot Chuck Yeager. The investigation determined that the explosion was caused by the failure of an "O-ring" seal in one of the two solid-fuel rockets. The elastic O-ring did not respond as expected because of the cold temperature at launch time, which began a chain of events that resulted in the massive explosion. As a result of the explosion, NASA did not send astronauts into space for more than two years as it redesigned a number of features of the space shuttle.

In September 1988, space shuttle flights resumed with the successful launching of the Discovery. Since then, the space shuttle has carried out numerous important missions, such as the repair and maintenance of the Hubble Space Telescope and the construction of the International Space Station.

On February 1, 2003, a second space-shuttle disaster rocked the United States when Columbia disintegrated upon reentry of the Earth's atmosphere. All aboard were killed. Despite fears that the problems that downed Columbia had not been satisfactorily addressed, space-shuttle flights resumed on July 26, 2005, when Discovery was again put into orbit.

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January 31, 1795

Hamilton resigns from treasury post

Wounded by the sharp criticism of his colleagues, Alexander Hamilton resigned his post as the Secretary of the Treasury on this day in 1795. During his run as the first U.S. Treasury Secretary, Hamilton put his conservative stamp on the young nation's finances, establishing a national bank and a tax-based system to fuel the repayment of national and foreign debts. Hamilton also pushed for the Federal government to assume full responsibility for debts incurred by the states during the Revolutionary War. However, Hamilton's Federalist ardor was a frequent target for controversy, as was his role in meting out the country's neutrality stance during the early stages of the Napoleonic Wars. Hamilton's involvement in the latter bit of policy drew particularly heavy fire and helped seal his departure from office. And so, Hamilton putatively retired to lick his wounds and count his vast personal fortune. But, the siren call of politics proved irresistible and Hamilton served a long stint as an unofficial presidential advisor

January 31, 1940

First social security check arrives

On January 31, 1940, Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vermont, popped open her mailbox and found a check from the Federal government worth $22.54. Though hardly a fortune, the check was nonetheless a milestone: indeed, it was the first monthly retirement payment made under the auspices of the Social Security Act. When the act initially passed into the law books in 1935, benefits were paid out in lump sums. But, with Fuller's check, the government kicked off its program of doling out regular benefits to retired workers. For Fuller, it was simply the first in a series of payments that lasted for the next thirty-five years: Before passing away at age 100 in 1975, Fuller received regular payments totaling $22,000.

January 31, 1990

First McDonald's opens in Soviet Union

The Soviet Union's first McDonald's fast food restaurant opens in Moscow. Throngs of people line up to pay the equivalent of several days' wages for Big Macs, shakes, and french fries.

The appearance of this notorious symbol of capitalism and the enthusiastic reception it received from the Russian people were signs that times were changing in the Soviet Union. An American journalist on the scene reported the customers seemed most amazed at the "simple sight of polite shop workers...in this nation of commercial boorishness." A Soviet journalist had a more practical opinion, stating that the restaurant was "the expression of America's rationalism and pragmatism toward food." He also noted that the "contrast with our own unrealized pretensions is both sad and challenging."

For the average Russian customer, however, visiting the restaurant was less a political statement than an opportunity to enjoy a small pleasure in a country still reeling from disastrous economic problems and internal political turmoil.

The arrival of McDonald's in Moscow was a small but certain sign that change was on the horizon. In fact, less than two years later, the Soviet Union ceased to exist as a nation, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as leader of the country, and various Soviet republics proclaimed their independence. As the American newsman reported, the first Russian McDonald's customers "had seen the future, and it works, at least as far as their digestive tract."

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February 1, 1809

Debate over Embargo Act heats up

In the winter of 1807, the U.S. was thrust into the middle of the Napoleonic wars, as the British and French hassled American merchant ships in hopes of gaining a strategic edge in their ongoing battles. However, in an attempt to keep the nation out of another bloody and costly conflict, President Thomas Jefferson quickly pushed the Embargo Act through the legislative chain. But, the legislation, which effectively sealed U.S. ports, backfired: intended as a nonviolent, fiscal response to the British and French attacks, the act instead served to aid foreign merchants at the expense of American interests. Mercantilists in New England and New York suffered mightily and, in some instances, resorted to smuggling and other underhanded tactics to elude the crippling grip of the Embargo Act. In January of 1809, the Federal government passed the Enforcement Act, which called for severe penalties against illegal trading. Infuriated by the latest round of legislation, anti-embargo forces mounted a strong drive to nullify the acts. On February 1, Massachusetts Senator Thomas Pickering stepped into the fray and convened an assembly in New England that demanded the demise of the Embargo Act. An ardent Federalist, as well as a strong British ally and staunch opponent of Jefferson's policies, Pickering helped force the president's hand. With but a few days remaining in his second term, Jefferson signed the Non-Intercourse Act on March 1, 1809; the legislation reopened U.S. ports, save for trading with the British and French.

February 1, 1898

Travelers sells first auto insurance policy

Just two years after Henry Ford unveiled his four horsepower automobile, the Travelers Insurance Company sold the first auto insurance policy. The Hartford, CT-based insurance concern issued the policy to Dr. Truman Martin of Buffalo, NY, who paid $11.25 for $5,000 worth of liability coverage.

February 1, 2003

Columbia mission ends in disaster

On this day in 2003, the space shuttle Columbia breaks up while entering the atmosphere over Texas, killing all seven crew members on board.

The Columbia’s 28th space mission, designated STS-107, was originally scheduled to launch on January 11, 2001, but was delayed numerous times for a variety of reasons over nearly two years. Columbia finally launched on January 16, 2003, with a crew of seven. Eighty seconds into the launch, a piece of foam insulation broke off from the shuttle’s propellant tank and hit the edge of the shuttle’s left wing.

Cameras focused on the launch sequence revealed the foam collision but engineers could not pinpoint the location and extent of the damage. Although similar incidents had occurred on three prior shuttle launches without causing critical damage, some engineers at the space agency believed that the damage to the wing could cause a catastrophic failure. Their concerns were not addressed in the two weeks that Columbia spent in orbit because NASA management believed that even if major damage had been caused, there was little that could be done to remedy the situation.

Columbia reentered the earth’s atmosphere on the morning of February 1. It wasn’t until 10 minutes later, at 8:53 a.m.--as the shuttle was 231,000 feet above the California coastline traveling at 23 times the speed of sound--that the first indications of trouble began. Because the heat-resistant tiles covering the left wing’s leading edge had been damaged or were missing, wind and heat entered the wing and blew it apart.

The first debris began falling to the ground in west Texas near Lubbock at 8:58 a.m. One minute later, the last communication from the crew was heard, and at 9 a.m. the shuttle disintegrated over southeast Texas, near Dallas. Residents in the area heard a loud boom and saw streaks of smoke in the sky. Debris and the remains of the crew were found in more than 2,000 locations across East Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. Making the tragedy even worse, two pilots aboard a search helicopter were killed in a crash while looking for debris. Strangely, worms that the crew had used in a study that were stored in a canister aboard the Columbia did survive.

In August 2003, an investigation board issued a report that revealed that it in fact would have been possible either for the Columbia crew to repair the damage to the wing or for the crew to be rescued from the shuttle. The Columbia could have stayed in orbit until February 15 and the already planned launch of the shuttle Atlantis could have been moved up as early as February 10, leaving a short window for repairing the wing or getting the crew off of the Columbia.

In the aftermath of the Columbia disaster, the space shuttle program was grounded until July 16, 2005, when the space shuttle Discovery was put into orbit.

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February 4, 1841

Bank of the U.S. shuts down

Plagued by poor investment decisions and an uncertain economic climate, the Bank of the United States was forced to call it quits on February 4, 1841. It was a painful end for an institution that had suffered through one of the more contentious episodes in the nationÝs early financial history. Indeed, the Bank was the direct product of U.S. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton’s controversial push for a national banking system. Despite the staunch objections of Thomas Jefferson, the federal government chartered the first Bank of the United States in 1791. However, Jefferson kept up his attack, and in 1811, led his supporters in Congress in a successful attempt to block the renewal of the bankÝs charter. Buoyed by a confluence of conditions, including state banksÝ recent run of woes and political shifts in the House, pro-bank forces forged a new charter in 1816. Under the charge of Nicholas Biddle, the revived Bank of the U.S. enjoyed some healthy years. However, before long, the Bank faced another round of opposition, this time led by President Andrew Jackson, who fiercely opposed the notion of a central bank system. A nasty and protracted political battle ensued, as the president attempted to use his executive power to do away with the bank. Jackson eventually won out, and when the bankÝs charter expired in 1836, Biddle shifted course and reestablished the Bank of the United States as a state institution based in Pennsylvania. BiddleÝs bank limped on for a few more years before being finally shut down on February 4, 1841.

February 4, 1964

Poll tax is outlawed

On February 4, 1964, the federal government put an end to one of the nation's more shameful bits of legislation by authorizing the Twenty-fourth Amendment, which effectively outlawed the poll tax. The tax stemmed back to the 1880s, when members of the burgeoning Populist party began to build a potentially potent coalition of African American and lower class white voters in the South. Across the region, planters, merchants, and industrialists moved to preserve their power and pushed for the passage of a deliberately prohibitive poll tax. The legislation, adopted by a host of Southern states, proved all too effective, as scores of African-Americans, as well as the "poorer sort" of whites, simply could not afford to pay the tax and thus lost the right to vote. However, thanks in large part to the efforts of Senator Spessard L. Holland of Florida, the once recalcitrant Congress slowly came around to the cause of outlawing the tax and passed the Twenty-fourth Amendment. On January 23, 1964, the amended was ratified by the South Dakota legislature, giving it the three-fourth majority necessary to make it the law of the land.

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February 6, 1919

Shutdown in Seattle

Nineteen-nineteen looked to be a good year for the American labor movement: World War I had swelled the ranks of the nation's unions, while the Marxist revolution in Russia raised hopes of deliverance for the world's workers. On February 6, 1919, a heady display of labor's growing power concluded when a general strike was called off in Seattle, Washington. In the days before the war, a strong alliance of craft unions enabled Seattle's 35,000 dockworkers to gain some of the highest wages in the nation. With the outbreak of war, the government placed constraints on the shipyard worker's wages, in hopes of rolling their earnings back in line with the rest of the country. In January, the dockworkers retaliated by walking off the job, and on February 1, 25,000 of Seattle's other workers joined the dockworkers on the picket line. The five-day strike effectively shut down Seattle: factories, shops and the waterfront all sat dormant, waiting for a resolution to the dispute. A General Strike Committee swiftly stepped in and established temporary systems for feeding and protecting Seattle's citizens. Although the strike was peaceful, and the Committee judged that people were rapidly "learning to manage" the city's daily operations, local government and business chiefs threatened action against the country's unions. Feeling the fire of a potential legal or political nightmare, national labor leaders stepped in and urged Seattle's workers to end their strike. Seattle's strikers had not yet gained ground on their wage demands, but they heeded the call and headed back to work, releasing the city from their grip on this day in 1919

February 6, 1952

Elizabeth becomes queen

On this day in 1952, after a long illness, King George VI of Great Britain and Northern Ireland dies in his sleep at the royal estate at Sandringham. Princess Elizabeth, the oldest of the king's two daughters and next in line to succeed him, was in Kenya at the time of her father's death; she was crowned Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953, at age 27.
King George VI, the second son of King George V, ascended to the throne in 1936 after his older brother, King Edward VIII, voluntarily abdicated to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. During World War II, George worked to rally the spirits of the British people by touring war zones, making a series of morale-boosting radio broadcasts (for which he overcame a speech impediment) and shunning the safety of the countryside to remain with his wife in bomb-damaged Buckingham Palace. The king's health deteriorated in 1949, but he continued to perform state duties until his death in 1952.
Queen Elizabeth, born on April 21, 1926, and known to her family as Lilibet, was groomed as a girl to succeed her father. She married a distant cousin, Philip Mountbatten, on November 20, 1947, at London's Westminster Abbey. The first of Elizabeth’s four children, Prince Charles, was born in 1948.
From the start of her reign, Elizabeth understood the value of public relations and allowed her 1953 coronation to be televised, despite objections from Prime Minister Winston Churchill and others who felt it would cheapen the ceremony. Elizabeth, the 40th British monarch since William the Conqueror, has worked hard at her royal duties and become a popular figure around the world. In 2003, she celebrated 50 years on the throne, only the fifth British monarch to do so.
The queen's reign, however, has not been without controversy. She was seen as cold and out-of-touch following the 1996 divorce of her son, Prince Charles, and Princess Diana, and again after Diana's 1997 death in a car crash. Additionally, the role in modern times of the monarchy, which is largely ceremonial, has come into question as British taxpayers have complained about covering the royal family's travel expenses and palace upkeep. Still, the royals are effective world ambassadors for Britain and a huge tourism draw. Today, the queen, an avid horsewoman and Corgi dog lover, is one of the world's wealthiest women, with extensive real-estate holdings and art and jewelry collections.

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February 7, 1870

Supreme Court irks President Grant

On February 7, 1870 the Supreme Court handed down a ruling in the case of Hepburn v. Griswold that effectively declared that the Legal Tender Acts, initially passed during the height of the Civil War in 1862 and 1863, were unconstitutional. As a result, debts piled up before 1862 or 1863 could not be paid via U.S. Treasury notes that were issued under the auspices of the acts. The ruling, which split the Supreme Court in a five to three vote, irked President Ulysses S. Grant, who used his executive power to reinstate the Legal Tender Acts. Although he didn't necessarily stack the high court in favor of the Acts, Grant was mindful to nominate justices to the Supreme Court who echoed his views on the case. During 1870, he appointed Joseph P. Bradley and William Strong, both of whom viewed the Legal Tender Acts as a viable use of the federal government's powers during a period of crisis. With the balance of opinion duly tilted, the Supreme Court reversed course and upheld the Legal Tender Acts in 1871.

February 7, 1984

First human satellite

While in orbit 170 miles above Earth, Navy Captain Bruce McCandless becomes the first human being to fly untethered in space when he exits the U.S. space shuttle Challenger and maneuvers freely, using a bulky white rocket pack of his own design. McCandless orbited Earth in tangent with the shuttle at speeds greater than 17,500 miles per hour and flew up to 320 feet away from the Challenger. After an hour and a half testing and flying the jet-powered backpack and admiring Earth, McCandless safely reentered the shuttle.

Later that day, Army Lieutenant Colonel Robert Stewart tried out the rocket pack, which was a device regarded as an important step toward future operations to repair and service orbiting satellites and to assemble and maintain large space stations. It was the fourth orbital mission of the space shuttle Challenger.

February 7, 1992

European Union established

After suffering through centuries of bloody conflict, the nations of Western Europe finally unite in the spirit of economic cooperation with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty of European Union. The treaty, signed by ministers of the European Community, called for greater economic integration, common foreign and security policies, and cooperation between police and other authorities on crime, terrorism, and immigration issues. The agreement also laid the groundwork for the establishment of a single European currency, to be known as the "euro." By the time the Maastricht Treaty took effect in 1993, it had been ratified by 12 nations: Great Britain, France, Germany, the Irish Republic, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Since then, Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Sweden, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia have also joined the union. The euro was introduced into circulation on January 1, 2002.

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February 8, 1895

U.S. gold supply running dry

The early 1890s were not kind to America's gold reserves. The nation's supplies of the precious metal swooned under the strain of the recently passed Sherman Silver Act as European investors, fearful that America was chucking gold for silver, increasingly sold their gold supplies overseas. Coupled with declining revenues triggered by various protective tariffs, the reserves plummeted, taking a severe toll on the economy. In 1893, the falling gold supply helped spark a debilitating financial crisis. Although President Grover Cleveland had long been urging Congress to abolish the Sherman Act, legislators only moved to kill the law after the crash. In the short term, the repeal did little to solve the nation's fiscal wounds, or to replenish the gold supply. By February 8, 1895, the gold supplies had thinned out to a paltry $41 million. With the U.S. Treasury teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, Cleveland intervened, and using a syndicate led by J.P. Morgan as an intermediary and U.S. bonds as bait, attempted to buy back gold from foreign investors. Cleveland sold roughly sixty-two million dollars worth of bonds, valued at 3.75 percent, to Morgan's syndicate. Morgan and company in turn shopped the issues to foreign parties for a handsome profit. Although clearly borne of desperation, the deal nonetheless provided some badly needed relief: it briefly spelled the gold crunch and saved the Treasury from disaster. However, the public paid no mind to these benefits and howled in protest at Cleveland's seeming willingness to hop into bed with Big Business.

February 8, 1934

Feds dive into international finance

On this day in 1934, the federal government stepped up its involvement in international finance by authorizing the Export-Import Bank. One of the many initiatives unveiled as part of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal legislation, the "Ex-Im Bank" was charged with propping up the nation's sagging export business. Indeed, the Great Depression had ruined the financial institutions that once served as the backbone of America's overseas trade. In order to fill this fiscal void, the Ex-Im Bank was equipped with various lending powers, as well as the license to issue insurance and guarantees. The Ex-Im Bank survived well beyond the Depression and New Deal: the bank's ability to offer a raft of credits, including loans to cash-strapped countries who conduct trade with the U.S. partners, quickly transformed it into a key instrument of the American government's international development efforts.

February 8, 1985

"The Millionaire" passes

This day marks the passing of Marvin Miller, who starred in the classic television drama, The Millionaire. Miller played Michael Anthony, the dutiful right hand man of John Beresford Tipton, a fabulously wealthy philanthropist. Anthony helped the mysterious multibillionaire, who was heard but never seen, dole out million-dollar-checks to needy strangers. The money came tax-free and with few strings attached, save for the simple provision that, outside of their spouses, recipients were never to reveal the details of their newfound wealth to anyone. It was an undeniably appealing fantasy and struck a chord with viewers: the series ran on CBS for five years from 1955 to 1960 and won Miller a small legion of fans. Viewers often wrote to the actor and requested their own million dollar checks; Miller would reply with a "check" worth "a million dollars of good luck."

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February 11, 1903

Congress battles big business

Fueled by a growing distaste for corporate behemoths and outright monopolies, Congress gave the nod to the Expedition Act, which prioritized anti-trust suits filed in the nation's circuit courts. Passed on this day in 1903, the Expedition Act was seemingly another victory for President Theodore Roosevelt in his crusade against Big Business. Starting in 1902, with his decision to support disgruntled mine workers in their cause against coal operators, Roosevelt had increasingly moved to marshal his power against business interests. Under his charge, the Justice Department filed forty-five anti-trust suits; Roosevelt also led the successful crusade to break up Standard Oil's monopoly (1907). These maneuvers proved popular with the public, not only fueling a growing distaste for the practices of Big Business, but also earning Roosevelt a sterling reputation as a tough-talking "trust-buster." However, some historians have questioned Roosevelt's trust-busting credentials, pointing out that a number of the Justice Department's anti-trust suits were dropped after business leaders plead their case to the president. Roosevelt viewed "bigness" as a fait accompli; his trust-busting stance was borne of political expediency, as well as the desire to preserve the government's tacit regulatory control of corporate America.

February 11, 1937

The Battle Of The Running Bulls

After a difficult 44-day sit-down strike at the Fisher Body plant in Flint, Michigan, General Motors (GM) President Alfred P. Sloan signed the first union contract in the history of the U.S. automobile industry. Organized by the Union of Auto Workers (UAW), the strike was intended to force GM to give ground to its workers. GM workers had protested before, and they'd been fired and replaced for it. The UAW decided they needed to achieve the total shutdown of a working plant in order to bring company executives to the negotiating table. On New Year's Eve, 45 minutes after lunch, union leaders ordered the assembly line halted. Executives kept the belts running, but the workers wouldn't work. GM turned to the courts, winning an injunction against the workers on the grounds that the sit-down strike was unconstitutional. The injunction was overturned when it was discovered that the judge who presided in the case owned over $200,000 of GM stock. Twelve days after the strike had begun, with the workers still dug in, Sloan ordered the heat in the building turned off and barred the workers access to food from the outside. Police, armed with tear gas and guns, surrounded the building. The police fired--first tear gas and later bullets--into the plant. Sympathetic picketers outside, many of them family members of the strikers, helped to break all the windows in the plant by hurling rocks from were they stood. Others, braver still, broke the picket line with their automobiles to form a barricade that prevented the police vehicles from overrunning the building the strikers occupied. Finally, days after the Battle of the Running Bulls, as the violent confrontation came to be known, Michigan Governor Frank Murphy called in the National Guard with the intention of quelling any further violence. The presence of the National Guard bolstered the strikers' confidence. Realizing the futility of their position, GM executives came to the bargaining table. After a week of negotiations over which Governor Murphy personally presided, an agreement between GM and the UAW was reached.

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February 12, 1837

Presentiment of a panic

On this day in 1837, an irate group of unemployed New Yorkers gathered to protest skyrocketing food and fuel prices, as well as the city's rapidly escalating rents. The demonstration quickly degenerated into violence, as the workers turned their anger on a flour warehouse. For the city, as well as the rest of the nation, the outburst was a strong indicator of the fiscal troubles that would bubble over later that year. Come that May, a host of events, including a wave of bank failures and a brewing recession, both of which stemmed from President Andrew Jackson's decision to yank all Federal deposits from the second Bank of the United States, signaled the onset of the Panic of 1837. The panic hung over America for the next seven years, debilitating the nation's economy and triggering rampant unemployment.

February 12, 1880

Birth of a labor leader

Along with ruling over one of the nation's landmark unions, the United Mine Workers Association (UMWA), for forty years, John L. Lewis was a frequent lightning rod for controversy, as well as a target of periodic blasts of public and political scorn. Born in Iowa on this day in 1880, Lewis had hardly hit puberty when he went to work in the coal mines of Illinois. The job set Lewis on a steady track to power and prominence: by 1911, he was an organizer for the mine union's parent organization, the American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.). Eight years later, Lewis was the president of the UMWA, America's biggest and most powerful trade union. In one of his earliest moves in office, Lewis led the organization's members in a triumphant, nationwide strike. However, this moment of glory quickly faded: the economy slumped in the wake of World War I, which hurt coal prices and threatened mine worker's wages and jobs. Lewis responded with a drive to nationalize the coal industry, but his proposal was roundly dismissed. Non-unionized coal mines rose in prominence throughout the 1920s, siphoning off the UMWA's membership and gradually wresting control of a majority of the nation's coal production. Though some within the union challenged Lewis's authority, he survived the crisis of the '20s and managed to expand his power during the next few decades. He organized the Congress of Industrial Organizations, a potent group of eight unions, including the UMWA, which, though initially affiliated with the A.F. of L., later in the decade became a powerful and independent entity in its own right. And, though a staunch Republican, Lewis found a powerful new ally in President Franklin Roosevelt. Indeed, Lewis viewed Roosevelt's New Deal legislation as a tremendous boon for labor and unabashedly pushed the movement to walk in lockstep with the White House. However, Lewis was something of an autocrat and fiercely protected his place atop the labor movement. When Roosevelt won a third term in office, Lewis, fearing that the increasingly powerful president would wrest control of the unions, pulled the UMWA out of the pro-White House CIO. Throughout the rest of the 1940s, Lewis led the coal workers in a number of high- profile walkouts. However, the seeming profusion of strikes emboldened anti-union forces, who soured public support for labor and successfully pushed for the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act (1947), which restricted labor's ability to call for the closed shop. These moves prompted Lewis to adopt more conciliatory tactics during the 1950s. In 1960, Lewis finally unleashed his grip on the UMWA's top spot. He remained involved in the organization until he died in 1969.

February 12, 1987

The case against Texaco

During the mid-1980s, two of the nation's oil giants, Texaco and Penzoil, engaged in a nasty, protracted battle to acquire a plum prize--Getty Oil. When Getty first went on the block, Penzoil made a handsome $5.3 billion offer; Getty accepted the bid and Penzoil's purchase was duly celebrated by both sides. However, the deal was never sealed with a written contract, opening the door for Texaco to make a bid that doubled Penzoil's offer. Smelling pay dirt, Getty shunned its original suitor and brokered a deal with Texaco, who wisely confirmed the acquisition with a written contract. But, Penzoil battled back, suing Texaco for proffering an illegal takeover bid. In 1985, a Texas court ruled that, despite never signing a formal contract, Penzoil and Getty had nonetheless consented to a binding deal, and Texaco was slapped with a whopping $10.5 billion fine. Texaco responded with a counter-suit, but the company's efforts ultimately proved futile: on this day in 1987, a Texas court upheld the initial decision in the case, preserving the hefty fine against Texaco.

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February 13, 1990

Drexel files for bankruptcy

After spending a good part of the 1980s wheeling and dealing its way to the top of the financial world, the Drexel Burnham Lambert Group saw its empire crumble by the dawn of the 1990s. For a good spell, Drexel Burnham was barely a blip on Wall Street's radar. However, Drexel's head of bond trading, Michael Milken, helped change the firm's fortunes by focusing his efforts on the junk bond market. A long ignored sector of the investment industry, junk bonds focused on the buying and selling of high-risk, high-yield bonds issued by fledgling companies, as well as concerns with poor credit ratings. By the 1980s, junk bonds were booming, thanks in large part to the troubled savings and loan industry, which turned to the bonds in hopes of boosting their sagging fortunes. Drexel, which, thanks to Milken, dominated this market, fast became a Wall Street heavyweight. But, the firm's woes began in 1988 as the economy, which had boomed its way through the middle of the decade, turned sour. Prices of junk bonds plunged, which not only created a nasty financial mess, but also focused a spotlight on Milken and Drexel's less than savory practices. The government initiated a probe into the firm and its star trader: the investigation found Milken guilty of various securities infractions, including skimming generous amounts from depositors' funds; it also revealed a rat's nest of corruption and shady deals at Drexel Burnham. A trial ensued and the government slapped the firm with $650 million in fines. Coupled with the Drexel Burnham's sizable, and expensive, backstock of junk bonds, the fines placed a considerable burden on the firm's finances. By early 1990 Drexel had run out of funds and, on this day in 1990, filed for bankruptcy.

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February 14, 278

St. Valentine beheaded

On February 14 around the year 278 A.D., Valentine, a holy priest in Rome in the days of Emperor Claudius II, was executed.

Under the rule of Claudius the Cruel, Rome was involved in many unpopular and bloody campaigns. The emperor had to maintain a strong army, but was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. Claudius believed that Roman men were unwilling to join the army because of their strong attachment to their wives and families.

To get rid of the problem, Claudius banned all marriages and engagements in Rome. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret.

When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Valentine was arrested and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. The sentence was carried out on February 14, on or about the year 270.

Legend also has it that while in jail, St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine."

For his great service, Valentine was named a saint after his death.

In truth, the exact origins and identity of St. Valentine are unclear. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "At least three different Saint Valentines, all of them martyrs, are mentioned in the early martyrologies under the date of 14 February." One was a priest in Rome, the second one was a bishop of Interamna (now Terni, Italy) and the third St. Valentine was a martyr in the Roman province of Africa.

Legends vary on how the martyr's name became connected with romance. The date of his death may have become mingled with the Feast of Lupercalia, a pagan festival of love. On these occasions, the names of young women were placed in a box, from which they were drawn by the men as chance directed. In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius decided to put an end to the Feast of Lupercalia, and he declared that February 14 be celebrated as St Valentine's Day.

Gradually, February 14 became a date for exchanging love messages, poems and simple gifts such as flowers.

February 14, 1903

Dept. of Commerce and Labor established

On February 14, 1903, Congress followed the lead of President Theodore Roosevelt and passed legislation that gave birth to the Department of Commerce and Labor, as well as the Bureau of Corporations. Under the charge of Secretary of Commerce and Labor George B. Cortelyou, who was appointed on February 16, the newly formed departments were charged with probing into the activities of corporations involved in interstate trade. For the president, the quick creation of these organizations was another visible symbol of his campaign to clamp down on business corruption. While these efforts proved popular with the public, they rankled business leaders who felt that Roosevelt was waging an unfair fight to limit the size and, more importantly, the profits of the nation's leading corporations. Despite his avowed stance as a trustbuster, Roosevelt was not necessarily opposed to businesses becoming profit-churning behemoths. And, he took some pains to assure the business community that the new departments were in fact "sane and conservative" steps towards cleansing corporate America. "The legislation," Roosevelt wrote in response to his critics, "was moderate. It was characterized throughout by the idea that we were not attacking corporations, but endeavoring to provide for doing away for any evil in them

 

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February 15, 1812

Tiffany is born

February 15 marks the birthday of Charles Lewis Tiffany, the man who gave the world some of its most preeminent symbols of wealth and status. Born in Killingly, Connecticut, in 1812, Tiffany headed to New York in 1837, where he and partner John B. Young opened a stationery and fancy goods shop. However, political upheaval in Europe in 1848 caused the prices of precious stones to plummet, giving Tiffany a perfect, and profitable, opening into the jewelry business. He snapped up a passel of suddenly cheap diamonds, including a few of the French Crown Jewels, which he later sold for a tidy sum, prompting the press to dub Tiffany "The King of Diamonds." Around the same time, Tiffany set about manufacturing gold jewelry. He moved rapidly to expand his business, acquiring John C. Moore's leading silver operations in 1851. Two years later, Tiffany assumed complete control of the company and re-christened it "Tiffany & Co." During the ensuing years, he opened Tiffany branches around the world and produced special items for luminaries like First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. By the time Tiffany died in 1902, his company and its products were firmly entrenched as enduring vestiges of high culture.

February 15, 1836

Biddle obtains charter for Bank of U.S.

On this day in 1836, Nicholas Biddle obtained a Pennsylvania charter for the ever-controversial second Bank of the United States. The move was a sad admission of defeat for Biddle, the embattled chief of the bank who had waged war against President Andrew Jackson throughout the early 1830s to preserve the institution's Federal status. Indeed, Biddle had legitimized the bank, transforming what, in the years immediately following its initial charter in 1816, was a seeming failure, into a viable, and even prosperous institution. But, Biddle could not fend off President Andrew Jackson, who bitterly opposed the concept of a Federal banking system. The president marshaled fierce attacks against Biddle's bank, cutting off the government's flow of deposits, as well as transferring Federal funds to various state banks. Biddle's supporters in the House, including members of the Whig party and other anti-Jacksonian forces, howled in protest and successfully pushed for the passage of a censure of the president (the resolution was later stripped from the Senate records). However, Jackson was simply too powerful an opponent and, when the bank's national charter expired in 1836, he successfully blocked Biddle's renewal efforts. The bank struggled on in Pennsylvania for a few years, before bad investments and mismanagement forced it to shut down in 1841.

February 15, 1934

FERA established

In 1932, America was plagued by poverty and unemployment, prompting President Franklin Roosevelt to call on Congress to establish a federal institution for doling out funds to the nation's needy. The result was the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), which funneled money to states and oversaw the subsequent distribution and relief efforts. FERA was a massive and costly project: the administration spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $2 billion a year, or nearly 2 percent of America's income. FERA needed a steady supply of capital and Congress was willing to oblige; on this day in 1934 legislators passed the Civil Works Emergency Relief Act, which provided an infusion of funds for the administration.

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February 22, 1879

Woolworth opens five-cent store

On this day in 1879, Frank Winfield Woolworth kicked off a retail revolution by opening the Great 5 Cents Store in Utica, New York. Pledging to sell "nothing" that cost more than a nickel, Woolworth packed his store with a smorgasbord of goods, ranging from items for the kitchen to beauty products. Though the Utica store ultimately failed, Woolworth hit pay dirt that same year when he opened another discount variety store in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The shop, which was expanded to include items that cost up to a dime, proved to be a fast success with Pennsylvanians and emboldened Woolworth to establish an empire of discount stores. The dawn of 1890s saw Woolworth's "five and ten" stores dot America's East Coast; by 1904 he had opened some 120 stores in twenty-one states, including chunks of the West and the District of Columbia. In 1911, he cemented his dominance of the burgeoning variety store field by merging with four rival companies. The move armed Woolworth with a fleet of 596 stores and, in 1912, he christened the shops with the now familiar name, F.W. Woolworth. Though WoolworthÝs stores continued to flourish during the first half of the century, the years following World War II were not so kind to the company. The sprawl of suburbs, and the attendant spread of malls, coupled with the recent rise of super-sized discount rivals like Target and Wal-Mart, ultimately spelled the end for Woolworth's. In 1997, the granddaddy of five-and-tens threw in the towel and closed its last 400 shops.

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March 3, 1873

William Green, labor leader, is born

This day in history marks the birthday of William Green, the coal miner turned union leader who ruled over the American Federation of Labor for nearly thirty years. Born in Coshocton, Ohio, in 1873, Green began working in the coal mines at the tender age of sixteen. He started his steady rise to power in the labor movement in 1900, winning the nod as the subdistrict president of the United Mine Workers (UMWA). In 1913, he became the UMWA's national secretary-treasurer. At the same time, Green also began what proved to be a lifetime involvement with the AFL: he was tabbed for the organization's executive council in 1913 and was elected president of the AFL in 1924. By the time Green ascended to the presidency, the AFL was seemingly in a state of decline; not only was it increasingly impotent in the fight against ever-powerful business leaders, but a number of workers also chafed against the AFL's insistence on organizing around "strict" craft lines. These issues hardly abated during Green's tenure and, in 1935, UMWA chief John L. Lewis, frustrated with the drift of the AFL, formed the Committee for Industrial Organizations (CIO). Though the CIO initially existed within the folds of the AFL, Green and Lewis were hardly comfortable bedfellows: neither man was prone to share power and Green attempted to exercise tight control over the CIO. The situation rapidly deteriorated, leading to a series of nasty conflicts and Green's high-profile expulsion of the CIO from the AFL in 1936. Green held the spot atop the AFL until passing away in 1952.

March 3, 1873

"Salary Grab Act" is passed

On this day in 1873, members of Congress indulged their lust for money and passed what has since come to be known as "The Salary Grab Act," a bill that boosted legislator's salaries by a staggering 50 percent. And, in case the raise didn't sufficiently stuff their coffers, the bill also paved the way for the pay increase to be effective retroactively for the past two years. Lest they look too selfish, Congress also doubled the salaries of the President, as well as the Supreme Court Justices. But, the bill stirred a storm of protest, as the public screamed for the raise to be repealed. Congress eventually acceded to the public's demands and killed the "Salary Grab Act."

March 3, 1884

Supreme Court ok's greenbacks

The saga of greenbacks, the paper money first issued during the Civil War, took another turn on March 3, 1884. On this day, the Supreme Court granted Congress the power to authorize greenbacks, regardless of whether or not the nation was engulfed in a war. In the short term, the ruling was a victory for the greenback movement, whose ranks and political influence had swelled during the late 1870s and early 1880s. However, the Court's ruling couldn't stave off the eventual implosion of the movement; though proponents of populist currency kept up their fight against the gold standard, many abandoned their allegiance to greenbacks and instead tabbed silver as their preferred alternative to gold.

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March 4, 1811

First Bank of U.S. forced to liquidate

The battle between Federalists and states' rights advocates claimed a high-profile victim on March 4, 1811. On this day, the first Bank of the United States was forced to liquidate its assets and shutter its doors after suffering the slings of local bankers and state-centric politicians. Founded in 1791, the creation of the bank had been one of the first acts of the newly formed U.S. Congress. But, the bank was an almost instant source of controversy: though backed by Federal funds, the bank was essentially a private company, complete with investors, which engendered a loud and powerful chorus of critics. Some feared that the bank would become an all too potent central institution, a la the Bank of England, while merchants hoping to open their own state-based financial institutions carped over the competition from the bank's network of branch offices. The call for dissolution grew louder when it was revealed that the bank's coffers leaned heavily on foreign investments, most notably from British interests. So, even though the bank was profitable and paid out relatively handsome dividends to investors, the critics won out and forced its demise.

March 4, 1909

Hello to Harry Helmsley

"The best advice I ever got was from my mother," Harry Helmsley once noted. "It was simply, 'Buy real estate.' And like a dutiful son, I bought and bought and continue to buy throughout the country." Helmsley, who was born on this day in 1909, did indeed buy his fair share of real estate: at one point he owned twenty-seven hotels, 50,000 apartments, and the Empire State Building to boot. Owning real estate proved to be quite lucrative for Helmsley, whose net worth was estimated at $1.7 billion by Forbes magazine in 1996. These far-flung achievements belied Helmsley's rather humble origins: the son of a dry goods salesman, Helmsley opted to skip college to enter the real estate business. However, whatever Helmsley's achievements in the business world, it's likely that he will always be remembered as the husband of the notorious Leona Helmsley. Dubbed the "Queen of Mean," for her domineering rule over the duo's hotel chain, Leona bore the brunt of the scorn and punishment for her and Harry's well-publicized trial for tax evasion in the late 1980s. Leona was slapped with a stiff fine and served eighteen months in prison for her tax crimes, while Harry, who had since decayed into senility, was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial. Harry Helmsley died on January 4, 1997.

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March 6, 1819

Supreme Court weighs in on federal finance

Foes of federalism, along with Maryland's state treasury, suffered a heady defeat on this day in 1819. The source of their pain was the Supreme Court's decision in McCulloch v. Maryland, a case that centered around the question of whether or not Maryland held the power to tax all the local branches of the Bank of the United States, most notably the one located in Baltimore. Invoking the controversial principle of "federal sovereignty," the Court ruled that states could not levy taxes against U.S. government institutions. The decision held implications that wandered into sticky political territory; the Court effectively denied state legislators' attempts to exercise control over the Federal government. Moreover, while articulating the ruling, Chief Justice John Marshall affirmed Congress' right to establish a corporation such as the Bank of the United States. Though the Constitution made no specific mention of Congress creating a bank, Marshall, citing the "Hamiltonian doctrines" of "loose construction" and "implied powers," nonetheless ceded the House this power.

March 6, 1886

Knights of Labor hit picket line

On March 6, 1886, the Knights of Labor hit the picket line to protest to protest the practices of the Southwestern Railroad system. By striking against Southwestern, the Knights were also taking on the company's chief, high-flying Wall Street financier Jay Gould. Though they could hardly match Gould's vast reservoir of money, the Knights had numbers on their side: some 9,000 workers walked off the job, which effectively halted service on 5,000 miles of track. In the process, the workers landed a glancing blow at Gould's finances: the strike ultimately saddled Southwestern rail with losses totaling $3 million. The Knights were also able to impede the trans-coastal trade network that had come to depend on a fully operational rail system. Of course, the strike also exacted a sharp toll on the workers, who forfeited $900,000 in wages and eventually began to suffer from hunger. The Knights' battle against Gould and Southwestern Railroad stretched for a good two months before the strikers finally returned to work in May of 1886.

March 6, 1899

Bayer patents aspirin

On this day in 1899, the Imperial Patent Office in Berlin registers Aspirin, the brand name for acetylsalicylic acid, on behalf of the German pharmaceutical company Friedrich Bayer & Co. 

Now the most common drug in household medicine cabinets, acetylsalicylic acid was originally made from a chemical found in the bark of willow trees. In its primitive form, the active ingredient, salicin, was used for centuries in folk medicine, beginning in ancient Greece when Hippocrates used it to relieve pain and fever. Known to doctors since the mid-19thcentury, it was used sparingly due to its unpleasant taste and tendency to damage the stomach.

In 1897, Bayer employee Felix Hoffman found a way to create a stable form of the drug that was easier and more pleasant to take. (Some evidence shows that Hoffman's work was really done by a Jewish chemist, Arthur Eichengrun, whose contributions were covered up during the Nazi era.) After obtaining the patent rights, Bayer began distributing aspirin in powder form to physicians to give to their patients one gram at a time. The brand name came from "a" for acetyl, "spir" from the spirea plant (a source of salicin) and the suffix "in," commonly used for medications. It quickly became the number-one drug worldwide.

Aspirin was made available in tablet form and without a prescription in 1915. Two years later, when Bayer's patent expired during the First World War, the company lost the trademark rights to aspirin in various countries. After the United States entered the war against Germany in April 1917, the Alien Property Custodian, a government agency that administers foreign property, seized Bayer's U.S. assets. Two years later, the Bayer company name and trademarks for the United States and Canada were auctioned off and purchased by Sterling Products Company, later Sterling Winthrop, for $5.3 million.

Bayer became part of IG Farben, the conglomerate of German chemical industries that formed the financial heart of the Nazi regime. After World War II, the Allies split apart IG Farben, and Bayer again emerged as an individual company. Its purchase of Miles Laboratories in 1978 gave it a product line including Alka-Seltzer and Flintstones and One-A-Day Vitamins. In 1994, Bayer bought Sterling Winthrop's over-the-counter business, gaining back rights to the Bayer name and logo and allowing the company once again to profit from American sales of its most famous product.

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March 7, 1876

Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone

On this day in 1876, 29-year-old Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent for his revolutionary new invention--the telephone.

The Scottish-born Bell worked in London with his father, Melville Bell, who developed Visible Speech, a written system used to teach speaking to the deaf. In the 1870s, the Bells moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where the younger Bell found work as a teacher at the Pemberton Avenue School for the Deaf. He later married one of his students, Mabel Hubbard.

While in Boston, Bell became very interested in the possibility of transmitting speech over wires. Samuel F.B. Morse's invention of the telegraph in 1843 had made nearly instantaneous communication possible between two distant points. The drawback of the telegraph, however, was that it still required hand-delivery of messages between telegraph stations and recipients, and only one message could be transmitted at a time. Bell wanted to improve on this by creating a "harmonic telegraph," a device that combined aspects of the telegraph and record player to allow individuals to speak to each other from a distance.

With the help of Thomas A. Watson, a Boston machine shop employee, Bell developed a prototype. In this first telephone, sound waves caused an electric current to vary in intensity and frequency, causing a thin, soft iron plate--called the diaphragm--to vibrate. These vibrations were transferred magnetically to another wire connected to a diaphragm in another, distant instrument. When that diaphragm vibrated, the original sound would be replicated in the ear of the receiving instrument. Three days after filing the patent, the telephone carried its first intelligible message--the famous "Mr. Watson, come here, I need you"--from Bell to his assistant.

Bell's patent filing beat a similar claim by Elisha Gray by only two hours. Not wanting to be shut out of the communications market, Western Union Telegraph Company employed Gray and fellow inventor Thomas A. Edison to develop their own telephone technology. Bell sued, and the case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld Bell's patent rights. In the years to come, the Bell Company withstood repeated legal challenges to emerge as the massive American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) and form the foundation of the modern telecommunications industry.

March 7, 1889

Windom takes over as treasurer

Lawyer turned Republican legislator William Windom stepped into office as the 33rd Secretary of the Treasury on this day in 1881 and promptly set about attacking the nation's various fiscal maladies. Windom's primary task was taming the mountain of public debt that had piled up in the wake of the Civil War. Flying in the face of the drive to refund the debt through government issued bonds, Windom called on the nation's banks to ease the situation by swapping their high-interest bonds for issues that were pegged at a far lower rate. Bank leaders initially resisted the plan, prompting Windom to resort to a bit of arm twisting to win their compliance. Once executed, Windom's bond swap proved effective: though the maneuver came in at a cost of roughly $10,000 to the government, the savings generated by the interest rate charge stretched past the $10 million mark. Windom's run in the Treasury was soon cut short by the assassination of President James Garfield; after eight rather eventful months in office, Windom retired his post on November 13, 1881. However, later in the decade, Windom returned for another term as the Secretary of the Treasury, this time under the charge of President Benjamin Harrison.

March 7, 1997

Wall Street swindler heads to jail

Declaring that Steven Hoffenberg had "wreaked havoc on innocent lives," Federal Judge Robert Sweet sentenced the notorious Wall Street swindler to a twenty-year prison term. In the ruling, handed down on this day in 1997, Sweet ordered the former chief of Towers Financial Corps to pay out $462 million in restitution, as well as a $1 million in fines. Hoffenberg had been accused of pawning off vast sums of "worthless" Tower-backed bonds to unsuspecting investors. All told, Hoffenberg had conned investors out of a whopping $500 million, money which he used to fund his extravagant habits. Though this wasn't Hoffenberg's first brush with the law he confessed to a series of charges, including obstruction of justice and tax evasion, it was certainly his biggest. Indeed, Hoffenberg's attorney, Daniel Meyers, questioned the severity of Sweet's sentence. However, Robert Blackburn, associate director of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission, deemed the ruling "very reasonable" given the "horrible, massive" scope of Hoffenberg's crimes.

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March 10, 1902

Trustbusters take on Northern Securities

On his day in 1902, Attorney General Philander Knox picked up the torch of President Theodore Roosevelt's newly minted battle against "Big Business," and filed an anti-trust suit against J. P. Morgan's Northern Securities Company. The ensuing court case revolved around whether or not Northern Securities, a New Jersey-based holding concern for Morgan's sizable western railroad business, violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. In early 1904, the Supreme Court ruled against Northern Securities, handing Roosevelt and Knox a high-profile victory in their war on trusts. Thanks to the Northern Securities case, as well as his role in the stunning breakup of the Standard Oil combine in 1907, the president's reputation as a "trustbuster" grew particularly prodigious. However, Roosevelt's critics are quick to point out that he was less focused on taming the magnitude of business than on simply asserting the federal government's right to regulate corporate America. Moreover, some derided the president's "crusade" as an elaborate and popular bit of political theater that did little to curb the rise of over-sized business combines.

March 10, 1997

Nationwide is on your side?

On this day in 1997, leaders of Nationwide Insurance agreed to pay out a handsome settlement and close the books on a discrimination case that had been marshaled against their company by the U.S. Justice Department. The government's suit charged Nationwide with "redlining," the practice of refusing to hand out policies based on the location of a person's home. Under the terms of the settlement, Nationwide consented to funnel $13 million into various inner-city areas. However, even in the wake of the settlement, Nationwide's President Richard Crabtree refused to concede his company's guilt. "Certainly we do not believe we committed any illegal acts nor did our employees or agents," Crabtree insisted. "We have not been able to discover [anything] through extensive investigation internally." Despite the size of the settlement, which officials deemed the heftiest total meted out under the auspices of the Federal Fair Housing Act, advocates for equal housing opportunities remained skeptical. Shanna Smith of the National Fair Housing Alliance predicted that the government's failure to take "punitive" measures would ultimately mean that Nationwide would return to redlining in the future.

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March 14, 1812

War bonds go on sale

By the end of 1811, the United States government had tired of seeing the nation's merchant ships suffer at the hands of the British and French. Having already tried to retaliate through fiscal measures, namely an embargo that only served to hurt U.S. businesses, the government was on the verge of committing its military to what would be later known as the War of 1812. However, scrounging up resources for the war proved to be an issue, leading U.S. President James Madison to call on Congress to provide for means for bolstering the nation's defenses. On March 14, 1812, legislators heeded Madison's plea and approved the issue of the very first war bond, worth some eleven million dollars. Over the next three years of the war, Congress would authorize six more war bonds, and also hike tariffs on imports, all in the name of another battle against Great Britain.

March 14, 1816

Second Bank of U.S. is established

Proponents of a nationalized banking system won what must have seemed like a great victory on March 14, 1816. Indeed, on this day, the House of Representatives heeded President James Madison's call for a bank-based remedy to the nation's fiscal woes and voted to establish the Second Bank of the United States. The legislation soon made its way through the Senate and by the dawn of 1817, the Second Bank, complete with a twenty-year charter and $35 million in federal funding, was up and running in Philadelphia. However, this moment of glory was short lived: the Bank floundered under the lead of its first chief, William Jones. An inept fiscal manager, Jones's policies exacerbated the wounds that the United States' economy had suffered in the wake of the War of 1812. Thanks in no small part to Jones's bungling, the nation was plunged into a year-long financial panic during 1819. Although the Bank later flourished under the charge of Nelson Biddle, it didn't survive past the term of its initial charter: states' rights activists, led by President Andrew Jackson, mounted a hotly contested, though ultimately successful, drive to abolish the Bank and its network of branch offices.

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March 17, 1862

The Treasury backs greenbacks

In hopes of stopping the flood of counterfeit cash that was engulfing the nation, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned two issues of greenbacks on this day in 1862. Despite the official approval, greenbacks, the paper money minted to support the Union during the Civil War, continued to be a source of controversy during the latter half of the nineteenth century. The bills, which weren't tied to any form of metallic backing, irked conservatives and proponents of the gold standard. Still, that didn't stop the government from releasing $450 million in greenbacks during the war; nor did it prevent farmers and other pro-greenback forces from forming a political movement that briefly wielded a small measure of power during the 1870s. Indeed, though the House of Representatives attempted to stem the flow of greenbacks with the passage of the Resumption Act in 1875, the greenback movement, which had since joined forces with the Labor party was able to make some legislative inroads. The newly formed Greenback-Labor party seized some seats in the House during the 1880 election, but the paper money movement quickly lost steam, as most of its members switched their allegiance to the drive for the free coinage of silver.

March 17, 1997

T-Birds grounded and workers stranded

This day in 1997 was a dark day for employees of the Ford Motor plant in Lorain, Ohio, as the company announced layoffs that threatened to impact 2,500 employees. The layoffs were part of Ford's decision to put the breaks on various car lines produced in Lorain. Along with the stalwart Thunderbird model, Ford also stopped work on the Cougar cars that had been produced in Lorain. Ford officials cited shifting tastes and a contracting market for mid-specialty coups as the motivating factors in the move. Though both the Cougar and Thunderbird were top selling mid-specialty items, the field as a whole had suffered in recent years. According to Ford, mid-specialty sales had plummeted by 30 percent since the beginning of the 1990s.

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