What was the first labor union in America?
The first labor union in America was the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers (shoemakers), formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1794.
The U.S. government instituted a system of standardized route numbers in 1925 to simplify route directions. Perhaps the nation’s most well-known road, Route 66, opened in 1932 to link Chicago and Los Angeles. In December 1940, the first freeway opened, the Arroyo Seco Parkway in Los Angeles. Not until 1956 did the government pass the…
Kilroy was the hero of graffiti scrawled by countless U.S. servicemen during World War II, proclaiming “Kilroy was here,” but he may never have existed in person. Sergeant Francis J. Kilroy of the U.S. Air Corps and James J. Kilroy, an inspector in a Massachusetts shipyard, have both been suggested as the namesake of the…
Big Ben in London is not a clock. It is a 13.5-ton bell in the clock tower of England’s Houses of Parliament. Cast in 1858, the bell’s installation was directed by the rotund Sir Benjamin Hall, commissioner of works. The bell was originally to be called Saint Stephen’s, but the British newspapers renamed it Big…
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, was created in 1933 to protect against bank failure by insuring deposits in eligible banks. It is entitled to borrow up to $3 billion from the U.S. Treasury. The FDIC has not yet had to use that privilege.
Reported quarterly, the GNP (Gross National Product) of the U.S. represents the total market value of American goods and services bought for final use during a one-year period. Considered the most comprehensive measure of U.S. economic activity, it includes consumer purchases, private investment, and government spending.
The two Allied armies from America and Germany met on April 25, 1945, on the Elbe River at the town of Torgau. The Americans had been advancing from the west and the Russians from the east.