George Washington (left) lays the cornerstone of the White House.

The cornerstone was laid for a presidential residence in the newly
designated capital city of Washington, D.C. In 1800, President
John Adams became the first president to reside in the executive
mansion, which soon became known as the “White House” because
its white-gray Virginia freestone contrasted strikingly with the red
brick of nearby buildings.

CAMILLE
BOHANNON

1975

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.

The USS Nautilus (above), the world’s first nuclear submarine,was commissioned by the U.S. Navy.

The Nautilus was constructed under the direction of U.S. Navy
Captain Hyman G. Rickover, a Russian-born engineer who
joined the U.S. atomic program in 1946. In 1947, he was put in
charge of the navy’s nuclear-propulsion program and began work
on an atomic submarine. 

In 1952, the Nautilus‘ keel was laid by President Harry S. Truman,
and on January 21, 1954, first lady Mamie Eisenhower broke a
bottle of champagne across its bow as it was launched into the
Thames River at Groton, Connecticut.

For the first time in U.S. history, a debate between major party
presidential candidates is shown on television.

The presidential hopefuls, John F. Kennedy, a Democratic senator
of Massachusetts and Richard M. Nixon, the vice president of
the United States, met in a Chicago studio to discuss U.S.
domestic matters.