In 1789, the First U.S. Congress established the Department of
the Treasury on September 2nd to manage government finances, creating a permanent institution after the Continental Congress‘s
prior efforts to fund the Revolutionary War through the issuance
of paper money.

This new department was part of Alexander Hamilton’s vision for
the new government, which included establishing national credit,
funding the national debt, and formulating economic policy.

Alexander Hamilton (1757 – 1804)

View of the east entrance of the first Treasury
Building in Washington, 1804.

On August 21, 1897, Ransom Eli Olds of Lansing, Michigan,
founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company, which would later
become Olds Motor Werks and then Oldsmobile.

Born in Geneva, Ohio, in 1864, Olds went to work for his
family’s machine-repair and engine-building business in
1883.

In 1896, Olds completed his first gasoline-powered vehicle,
and the following year he founded Olds Motor Vehicle
Company with financial backing from Samuel L. Smith,
who had made his fortune in lumber.

Ransom Eli Olds (1864 – 1950)

On July 26, 1908, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
was born when U.S. Attorney General Charles Bonaparte
orders a group of newly hired federal investigators to report
to Chief Examiner Stanley W. Finch of the Department of
Justice.

Charles Joseph Bonaparte
(June 9, 1851 – June 28, 1921)

From left is President Roosevelt with his Cabinet. Attorney General Bonaparte is the third from the left.

On June 14, 1775, the Continental Congress authorized
the enlistment of expert riflemen to serve the United
Colonies for one year.

This launched the U.S. Army as America’s first national institution, more than a year before the Declaration of Independence was published on July 4, 1776.

In Akron, Ohio, Bill Wilson and Dr. Robert Smith, two
recovering alcoholics, founded Alcoholics Anonymous,
also known as "A.A.," a 12-step rehabilitation program
that eventually helped countless people cope with
alcoholism.

Based on psychological techniques that have long been
used in suppressing certain personality traits, members
of the strictly anonymous organization control their
disease through guided group discussion and
confession.

As of 2021, AA estimated it is active in 180 countries with
an estimated membership of nearly two million—73% in
the United States and Canada.

Other addiction support groups patterned on A.A. include
Narcotics Anonymous and Gamblers Anonymous.