In 1502, Christopher Columbus left Cadiz, Spain, on his fourth and final trip to the New World.
In 1754, the first newpspaper cartoon appeared in America. The illustration in Benjamin Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette depicted a divided snake, each part representing an American colony. "The caption read: Join or die."
In 1913, the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, providing for the election of senators by popular vote rather than selection by state legislatures, was ratified.
In 1926, American Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett became the first men to make an airplane flight over the North Pole.
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"Government, in the last analysis, is organized opinion. Where there is little or no public opinion, there is likely to be bad government, which sooner or later becomes autocratic government."
