On October 3, 1863, expressing gratitude for a pivotal Union Army
victory at Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln announced that
the nation will celebrate an official Thanksgiving holiday on
November 26, 1863.

The speech, which was actually written by Secretary of State
William Seward, declared that the fourth Thursday of every
November thereafter would be considered an official U.S.
holiday of Thanksgiving.

William Henry Seward
(May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872)

Under escort from the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division, nine
Black students entered all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas on September 25, 1957. Three weeks earlier, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus had surrounded the school with National
Guard troops to prevent its federal court-ordered racial integration.

After a tense standoff, President Dwight D. Eisenhower federalized
the Arkansas National Guard and sent 1,000 army paratroopers to
Little Rock to enforce the court order.

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower
(October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969)

In a controversial executive action, President Gerald Ford pardoned
his disgraced predecessor Richard M. Nixon for any crimes he may
have committed or participated in while in office.

Ford later defended this action before the House Judiciary Committee, explaining that he wanted to end the national divisions created by the Watergate scandal.

President Richard Nixon (left) briefs the then House Minority Leader Gerald Ford at the White House October 13, 1973.

The wreckage of Korean Air Lines Flight 007.     
    
    
    
   

On September 1, 1983,Soviet jet fighters intercepted a Korean
Airlines passenger flight in Russian airspace and shot the plane
down, killing  269 passengers and crew-members. The incident dramatically increased tensions between the Soviet Union and
the United States.