Congress set January 7, 1789 as the date by which states
are required to choose electors for the country’s first-ever
presidential election. A month later, on February 4, George
Washington was elected president by state electors and
sworn into office on April 30, 1789.

As it did in 1789, the United States still uses the Electoral
College system, which today gives all American citizens
over the age of 18 the right to vote for electors, who in
turn vote for the president.

The president and vice president are the only elected
federal officials chosen by the Electoral College instead
of by direct popular vote.

CAMILLE
BOHANNON

Kennedy ran for president in the 1960 presidential election. His
campaign gained momentum after the first televised presidential
debates in American history, and he was elected president,
narrowly defeating Republican opponent Richard Nixon, the
incumbent vice president.

  
CAMILLE
BOHANNON

Hiram King "Hank" Williams
(September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953)

Williams was a singer-songwriter, regarded as one of the
most significant and influential American singers and
songwriters of the 20th century. Williams recorded 55
singles that reached  the top 10 of the Billboard Country
& Western Best Sellers chart, five of which were released
posthumously, and 12 of which reached No.1.               

   
ROSS SIMPSON

Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is 70 years old today.

Washington is an actor, producer, and director. Known for 
dramatic roles on stage and screen, The New York Times
named him the greatest actor of the 21st century in 2020.

He has received several accolades, including two Academy
Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony Award as
well as nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Grammy
Award.

On December 26, 1972, former 33rd President of the United
States Harry S. Truman died in Independence, Missouri.

Then-President Richard Nixon called Truman a man of
“forthrightness and integrity” who had a deep respect
for the office he held and for the people he served, and
who “supported and wisely counseled each of his
successors.” Truman was in office from April 12, 1945
to January 20, 1953.

On December 5, 1972, Truman was admitted to Kansas City’s
Research Hospital and Medical Center with pneumonia.

He developed multiple organ failure, fell into a coma, and
died at 7:50 a.m. on December 26, at the age of 88.

Truman in September 1917.

Harry and Bess Truman on their wedding
day, June 28, 1919.

President Harry Truman holds up a copy of the Chicago
Daily Tribune declaring his "defeat" to Thomas Dewey
in the presidential election, St Louis, Missouri, in Nov.
1948. 

Truman was so widely expected to lose the 1948 election that
the Chicago Tribune had printed papers with this erroneous
headline when few returns were in.

The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August
6 and 9, 1945 respectively, were authorized by President
Truman at the end of World War II.