Month: September 2024

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History & Celebrations Today – September 29

Celebrations Today – September 29

Holidays and observances

Celebrations Today – USA: September 29

National Coffee Day
VFW Day
National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day – Last Friday in September
National Broadway Musicals Day
National Confucius Day
National Happy Goose Day
National Michaelmas
National Attend Your Grandchild’s Birthday Day
National Mocha Day
National Poisoned Blackberries Day
World Heart Day

Today in US History: September 29

Lieutenant John F. Kennedy

Portrait of Kennedy
President John F. Kennedy,
1961.
By Popular Demand: Portraits of the Presidents and First Ladies, 1789-Present

In October 1941, John F. Kennedy was appointed an ensign in the United States Naval Reserves, joining the staff of the Office of Naval Intelligence. After entering the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Training Center in Melville, Rhode Island, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant (junior grade) in October 1942 and shortly thereafter ordered to report for duty as commanding officer of a motor torpedo boat in Panama. Prior to his departure, playwright Clare Boothe Luce, a close friend of the Kennedy family, sent the young naval officer a good luck coin that once belonged to her mother. On September 29, 1942, Kennedy wrote to Luce thanking her for sharing such an important token with him.

I came home yesterday and Dad gave me your letter with the gold coin. The coin is now fastened to my identification tag and will be there, I hope, for the duration. I couldn’t have been more pleased. Good luck is a commodity in rather large demand these days and I feel you have given me a particularly potent bit of it.John F. Kennedy to Clare Boothe Luce,
September 29, 1942.
Words and Deeds in American History: Selected Documents Celebrating the Manuscript Division’s First 100 Years

image of letter

Kennedy transferred to the Pacific theater in February 1943 and became commanding officer of PT109 , in April,  operating against the Japanese near the island of New Georgia in the Solomon Islands. On the night of August 1-2, Kennedy’s boat was rammed and cut in two by a Japanese destroyer. Although he was injured during the attack, Kennedy managed to locate one of his injured crew and lead him to safety; most of his crew survived. He later received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his heroism.

A few months later, Kennedy again wrote to Luce. He enclosed a gadget, originally intended to be a letter opener, made “from a Jap 51 cal. bullet and the steel from a fitting on my boat, part of which drifted onto an island” In his note and concluded with a word of thanks for Luce’s earlier gift:

With it goes my sincere thanks for your good-luck piece, which did service above and beyond its routine duties during a rather busy period.John F. Kennedy to Clare Boothe Luce, October 20, 1943.
Clare Boothe Luce Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

No stranger to the frontline herself, Luce covered World War II as a journalist. She published Europe in the Spring an anti-isolationist account of her experiences in embattled Europe, in 1940—in the early days of World War II.

Clare Boothe Luce
Clare Boothe Luce,
Carl Van Vechten, photographer,
December 9, 1932.
Creative Americans: Portraits by Carl Van Vechten 1932-1964

Browse the American Memory collections to learn more about JFK, Clare Boothe Luce, and WWI:

An Act for the Establishment of Troops

soldier with a rifle
Silhouette of Soldier with Rifle,
David B. Allen, photographer,
1943-44.
History of the American West, 1860-1920: Photographs from the Collection of the Denver Public Library

On September 29, 1789, the final day of its first session, the United States Congress passed “An act to recognize and adapt to the Constitution of the United States, the establishment of the troops raised under the resolves of the United States in Congress assembled.” The act legalized the existing U.S. Army, a small force inherited from the Continental Congress that had been created under the Articles of Confederation.

Although the Constitution of the United States charged Congress with raising and regulating military forces, newly elected House and Senate members delayed acting on this provision. Busy organizing the federal government and debating the location of the new capital, Congress neglected dealing with the issue of military forces until prodded by President and Commander in Chief George Washington.

On August 7, Washington reminded both Houses that the provision for troops made under the Continental Congress must be superseded by action under the new Constitution. The establishment of United States troops was an issue, the president wrote:

the national importance and necessity of which I am deeply impressed; I mean some uniform and effective system for the Militia of the United States. It is unnecessary to offer arguments in recommendation of a measure, on which the honor, safety and well being of our Country so evidently and essentially depend: But it may not be amiss to observe that I am particularly anxious it should receive an early attention as circumstances will admit; because it is now in our power to avail ourselves of the military knowledge disseminated throughout the several States by means of the many well instructed Officers and soldiers of the late Army; a resource which is daily diminishing by deaths and other causes.Letter from George Washington to Congress, August 7, 1789.
George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741-1799

henry knox, secretary of war
Henry Knox,
Secretary of War,
Photograph of painting by Constantino Brumidi,
c1904.
Touring Turn-of-the-Century America: Photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company, 1880-1920

This appeal, delivered by Secretary of War Henry Knox, was not immediately acted upon. Three days later, on August 10, Washington again urged Congress to address the issue. Finally, on September 29, 1789, the House of Representatives and the Senate passed the act that officially established the army under the Constitution of the United States.

  • The American Memory collection A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875 contains many resources that provide insight into the formative years of the United States government and the creation of the military. The Journals of both the House of Representatives and the Senate as well as the Annals of Congress are available in this collection.  The Annals, which cover the years 1789 to 1824, were not published contemporaneously, but were compiled between 1834 and 1856, using the best records available–primarily newspaper accounts. Speeches in the Annals are paraphrased rather than presented verbatim. Also, the American State Papers contains the legislative and executive documents of Congress during the period 1789 to 1838, including documents concerning military affairs.
  • The George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741-1799is the largest collection of original Washington documents in the world. It encompasses Washington’s correspondence, letterbooks, commonplace books, diaries, journals, financial account books, military records, reports, and notes for the period 1741 through 1799. Search Washington’s Papers using keywords relevant to your interests, or browse the collection series, organized by date and type of document.

Today in History – September 29-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