Some six weeks after the United States formally entered
the First World War, the U.S Congress passed the Selective
Service Act on May 18, 1917, giving the U.S. president the
power to draft soldiers.
By the end of World War I in November 1918, some 24 million
men had registered under the Selective Service Act. Of the
almost 4.8 million Americans who eventually served in the
war, some 2.8 million had been drafted.
May 17, 2025 – Armed Forces Day is Observed on the third
Saturday every May, this is a day dedicated to paying tribute
to men and women currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.
First observed on 20 May 1950, the day was created on 31
August 1949 as President Harry S. Truman led the effort to
establish a single holiday for citizens to come together and
thank military members for their patriotic service in support
of the republic and national interests and as an undeniable fact of American life.
Secretary of Defense Louis A. Johnson announced the creation
to honor Americans serving in the five U.S. military branches –
the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force and
U.S. Coast Guard – following the consolidation of the military
services in the U.S. Department of Defense as part of a modern
U.S. Armed Forces.
On 19 May 2017, President Donald Trump reaffirmed the
Armed Forces Day holiday, marking the 70th anniversary
since the creation of the Department of Defense.
On 15 May 2020, Armed Forces Day honored
the newly established United States Space
Force for the first time.
On May 13, 1846, the U.S. Congress declared war on Mexico,
following a request from President James K. Polk. This
declaration marked the beginning of the Mexican-American
War, a conflict rooted in disputes over Texas and other
territories.
After nearly two years of fighting, peace was established by the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed on February 2, 1848. The
Rio Grande was made the southern boundary of Texas, and
California and New Mexico were ceded to the United States.
In return, the United States paid Mexico the sum of $15 million
and agreed to settle all claims of U.S. citizens against Mexico.
On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson (above) issued a
presidential proclamation that officially established the first
national Mother’s Day holiday to celebrate America’s mothers.
The idea for a “Mother’s Day” is credited by some to Julia Ward
Howe (1872) and by others to Anna Jarvis (1907), who both
suggested a holiday dedicated to a day of peace.
Many individual states celebrated Mother’s Day by 1911, but it
was not until Wilson lobbied Congress in 1914 that Mother’s
Day was officially set on the second Sunday of every May.
In his first Mother’s Day proclamation, Wilson stated that the
holiday offered a chance to “[publicly express] our love and
reverence for the mothers of our country.”
J. C. Leyendecker painted ‘Pot of Hyacinths’ to be used
on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post’s May 30, 1914
issue.
President Trump (above) said he is directing the Bureau of
Prisons, Department of Justice, the FBI and Department
of Homeland Security to reopen a "substantially enlarged
and rebuilt" Alcatraz, "to house America’s most ruthless
and violent offenders."
The island was developed in the mid-19th century with
facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a
military prison. In 1934, the island was converted into
a federal prison, Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary.
Alcatraz ultimately closed in 1963 after its island operations
proved far more costly than mainland-based prisons.
(FOX NEWS)
