JFK CREATES PEACE CORPS
President Kennedy signed Executive Order #10924 today creating the Peace Corps.
Although JFK 1st talked about the possibility of a Peace Corps during his campaign in 1960, a bill had previously been introduced in the US Senate by Hubert Humphrey (D) Minnesota in 1957.
JFK sees the corps as both a means of giving young Americans to answer his call to service "...ask what you can do for your country" & to counter anti-American viewpoints around the world.*
Arlene Riley of Cal State Fullerton teaching art in Upper Volta
*JFK's brother-in-law, Sargent Shriver, will be appointed 1st director of the Peace Corps. Within just 2 years, the organization will have 7300 volunteers serving in 44 countries.
JFK greeting Peace Corps volunteers
March 1, 1969
YANKEE SLUGGER MICKEY MANTLE RETIRES
Mickey Mantle, who made his debut for the New York Yankees in right field in 1951, retired today from the game of baseball.
Mantle, born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma on October 20, 1931, dominated the American League for more than a decade.
In 1956, he won baseball's "Triple Crown" for the highest batting average, most home runs & most RBIs.*
*The Mick died at the age of 63 in Dallas, Texas in 1995. He was made a member of the Hall of Fame in 1974.
*Personal Note: Mickey was my hero as a youngster, even before JFK. All the boys in my elementary school in the late 1950s cheered for the Yankees.
March 1, 1932
LINDBERGH'S BABY BOY KIDNAPPED
Charles Lindbergh III, the 20 month old son of the famous aviator, Charles A. Lindbergh, was kidnapped today from his crib.
The Lindberghs, Charles & his wife Anne, were in their new home at Hopewell, New Jersey, when the kidnapper apparently entered the nursery by climbing up a ladder & going in through an open window.
The Lindberghs, after discovering the baby was gone, found a ransom note demanding $50,000.*
*2 months later the baby's body was found less than a mile away from the Lindbergh home. A marked bill from the ransom was traced to Bruno Hauptmann who was found guilty & electrocuted in 1935.
Charles A. Lindbergh on the witness stand
March 1, 1872
YELLOWSTONE BECOMES 1st NATIONAL PARK
President Grant signed a bill today which will create the Yellowstone National Park.
By the act passed by congress, over 1.2 million acres of public land will be set aside for preservation "from injury of spoilation, of all timber mineral deposits, national curiosity or wonders within."
*The Yellowstone National Park is within the present states of Wyoming, Montana & Idaho.
March 1, 1781
THE ARTICLES ARE RATIFIED
After 16 months of debate, the Articles of Confederation have been ratified.
The 1st constitution of the United States creates a congress with each state delegation having one vote.
There will be no executive or judicial branches of the central government.
The Articles, further, may not be changed without unanimous consent of all states.*
*The Articles are replaced in 1789 with the U.S. Constitution.
March 1, 1692
THREE WOMEN ACCUSED AS WITCHES IN SALEM
Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne, & a slave named Tituba were arrested today on the charge of practicing witchcraft.
The three women will be held pending trial.*
*More than 150 women & men will be accused & in June 1692 a special court will meet in Salem, Massachusetts. By the time the "witch hysteria" is over, 19 people will be found guilty & hanged & 1 is pressed to death under heavy weights.
