Celebrations Today – June 18

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Bernard Mizeki (Anglican and Episcopal Church)
  • Elisabeth of Schönau
  • Gregorio Barbarigo
  • Leontius, Hypatius and Theodulus
  • Marina the Monk (Maronite Church, Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria)
  • June 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Autistic Pride Day (International)
• Foundation Day (Benguet)
• Human Rights Day (Azerbaijan)
• National Day (Seychelles)
• Queen Mother’s Birthday (Cambodia)
• Waterloo Day (United Kingdom)

Celebrations Today – USA: June 18

National Go Fishing Day
National Splurge Day
National Turkey Lovers’ Day – Third Sunday in June
Father’s Day – Third Sunday in June
National Autistic Pride Day
International Panic Day
International Picnic Day
International Sushi Day

Today in US History: June 18

I Want You

I Want You for the U.S. Army,
James Montgomery Flagg, artist,
1917.
American Treasures of the Library of Congress

James Montgomery Flagg, creator of this illustration of Uncle Sam, was born on June 18, 1877, in Pelham Manor, New York. Flagg claimed that his illustration, an indelible American icon, had become the most famous poster in the world. Dressed in his own Uncle Sam suit, he used himself as the model for this poster and his other Uncle Sam illustrations.

An illustrator and portrait artist best known for his commercial art, Flagg contributed forty-six works in support of the war effort during World War I. Leslie’s Weekly first published his picture of Uncle Sam as the cover of the July 6, 1916, issue with the title “What Are You Doing for Preparedness?” More than four million copies were printed between 1917 and 1918. The image also was used extensively during World War II.

In 1961, Congress passed a resolution that officially recognized meat packer Samuel Wilson (1766-1854) as Uncle Sam’s namesake. Wilson, who supplied meat to the army during the War of 1812, is reputed to have been a man of great fairness, reliability, and honesty who was devoted to his country.

Be a U.S. Marine!
James Montgomery Flagg, artist,
circa 1918.
Prints & Photographs Online Catalog

James Montgomery Flagg,
Arnold Genthe, photographer,
September 28, 1915.
Prints & Photographs Online Catalog

Wake Up America! Civilization Calls Every Man, Woman and Child!,
James Montgomery Flagg, artist,
1917.
Prints & Photographs Online Catalog

• Flagg’s I Want You for the U.S. Army is one of three pieces produced during World War I on exhibit in the Memory section of American Treasures of the Library of Congress. The other two are:
  • Joseph Pennell’s lithograph, Submarines in Dry Dock, featured in The War Effort;
  • Boardman Robinson’s lithographic crayon, ink, and gouache on paper, Europe, 1916, featured in A Pacifist Viewpoint.
• Search across the American Memory collections on Uncle Sam to find other images and references to this iconic figure.
• Search in the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog for images related to Flagg, including more than fifty of his drawings, portraits of Flagg and his family members, and parodies of Flagg’s famous “I Want You” poster.
• For more images and information about Uncle Sam and his British counterpart, John Bull, see the online exhibition John Bull & Uncle Sam: Four Centuries of British-American Relations. Most of the Uncle Sam and John Bull images in this exhibition are in the exhibit’s introduction.

The War of 1812

The Fall of Washington—or Maddy in Full Flight (detail),
Engraving,
London: S. W. Fores,
1814.
Prints & Photographs Online Catalog

On June 18, 1812, President James Madison signed a declaration of war against Great Britain, marking the beginning of the War of 1812. Frustrated by Britain’s maritime practices and support of Native American resistance to western expansion, the U.S. entered the war with ambitious plans to conquer Canada, a goal that was never realized.

The strength of the British army proved too great for U.S. forces. Both on land and at sea, U.S. troops suffered great losses. In August 1814, British troops entered Washington, D.C., and burned the Capitol and the White House. By December, both the Americans and the British recognized that it was time to end the conflict. Representatives of the two nations met in Belgium on December 24 and signed the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the war and restored previously recognized boundaries between the United States and British territory in North America.

Funeral of Hiram Cronk, American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1905.
The Life of a City: Early Films of New York, 1898-1906

Hiram Cronk, who was thought to have been the last surviving veteran of the War of 1812, died in 1905 at the age of 105. This film shows his funeral procession through Brooklyn, New York, which included a hearse drawn by four black horses, escorted by veterans of the Civil War.

Learn more about the War of 1812:

• View A Guide to the War of 1812 for links available through the Library of Congress Web sites, external Web sites, and a selected bibliography on the war.
• Primary Documents in American History: The Treaty of Ghent links to the text of the treaty, related American Memory collections, Library of Congress exhibitions, and more relating to the War of 1812.
• Search across the American Memory collections of Photos & Prints on War of 1812 to find images of some of the battles of this conflict.
• Search across the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog on War of 1812 to find images related to this conflict. For example, a drawing by George Munger, circa 1814, depicts the U.S. Capitol after its burning by the British.
• See the section, The War of 1812, in the online exhibition, American Treasures of the Library of Congress.
• Search on war in The James Madison Papers, 1723-1836 to see letters and other documents related to the War of 1812.
  U.S.S. Constitution
  and H.M.S. Java,
  photograph (between 1900 and 1920) of a painting,
  December 23, 1812.
  Touring Turn-of-the-Century America: Photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company, 1880-1920

  
  Victory monument,
  Put-In-Bay, Ohio, between 1900 and 1910.
  Touring Turn-of-the-Century America: Photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company, 1880-1920
  The monument bears the inscription, “In commemoration of Perry’s victory at Put-In-Bay, September 10, 1813.”

• Search on Madison war 1812 in A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875 to see President James Madison’s nominations for military appointments.
• View the Today in History feature on James Madison for more information on the fourth president.
• See the Today in History feature for September 13 concerning Francis Scott Key. Key wrote the words to “The Star-Spangled Banner” as he witnessed the Battle of Fort McHenry during the British assault on Baltimore.
• Volume 15 and Volume 16 of the American Memory collection Pioneering the Upper Midwest: Books from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, ca. 1820-1910 contain correspondence between British officers regarding strategy, Native American affairs, and treaties during the war. These volumes also include some diplomatic correspondence between the British and the Americans.
• California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties Collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell includes a recording of “James Bird,” a ballad that tells the story of a soldier who distinguished himself for bravery at the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812 but later was shot as a deserter.

Today in History – June 18-External Links

Today’s Weather in History
Today in Earthquake History
This Day in Naval History
Today’s Document from the National Archives
Today’s Events, Births & Deaths –Wikipedia
Today in History by AP
On this Day -1950 to 2005 – Today’s Story–BBC
On This Day: The New York Times
This Day in History –History.com
Today in Canadian History – Canada Channel
History of Britain that took place On This Day
Russia in History –Russiapedia