First-edition cover

George Orwell’s novel of a dystopian future, 1984, was
published on June 8, 1949. The novel’s all-seeing leader,
known as “Big Brother,” became a universal symbol for
intrusive government and oppressive bureaucracy.

George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair ) who was born in India,
the son of a British civil servant.

Eric Arthur Blair
(25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950)

Robert Clifton Weaver (December 29, 1907 – July 17, 1997)

On January 13, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed
the first African American cabinet member, making Robert C.
Weaver (above) head of the Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD), the agency that develops and implements
national housing policy and enforces fair housing laws.

In keeping with his vision for a Great Society, Johnson sought
to improve race relations and eliminate urban blight. As many
of the country’s African Americans lived in run-down inner-city
areas, appointing Weaver was an attempt to show his African
American constituency that he meant business on both counts.

On August 2, 1776, members of Congress affixed their signatures
to an enlarged copy of the Declaration of Independence.

Fifty-six congressional delegates in total signed the document,
including some who were not present at the vote approving the declaration. The delegates signed by state from North to South, beginning with Josiah Bartlett of New Hampshire and ending
with George Walton of Georgia. John Dickinson of Pennsylvania
and James Duane, Robert Livingston and John Jay of New York
refused to sign. Carter Braxton of Virginia; Robert Morris of Pennsylvania; George Reed of Delaware; and Edward Rutledge
of South Carolina opposed the document but signed in order to
give the impression of a unanimous Congress. Five delegates
were absent: Generals George Washington, John Sullivan,
James Clinton and Christopher Gadsden and Virginia Governor
Patrick Henry.        

The signed Declaration of Independence is displayed next to
the Constitution in the National Archives.

President Lyndon Johnson signs Medicare Bill into law as former President Harry Truman watches.

On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare,
a health insurance program for elderly Americans, into law. At the
bill-signing ceremony, which took place at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, former President Harry Truman was
enrolled as Medicare’s first beneficiary and received the first
Medicare card.

Johnson wanted to recognize Truman, who, in 1945, had become
the first president to propose national health insurance, an initiative
that was opposed at the time by Congress.

(E pluribus unum, a Latin phrase meaning “Out of Many One.”)

On June 20, 1782, Congress adopted the Great Seal of the United 
States after six years of discussion.

Late on the afternoon of July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams
"to bring in a device for a seal for the United States of America."