On May 19, 1919 House Joint Resolution 1 was introduced. The resolution proposed a Constitutional amendment extending the right to vote to women. The resolution was passed in the House on May 21, and in the Senate on June 4. Once the proposed amendment passed Congress, it was sent to states for ratification. On August 18, 1920 the amendment was ratified and became part of the U.S. Constitution.
House Joint Resolution 1, 5/19/1919, HR 66A-B6, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives (ARC 1633885)
(via todaysdocument)
“Indian Territory That Garden of the World, Open for Homestead and Pre-Emption”
Sunday, May 20 marks the 150th Anniversary of the Homestead Act, passed on May 20, 1862. It greatly accelerated settlement of the western United States, providing 160 acres of free land to qualified citizens, but this often came at the expense of displaced Native Americans.
via DocsTeach (Use the DocsTeach app? You can find Homestead Act activities under the “Rise of the Industrial US” topic.)
Sergeant Franklin Williams, home on leave from army duty, with his best girl Ellen Hardin, splitting a soda. They met at Douglas High School. Baltimore, Maryland, May 1942
(via todaysdocument)
Bogie & Bacall with the B17 “Hell’s Angels” of the 303rd Bombardment Group during the war bond tour (1944) (via)
The Time Groucho Marx Did the Charleston on Hitler’s Grave
Groucho Marx once visited the place Hitler committed suicide. And danced on it.
This is an amazing, sad, and hilarious story.
Now is as good as ever to tell you how much we love Mental Floss - both the magazine and their tumblr. Check out both!
The beginnings of American manned spaceflight. From the sound barrier to the moon.
Other sets in the series:
Next time you feel bad because you don’t fit into some social beauty standard, please remember that dueling scars used to be de rigueur among Junkers and other landed nobility of Prussia, Germany, etc. They were a signifier, a way to let people of your upper class know that you were like them (because you were the type of person who a) could afford to have hobbies and b) had hobbies like fencing), and as a way to show how badass you were (sure, you may have lost the duel, but you can take a blow, which is just as important).
As with most trends, people outside the originating group began to emulate the behavior and scarred themselves with razors. With a simple cut, it’s easy for everything to heal nicely enough, so some dudes would put horsehair (an irritant) into the wounds, so it would scar up nice and big.
Outside of the social signifier aspects, when the Third Reich was born, it also helped you to look like you came straight from Central Casting, like SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny here.
