This 1867 drawing by Alfred Waud, “The First Vote,” depicts Black
men waiting in line to cast ballots in Southern states.

On January 8, 1867, African American men gained the right to vote in the
District of Columbia despite the veto of President Andrew Johnson. The
Republican-controlled senate overrode Johnson by a vote of 29-10
three years before a constitutional amendment granted the right to
vote to all men regardless of race.

As evidenced by his veto, Johnson valued reconciliation with the former Confederacy over racial equality and also opposed the Fourteenth
Amendment, which made freed slaves citizens. His opposition to 
the Republicans’ views on Reconstruction would define his presidency 
and lead to his becoming the first president ever to be impeached.

Though Johnson was unable to stop Congress from granting voting 
rights to the African Americans of D.C., he spent much of his term in 
office vetoing the bills of the so-called Radical Reconstructionist.  

Andrew Johnson (1808-1875)

Johnson was the 17th U.S. president,
assumed office after the assassination
of Abraham Lincoln.

JOHN BELMONT

In Oslo, Norway, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. received the Nobel
Peace Prize on this day in 1964. He was the youngest person
to receive the award.

CAMILLE
BOHANNON

Retired actor Charles Robert Redford Jr. is 83 today.

1976

1969

SANDY KOZEL

On this day in 1945, the American B-29 bomber, known as the Enola
Gay,(above) dropped the first atomic bomb on an inhabited area. The bomb named "Little  Boy" was dropped over the center of Hiroshima,
Japan. An estimated 140,000 people were killed that morning.

JOHN BELMONT

In Oslo, Norway on this day in 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
received the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the youngest person
to receive the award at the age of 35.

The first domestic passenger jet flight took place in the U.S. on
this day in 1958 when 111 passengers flew from New York to
Miami on a National Airlines Boeing 707 leased from Pan
American World Airways. In 1959 the Lockheed L-188 Electra
was introduced into the fleet. It was the only turboprop aircraft
type ever operated by the airline.

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