May 26, 1868: President Andrew Johnson, Impeached by the House, Is Acquitted by the Senate May 26, 1868: President Andrew Johnson, Impeached by the House, Is Acquitted by the Senate
"The greatest of all questions for the American people is, whether amongst all the troubles and changes of this and coming ages the popular respect for the forms of law, for j...
May 26, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac
May 25, 1977: ‘Star Wars’ Opens in Theaters May 25, 1977: ‘Star Wars’ Opens in Theaters
The following review of the first Star Wars film was written by Robert Hatch, The Nation’s longtime film critic, as well as former managing editor and executive editor. Years from now, long after the last bucket of popcorn has been eaten at the last neighborhood showing of Star Wars, film buffs will be regaling one another with recollections of their favorite scenes and persons: the frontier bar patronized by the offspring of improbable matings (I liked the elephant/crocodile); the entrapment within a huge garbage compacter (courtesy of Edgar Allen Poe); the deal with cold-light swords; the bombing run down a narrow chasm to the one vulnerable spot in the Death Star; the poignant falling out of the two robots in a Beau Geste stretch of desert; the amiable but quick-tempered 7-foot man/bear navigator of the space ship; the bustling little brown-habited dwarfs with flashlight eyes, who sell second-hand automatons from a cave in the wilderness; and, of course, Luke Skywalker, the very fair-haired boy who discovers that he too possesses the Force. All in all, it is an outrageously successful, what will be called a “classic,” compilation of nonsense, largely derived but thoroughly reconditioned. I doubt that anyone will ever match it, though the imitations must already be on the drawing boards. May 25, 1977 To mark The Nation’s 150th anniversary, every morning this year The Almanac will highlight something that happened that day in history and how The Nation covered it. Get The Almanac every day (or every week) by signing up to the e-mail newsletter.
May 25, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac
May 24, 1883: The Brooklyn Bridge Opens May 24, 1883: The Brooklyn Bridge Opens
"The ferry companies noted a great falling off in receipts."
May 24, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac
May 23, 1911: The New York Public Library Opens on 42nd Street May 23, 1911: The New York Public Library Opens on 42nd Street
“A study of the floor plans of the building, and a journey through it, disclose at once the cheering fact that much thought and care have been spent on the needs of the resea...
May 23, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac
May 22, 1967: Langston Hughes Dies May 22, 1967: Langston Hughes Dies
"We know we are beautiful. And ugly too."
May 22, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac
May 21, 1961: Famously Hospitable Southerners Greet Freedom Riders With Death Threats and Riots May 21, 1961: Famously Hospitable Southerners Greet Freedom Riders With Death Threats and Riots
“Boy, what you got to smile about? You in jail, you know.” “Sheriff,” he answered, “you just wouldn’t understand. I’m smiling because I&rs...
May 21, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac
May 20, 1927: Charles Lindbergh Takes Flight for France May 20, 1927: Charles Lindbergh Takes Flight for France
"A marvelous achievement was accomplished in a faultless manner by a young American who embodies within himself the finest American characteristics."
May 20, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac
May 19, 1925: Malcolm X Is Born May 19, 1925: Malcolm X Is Born
“This is the story of a man struck down on his way to becoming a revolutionary and a liberator of his people.”
May 19, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac
May 18, 1917: Congress Passes the Selective Service Act, Instituting a Mandatory Military Draft May 18, 1917: Congress Passes the Selective Service Act, Instituting a Mandatory Military Draft
"I regard the principle of conscription of life as a flat contradiction of all our cherished ideals of individual freedom, democratic liberty, and Christian teaching."
May 18, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac
May 17, 1954: Supreme Court Rules Segregation Unconstitutional in ‘Brown v. Board of Ed.’ May 17, 1954: Supreme Court Rules Segregation Unconstitutional in ‘Brown v. Board of Ed.’
"The decision was a fine antidote to the blight of McCarthyism and kindred fevers."
May 17, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac