Throwback Thursday December 8th!

Throwback Thursday December 8th!

• 1765: American inventor Eli Whitney was born in Westborough, Massachusetts. He was the inventor of the cotton gin, which dramatically increased the production of cotton.
  (Shapers of Society)
• 1863: President Abraham Lincoln issued a preliminary plan for post-Civil War Reconstruction. Radical Republicans in Congress, worried this plan was not strict enough, passed a stricter plan that Lincoln refused to sign. The public letter denouncing the president's actions known as the Wade-Davis Manifesto is available here!
  (Defining Moments)
• 1886: Mexican mural painter Diego Rivera was born in Guanajuato, Mexico. He is widely considered the greatest Mexican painter of the 20th century, if not all time. He was married to fellow Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
  (World Biography)
• 1915: Screenwriter Ernest Lehman was born in New York City. Overall he received 6 Oscar nominations. Some of his best known films are North by Northwest (1959) and The Sound of Music (1965).
  (World Biography)
• 1941: President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave an address to Congress, often called the "Day of Infamy" speech. In it, Roosevelt asked Congress to respond to the Pearl Harbor attack by declaring war against Japan. Read excerpts of the speech and the joint resolution here.
  (Defining Moments)
• 1941: Japanese American Kiyo Sato was a student at Sacramento Junior College at the time of the Pearl Harbor attacks. Read her recollection of the fear and uncertainty she felt following the Pearl Harbor attack ("wherever I go I feel the daggers of hate"). Eventually, Japanese Americans were put into internment camps for the duration of World War II.
  (Defining Moments)
• 1985: NBA player Dwight Howard was born in Atlanta, Georgia. The eight-time NBA All-Star gave this quote after losing the NBA championship, "It hurts a lot, but you can learn a lot from losing. Sometimes you've got to lose to win."
  (Sports Champions)