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Today in History 12/12 (Joel Roberts Poinsett)

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Joel Roberts Poinsett (Courtesy of Wikipedia)(1851) Politician and diplomat Joel Poinsett dies
Joel Poinsett, who had served in the US House of Representatives and as Minister to Mexico, dies of tuberculosis. Poinsett had seen the Flor de Nochebuena, or Christmas Eve flower, in Mexico and sent samples of the plant back to the US—where it would become known as the poinsettia.
Joel Roberts Poinsett was an American physician and diplomat. He was the first U.S. agent in South America, a member of the South Carolina legislature and the United States House of Representatives, the first United States Minister to Mexico, a Unionist leader in South Carolina during the Nullification Crisis, Secretary of War under Martin Van Buren, and a co-founder of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science and the Useful Arts.
Lived: Mar 02, 1779 – Dec 12, 1851 (age 72)
Party: Democratic Party
Spouse: Mary Izard Pringle
Education: University of Edinburgh · Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
Children: William Allston Pringle (Son) · Edward J. Pringle (Son)
Parents: Dr. Elisha Poinsett (Father) · Katherine Ann Poinsett (Mother)
Highlights
  • 1800: In 1800 Poinsett returned to Charleston hoping to pursue a military career.

  • 1807: In January, 1807, Czar Alexander and Poinsett dined at the Palace.

  • 1816: In July 1816, Poinsett traveled to New York to meet Carrera.

  • 1818: After being re-elected to the South Carolina House in 1818, he became a member of the Committee on Internal Improvements and Waterways.

  • 1828: On 12 January 1828, in Mexico City, Poinsett signed the first treaty between the United States and Mexico, the Treaty of Limits, a treaty that recognized the U.S.-Mexico border established by the 1819 Adams–Onís Treaty between Spain and the U.S.

  • 1851: He died of tuberculosis, hastened by an attack of pneumonia, in Stateburg, South Carolina, in 1851, and is buried at the Church of the Holy Cross Episcopal Cemetery.

Joel Roberts Poinsett, Secretary of War
TITLE: Joel Roberts Poinsett, Secretary of War CALL NUMBER: PGA – Fenderich, no. 182 (B size) [P&P] REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZ62-23834 (b&w film copy neg.) RIGHTS INFORMATION: No known restrictions on publication. MEDIUM: 1 print. CREATED/PUBLISHED: [no date recorded on shelflist card]
wiki/Joel_Roberts_Poinsett
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(1851) Politician and diplomat Joel Poinsett dies.
Also on this day,

1925 | World’s first motel opens in San Luis Obispo, California
Arthur Heineman opens the Motel Inn in a town midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. As people began driving longer distances, Heineman sought to offer travelers a spot for the night beyond camping. Now, they could drive up to his “motor hotel” or “motel” and sleep in comfort.
1980 | Armand Hammer buys Da Vinci notebook for $5 million
At an auction in London, the oil tycoon outbids the room for a Leonardo da Vinci notebook, from around 1508, that contains notes and drawings about water and its properties. In 1994, the notebook will be on the block again, but this time it’ll go for $30.8 million.
2003 | Keiko, the orca star of ‘Free Willy,’ dies in Norwegian fjord
After a $20 million project to reintroduce him to the wild, Keiko succumbs to pneumonia off the coast of Norway. In captivity since he was a pup, Keiko never reintegrated with wild orca pods and continued to seek out human contact during his year and a half in the open ocean.

Today in History 12/12/17

This photo from 1942, provided by Boys Town, shows Boys Town founder Father Edward Flanagan, center, being surrounded by his charges (© Boys Town/AP)(1917) Father Edward Flanagan establishes Boys Town near Omaha
The 31-year-old Irish priest opens the doors to a Victorian mansion as a home for troubled boys. He starts out with just six kids, but numbers will quickly grow. Thanks to help from local citizens, Flanagan will move the home to a large facility outside of Omaha to serve more children.
Boys Town, formerly Girls and Boys Town and Father Flanagan's Boys' Home, is a non-profit organization dedicated to caring for its children and families, with national headquarters in the village of Boys Town, Nebraska. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated as a National Historic Landmark on February 4, 1985.
Founder: Edward J. Flanagan
Address: 14100 Crawford Street, Boys Town, NE 68010
Phone: (402) 498-1141
Opened: 1917
Tax ID: 47-0376606
CEO: Steven E. Boes (Since 2005)

Boys Town NFS
Nebraska Family Services building in "Boys Town", Nebraska, just outside Omaha. AKA Father Flanagan's Boys' Home , W. Dodge Rd., Boys Town, Nebraska. This is the general place that the movieBoys Town was based on. A National Registered Historic Place and National Historic Landmark.

wiki/Boys_Town_(organization)
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Today in History 09/17 (United States Constitution)

The signing of the Constitution of the United States at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 (© GraphicaArtis/Getty Images)(1787) Delegates sign the Constitution in Philadelphia
Following Benjamin Franklin’s speech, delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia sign the Constitution. The day will later be observed as I Am an American Day, which will be renamed to Constitution Day and Citizenship Day.
The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States. The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government. Its first three articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the federal government is divided into three branches: the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress; the executive, consisting of the President; and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts. Articles Four, Five and Six embody concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments and of the states in relationship to the federal government. Article Seven establishes the procedure subsequently used by the thirteen States to ratify it. It is regarded as the oldest written and codified national constitution in force of the world.
Constitution of the United States, page 1
Page one of the original copy of the Constitution
wiki/United_States_Constitution
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(1787) Delegates sign the Constitution in Philadelphia.
Also on this day,

1859 | Emperor Norton I begins his 21-year reign over the US
San Franciscan Joshua A. Norton, frustrated by government bureaucracy, declares himself, ‘Norton I, Emperor of the United States.’ His edicts, including the abolition of the US Congress, endear him to many of his fellow residents, who encourage his delusions of grandeur.
1862 | Sun sets on bloodiest battle in American history as Battle of Antietam ends
George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac stems the tide of Robert E. Lee’s Confederate advance into Union territory, but the Battle of Antietam near Sharpsburg, Maryland, exacts a terrible toll with 22,000 dead, injured, or missing by the end of the bloodiest day in US military history.
1976 | NASA unveils a new spaceship Enterprise in the California desert
NASA’s new reusable orbital space vehicle, the space shuttle, is rolled out for its first public viewing in front of thousands of invited guests in Palmdale, California. It’s christened the ‘Enterprise’ after a write-in campaign by ‘Star Trek fans, and most of the show’s original cast is on hand for the unveiling.

Today in History 09/17/17

President Lincoln and General McClellan seated inside a tent on the Battlefield of Antietam (Alexander Gardner/Library of Congress)(1862) Sun sets on bloodiest battle in American history
George McClellan's Army of the Potomac stems the tide of Robert E. Lee's Confederate advance into Union territory, but the Battle of Antietam near Sharpsburg, Maryland, exacts a terrible toll with 22,000 dead, injured, or missing by the end of the bloodiest day in US military history.
The Battle of Antietam, also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the South, was fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland and Antietam Creek as part of the Maryland Campaign. It was the first field army–level engagement in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War to take place on Union soil and is the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with a combined tally of 22,717 dead, wounded, or missing.
Date: Sep 17, 1862
Maryland Campaign
Maryland Campaign, actions September 3 to 15, 1862 RED - Confederate, BLUE - Union

wiki/Battle_of_Antietam
Star Trek' cast members (from left) Leonard Nimoy, George Takei and DeForest Kelly in front of the unveiling of the Space Shuttle in Palmdale, California, in 1976 (© AP)(1976) NASA unveils a new spaceship in the California desert
NASA's new reusable orbital space vehicle, the space shuttle, is rolled out for its first public viewing in front of thousands of invited guests in Palmdale, California. It's christened the 'Enterprise' after a write-in campaign by 'Star Trek fans, and most of the show's original cast is on hand for the unveiling.
Space Shuttle Enterprise was the first orbiter of the Space Shuttle system. Rolled out on September 17, 1976, it was built for NASA as part of the Space Shuttle program to perform atmospheric test flights after being launched from a modified Boeing 747. It was constructed without engines or a functional heat shield, and was therefore not capable of spaceflight.
Manufacturer: Rockwell International
Space Shuttle Enterprise in launch configuration
Low angle view of gantry and Space Shuttle Enterprise in launch position on the Vandenberg Air Force Base's Space Launch Complex 6 (commonly known as "SLICK 6"), in California, during the ready-to-launch checks to verify launch procedures.

wiki/Space_Shuttle_Enterprise
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