September 5, 1774: The First Continental Congress opened in Philadelphia at the Carpenter's Hall. All colonies except Georgia send delegates.
May 10, 1775: The Second Continental Congress opens in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania State House, which was later renamed Independence Hall after the Declaration of Independence was signed there.
May 24, 1775: After the original President of the Second Continental Congress, Peyton Randolph of Virginia, has to leave, the Second Continental Congress elects John Hancock of Boston its President.
June 15, 1775: The Second Continental Congress selects George Washington of Virginia as Commander in Cheif of the Continental Army.
1801: Frederic Bastiat born in Bayonne, France.
March 6, 1836: Just after 5 am Santa Anna's troops charge the Alamo. Twice the attacks are repulsed. Santa Anna calls in his reserves, Deguello is sounded and the North Wall of the Alamo is breached. Travis dies on the North Wall. Crockett falls defending the Pallisade on the South side. Bowie dies inside the main structure or the low barracks. The last of the fighting is fierce hand-to-hand combat in the long barracks. Whether or not prisoners are taken, all defenders are killed. The noble stand of these brave men becomes the rallying cry for the Texas Revolution as the cry of "Remember the Alamo" will echo across Texas in the days to come.
April 21, 1836: Santa Anna is defeated at the Battle of San Jacinto.
January 1, 1863: President Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation.
September 29, 1881: Ludwig von Mises born in Vienna, Austria.
January 1, 1892: The Ellis Island Immigrant Station opens in New York City
May 8, 1899: Friedrich August von Hayek born in Vienna, Austria.
October 28, 1903: John Chamberlain, author and book reviewer extraordinaire, born.
January 1, 1907: Barry Goldwater born.
March 2, 1926: Murray N. Rothbard born in New York City.
January 1, 1942: 26 nations, including the United States, signed the Declaration of the United Nations.
January 1, 1959: Fidel Castro leads Cuban revolutionaires to victory over Fulgencio Batista.
January 2, 1971: Congress bans all cigarette ads on radio and TV.
January 2, 1974: President Nixon signs legislation requiring states to limit highway speeds to 55 mph if they want Federal Tax Dollars.
November 30, 1993: The misnamed Brady Bill (The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, 18 U.S.C. Section 922(s) and 922t) signed into law. It purports to prevent violence by reversing the presumption of innocence and forcing all Americans to prove they are law abiding before they are allowed to exercise rights guaranteed under the Second Amendment. Of course, crooks obtain their guns without this bother.
June 14, 2000: Peter McWilliams dies, choking to death on his own vomit. McWilliams, author of Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do, was awaiting sentencing after being convicted of growing medical marijuana, which he used for nausea connected with the prescribed medical treatment he was undergoing. The marijuana was legal under California law, but not under Federal law. The Federal judge had forbidden McWilliams to use marijuana for any reason, including treatment of the nausea that came to kill him.
Last revised January 4, 2003
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