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On December 7 1862 Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas

On this day in 1862, northwestern Arkansas and southwestern Missouriare secured for the Union when a force commanded by General James G. Blunt holds off a force of Confederates under General Thomas Hindman at the Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas. Hindman assembled a force at Fort Smith, Arkansas, to make an attempt to recapture territory lost during the Pea Ridge campaign of early 1862. He planned to cross the Boston Mountains into northwestern Arkansas and then Missouri, but the Union Army of the Frontier, commanded by John Schofield, made a preemptive move to Maysville, Arkansas. Schofield had to leave the army due to illness, and Blunt assumed command. When Hindman sent an advance detachment of cavalry under John Marmaduke through the mountains in late November, Blunt moved south and defeated Marmaduke in a minor engagement at Cane Hill. After Cane Hill, Hindman moved his 11,000-man army across the Boston Mountains and approached Blunt’s 5,000 troops. Hindman prepared to attac...
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On December 7, 1964 NYC officials revive Lower Manhattan Expressway

On this day in 1964, the New York City Board of Estimate votes to revive a controversial plan to build a 10-lane, $100 million elevated expressway across Lower Manhattan from the Holland Tunnel on the west to the Williamsburg and Manhattan Bridges on the east. In December 1962, the same board had refused to approve plans to build the road: its members had unanimously agreed that it was not really needed to alleviate cross-town traffic congestion and that, in any case, it would destroy the crowded and historic residential neighborhoods in its path. However, fervent lobbying by highway advocates like the powerful urban planner Robert Moses, along with the heavy-construction companies who stood to profit from the road-building itself, persuaded city officials to reconsider. This time, the board gave the expressway the go-ahead, and in 1965, Mayor Wagner promised that he would break ground on the project “as quickly as possible.” At the same time, the anti-highway protest was gatherin...
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On December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor bombed

At 7:55 a.m.  Hawaii  time, a Japanese dive bomber bearing the red symbol of the Rising Sun of Japan on its wings appears out of the clouds above the island of Oahu. A swarm of 360 Japanese warplanes followed, descending on the U.S. naval base at  Pearl Harbor  in a ferocious assault. The surprise attack struck a critical blow against the U.S. Pacific fleet and drew the United States irrevocably into  World War II . With diplomatic negotiations with Japan breaking down, President  Franklin D. Roosevelt  and his advisers knew that an imminent Japanese attack was probable, but nothing had been done to increase security at the important naval base at Pearl Harbor. It was Sunday morning, and many military personnel had been given passes to attend religious services off base. At 7:02 a.m., two radar operators spotted large groups of aircraft in flight toward the island from the north, but, with a flight of B-17s expected from the United States at the tim...
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On December 7, 1787 Delaware ratifies the Constitution

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On this day in 1787, Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the Constitution, doing so by a unanimous vote. This momentous event occurred exactly one year after the  Hampshire Herald published a statement by Thomas Grover listing the demands made by the participants in Shays’ Rebellion. The post-war economy left farmers of western Massachusetts and throughout the 13 states in distress. Many were unable to pay debts with the worthless paper money issued by state governments. Captain Daniel Shays, a Continental Army veteran, led an attack on the federal arsenal in Springfield, Massachusetts, as part of an effort to close the courts where debt lawyers sued debtors. Volunteers put down the rebellion, but wealthy men throughout the new states were terrified that such a revolt might be repeated. To further their fears, Shays-ite candidates swept the Massachusetts legislature in the next election. Debtors’ uprisings like Shays’ Rebellion were a significant impetus for the Ph...
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On December 6, 1907 The Monongah coal mine disaster

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In West Virginia’s Marion County, an explosion in a network of mines owned by the Fairmont Coal Company in Monongah kills 361 coal miners. It was the worst mining disaster in American history. In 1883, the creation of the Norfolk and Western Railway opened a gateway to the untapped coalfields of southwestern West Virginia. New towns sprung up in the region virtually overnight as European immigrants and African Americans from the south poured into southern West Virginia in pursuit of a livelihood from the new industry. By the late 19th century, West Virginia, now a national leader in the production of coal, fell far behind other major coal-producing states in regulating mining conditions. In addition to poor economic conditions, West Virginia had a higher mine death rate than any other state. Nationwide, a total of 3,242 Americans were killed in mine accidents in 1907. In ensuing decades, the United Mine Workers of America labor union and sympathetic legislators forced safety re...
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On December 6, 11917 Ships explode in Canadian harbor

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On this day in 1917, a Belgian steamer and French freighter, both loaded with ammunition, explode in Canada’s Halifax Harbor, leveling part of the town and killing nearly 1,600 people and injuring approximately 8,000. The 8 million tons of TNT carried by the ships was intended for use in World War I. The ships were gathered in Halifax, the meeting point for convoys to begin the dangerous Atlantic crossing, during which they were threatened by the deadly and stealthy German U-boat submarines. The HMS  High Flyer  was assigned to lead the convoy. The freighter from France, the  Mont Blanc , had picked up a full load of TNT in New York and came into the harbor on a foggy morning. Due to the poor conditions, it collided with the  Imo , a Belgian steam boat, also carrying ammunition. A fire resulted and both ships were abandoned immediately. A British ship, the  Pictou , was at a pier in the harbor and was also filled with ammunition. The crew of the  P...
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On December 6, 1884 - Washington Monument completed

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On this day in 1884, in Washington, D.C., workers place a nine-inch aluminum pyramid atop a tower of white marble, completing the construction of an impressive monument to the city’s namesake and the nation’s first president, George Washington. As early as 1783, the infant U.S. Congress decided that a statue of George Washington, the great Revolutionary War general, should be placed near the site of the new Congressional building, wherever it might be. After then-President Washington asked him to lay out a new federal capital on the Potomac River in 1791, architect Pierre L’Enfant left a place for the statue at the western end of the sweeping National Mall (near the monument’s present location). It wasn’t until 1832, however–33 years after Washington’s death–that anyone really did anything about the monument. That year, a private Washington National Monument Society was formed. After holding a design competition and choosing an elaborate Greek temple-like design by architect Robe...
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