On January 17, 1961, in this farewell address, President Dwight Eisenhower warned against the establishment of a “military-industrial complex.”

Following the assassination of President James A. Garfield by a disgruntled job seeker, Congress passed the Pendleton Act, establishing a merit-based system of selecting government officials and supervising their work. It was signed into law on January 16, 1883, by President Chester A. Arthur, who had become an ardent reformer after Garfield’s assassination.

Born on January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King, Jr. was a key leader of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s in the United States. King and his followers fought for the equal rights and equal justice that the United States Constitution ensures for all its citizens. The great legal milestones achieved by [...]

Born on January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King, Jr. was a key leader of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s in the United States. President Lyndon B. Johnson issued this proclamation for a national day of mourning after King was assasinated on April 4, 1968.

Approved by President George Washington on January 13, 1794, this act called for the Flag of the United States to have fifteen stripes and fifteen stars, reflecting the admission of Vermont and Kentucky to the Union. Faced with the admission of five more states in 1818, the flag design would return to the original thirteen [...]

On January 12, 1932, after winning a special election to fill the remaining months of her late husband’s term, Hattie Caraway became the first woman to be elected to the United States Senate.

Alexander Hamilton was born on January 11, 1757, the illegitimate son of a poor itinerant merchant. He would go on to become a lieutenant colonel in the American Revolution, a close confidant to George Washington, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and first Secretary of the Treasury.