TIM MAGUIRE

The lead singer of the band Ronnie Van Zant, vocalist and guitarist Steve Gaines, backing vocalist Cassier Gaines,
and the managing crew including assistant road manager
Dean Kilpatrick, died in the crash.

On October 18, 1867, the U.S. formally took possession of Alaska
after purchasing the territory from Russia for $7.2 million, or less
than two cents an acre. Indigenous peoples settled the unforgiving territory thousands of years earlier.

The Alaska purchase comprised 586,412 square miles, about twice
the size of Texas, and was championed by William Henry Seward,
the enthusiastically expansionist secretary of state under President Andrew Johnson.

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

Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845)

Jackson served as the seventh president of the United States
from 1829 to 1837.

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.

John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826)

On October 5, 1947, President Harry Truman (left/above) made the
first-ever televised presidential address from the White House,
asking Americans to cut back on their use of grain in order to
help starving Europeans.

At the time of Truman’s food-conservation speech, Europe was
still recovering from World War II and suffering from famine.

Truman, the 33rd commander in chief, worried that if the U.S. didn’t provide food aid, his administration’s Marshall Plan for European economic recovery would fall apart.

He asked farmers and distillers to reduce grain use and requested
that the public voluntarily forgo meat on Tuesdays, eggs and
poultry on Thursdays and save a slice of bread each day.

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)