This 1867 drawing by Alfred Waud, “The First Vote,” depicts Black
men waiting in line to cast ballots in Southern states.

On January 8, 1867, African American men gained the right to vote in the
District of Columbia despite the veto of President Andrew Johnson. The
Republican-controlled senate overrode Johnson by a vote of 29-10
three years before a constitutional amendment granted the right to
vote to all men regardless of race.

As evidenced by his veto, Johnson valued reconciliation with the former Confederacy over racial equality and also opposed the Fourteenth
Amendment, which made freed slaves citizens. His opposition to 
the Republicans’ views on Reconstruction would define his presidency 
and lead to his becoming the first president ever to be impeached.

Though Johnson was unable to stop Congress from granting voting 
rights to the African Americans of D.C., he spent much of his term in 
office vetoing the bills of the so-called Radical Reconstructionist.  

Andrew Johnson (1808-1875)

Johnson was the 17th U.S. president,
assumed office after the assassination
of Abraham Lincoln.

Young Elvis poses for a 1937 family portrait with his parents Vernon
Presley and Gladys Presley in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977)
("THE FINAL SHOW" 26th June 1977 – INDIANAPOLIS)

Known as "The King of Rock n’ Roll," he rose to prominence in
the late 1950s, becoming a legendary presence in cultural history
and the best-selling solo artist in the history of pop. He released
such #1 singles as "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock," and "Stuck
on You." 

MIKE GRACIA

The Senate meeting to consider the Articles of Impeachment against
President William Clinton. Chief Justice William Rehnquist presiding.

President Clinton went on trial before the Senate on this day in 1999. It was
only the second time in U.S. history that an impeached president had gone
to trial. Clinton was acquitted February 12 of perjury and obstruction of
justice charges.
 

  
Hillary Clinton stood next to Bill Clinton as he delivered his
strongest public denial of allegations that he had an affair
with Monica Lewinsky, during a press conference at the
White House.

Nancy Kerrigan cries in pain after the attack.

Former figure skater Nancy Kerrigan (above) was clubber on her right leg
by an assailant on this day in 1994. The attacker was hired by the ex-
husband of her rival Tonya Harding.  Four men were later sentenced to
prison for the attack, including Harding’s ex-husband.

Nancy Kerrigan turned 50 last October.

Tonya Maxene Price (née Harding) became 49 in
November.

Construction began on the Golden Gate Bridge, as workers began excavating
3.25 million cubic feet of dirt for the structure’s huge anchorages.

Following the Gold Rush boom that began in 1849, speculators realized the
land north of San Francisco Bay would increase in value in direct proportion
to its accessibility to the city. Soon, a plan was hatched to build a bridge that
would span the Golden Gate, a narrow, 400-foot deep strait that serves as the mouth of the San Francisco Bay, connecting the San Francisco Peninsula with
the southern end of Marin County.

Although the idea went back as far as 1869, the proposal took root in 1916. A
former engineering student, James Wilkins, working as a journalist with the
San Francisco Bulletin, called for a suspension bridge with a center span of
3,000 feet, nearly twice the length of any in existence. Wilkins’ idea was
estimated to cost an astounding $100 million. So, San Francisco’s city
engineer, Michael M. O’Shaughnessy (he’s also credited with coming up
with the name Golden Gate Bridge), began asking bridge engineers whether
they could do it for less.

Engineer and poet Joseph Strauss, a 5-foot tall Cincinnati-born Chicagoan,
said he could.

Eventually, O’Shaughnessy and Strauss concluded they could build a pure suspension bridge within a practical range of $25-30 million with a main span
at least 4,000 feet. The construction plan still faced opposition, including
litigation, from many sources. By the time most of the obstacles were cleared,
the Great Depression of 1929 had begun, limiting financing options, so officials convinced voters to support $35 million in bonded indebtedness, citing the
jobs that would be created for the project. However, the bonds couldn’t be
sold until 1932, when San-Francisco based Bank of America agreed to buy
the entire project in order to help the local economy.