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George Washington

George Washington

George Washington (February 22 1732 – December 14 1799) was the successful Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and later became the first President of the United States, an office to which he was elected twice (1789-1797). Washington first gained prominence as an officer during the French and Indian War, a war which he inadvertently helped to start. After leading the American victory in the Revolutionary War, he refused to lead a military regime, returning to civilian life at Mount Vernon. In 1787 he presided over the Constitutional Convention that drafted the current U.S. Constitution, and in 1789 was the unanimous choice to become the first President of the United States. His two-term Washington Administration set many policies and traditions that survive today. After his second term expired, Washington again voluntarily relinquished power, thereby establishing an important precedent that was to serve as an example for other future republics. Because of his central role in the founding of the United States, and his enduring legacy, Washington is often called the "Father of his Country". Scholars rank him with Abraham Lincoln among the greatest of presidents.

Early life

According to the Julian calendar, Washington was born on February 11 1731; according to the Gregorian calendar, which was adopted during Washington's life and is used today, he was born on February 22 1732 (Washington's Birthday is celebrated on the Gregorian date). At the time of his birth, the English year began March 25 (Annunciation Day, or Lady Day), hence the difference in his birth year. His birthplace was Pope's Creek Plantation, south of Colonial Beach in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Washington was part of the economic and cultural elite of the slave-owning planters of Virginia. His parents Augustine Washington (1693–April 12 1743) and Mary Ball (1708–August 25 1789) were of English descent. He spent much of his boyhood at Ferry Farm in Stafford County, near Fredericksburg and visited his Washington cousins at Chotank in King George County. He was home schooled and was also trained as a surveyor (obtaining his certificate from the College of William and Mary). He surveyed the Shenandoah Valley for Lord Fairfax, a distant relative, in western Virginia and retained a lifelong interest in western lands. His only foreign trip was a short visit to Barbados in 1751. He survived an attack of smallpox, although his face was scarred by the disease. He was initiated as a Freemason in Fredericksburg on February 4 1752. On brother Lawrence's death in July 1752, he rented and eventually inherited the estate, Mount Vernon in Fairfax County, Virginia (near Alexandria).

French and Indian War and afterwards

Alexandria At twenty-two years of age, George Washington fired some of the first shots of what would become a world war. The trouble began in 1753, when France began building a series of forts in the Ohio Country, a region also claimed by Virginia. Robert Dinwiddie, the governor of Virginia, had young Major Washington deliver a letter to the French commander, asking them to leave. The French refused, and so in 1754 Dinwiddie sent Washington, now promoted to lieutenant colonel in the First Virginia Regiment, on another mission to the Ohio Country. There, Washington and his troops ambushed a French Canadian scouting party. After a short skirmish, Washington's American Indian ally Tanacharison killed the wounded French commander Ensign Jumonville. Washington then built Fort Necessity, which soon proved inadequate, as he was compelled to surrender to a larger French and American Indian force. The surrender terms that Washington signed included an admission that he had "assassinated" Jumonville. (The document was written in French, which Washington could not read.) The "Jumonville affair" became an international incident and helped to ignite the French and Indian War, a part of the worldwide Seven Years' War. Washington was released by the French with the promise not to return to the Ohio Country for one year. Washington was always eager to serve in the British Army, which had a low regard for colonials. His opportunity came in 1755, when he accompanied the Braddock Expedition, a major effort by the British to retake the Ohio Country. The expedition ended in disaster at the Battle of the Monongahela. Washington distinguished himself in the debacle—he had two horses shot out from under him, and four bullets pierced his coat—yet he sustained no injuries and showed coolness under fire in organizing the retreat. In Virginia, Washington was acclaimed as a hero, and he commanded the First Virginia Regiment for several more years, although the focus of the war had shifted elsewhere. In 1758 he accompanied the Forbes Expedition, which successfully drove the French away from Fort Duquesne. Washington's goal at the outset of his military career had been to secure a commission as a regular British officer—rather than staying a mere colonial officer. The promotion did not come, and so in 1759 Washington resigned his commission and married Martha Dandridge Custis, a wealthy widow with two children. Washington adopted her two children, but never fathered any of his own. The newlywed couple moved to Mount Vernon where he took up the life of a genteel farmer and slave owner. He held local office and was elected to the provincial legislature, the House of Burgesses. By 1774 Washington had become one of the colonies' wealthiest men. In that year, he was chosen as a delegate from Virginia to the First Continental Congress. Although the American Revolution had not yet devolved into open warfare, tensions between the colonies and Great Britain continued to rise, and Washington attended the Second Continental Congress (1775) in military uniform—the only delegate to do so. He strongly supported independence.

American Revolution

American Revolution, 1851, Metropolitan Museum]] The Continental Congress needed to select as commander in chief of its newly formed Continental Army a natural leader with a commitment to the cause, suitable military experience, a commanding personality, and a base in a major colony. Washington was the unanimous selection, and was selected on June 15 1775. The Massachusetts delegate John Adams suggested his appointment, citing his "skill as an officer... great talents and universal character." He assumed command on July 3. During his first great military triumph Washington drove the British forces out of Boston on March 17, 1776, by stationing artillery on Dorchester Heights. The British army, led by General William Howe, retreated to Halifax, Canada. Washington moved his army to New York City in anticipation of a British offensive there. In August the British invaded in overwhelming numbers and Washington led a clumsy retreat that almost failed. He lost the Battle of Long Island on August 22 but managed to move most of his forces to the mainland. However, several other defeats sent Washington scrambling across New Jersey, leaving the future of the Revolution in doubt. On the night of December 25 1776, Washington staged a brilliant comeback. He led the American forces across the Delaware River to smash the Hessian forces in Trenton, New Jersey. Washington followed up the assault with a surprise attack on General Charles Cornwallis' forces at Princeton on the eve of January 2, 1777, eventually retaking the state of New Jersey. The successful attacks built morale among the pro-independence colonists. In summer 1777 the British launched a two-pronged attack, with Burgoyne marching south from Canada while Howe attacked the national capital of Philadelphia. Washington moved south but was badly defeated at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11. An attempt to dislodge the British, the Battle of Germantown, failed as a result of fog and confusion, and Washington was forced to retire to winter quarters at the miserably inadequate Valley Forge. In the face of high rates of disease Washington insisted on vaccinations to protect the soldiers from smallpox, which probably stem impact of that deadly disease over the harsh winter. Washington stood steadfast, demanding supplies from Congress. His men recovered their morale despite the harsh winter conditions. A new system of drill and training was established by Baron Friedrich von Steuben, who had served on the Prussian general staff. Von Steuben improving the army’s fighting capabilities so that it could match the British in the field. Washington attacked the British army moving from Philadelphia to New York at the Battle of Monmouth on June 28 1778, a drawn contest, but the British effort to disrupt the national government had failed. Burgoyne’s invading army, meanwhile, was captured at Saratoga in October, giving the British a crushing defeat. It now seemed likely that the British would never reconquer the new nation, and France signed a formal alliance with the U.S. After 1778 the British made one last effort to split apart the new nation, this time focused on the southern states. Rather than attack them there, Washington's forces moved to West Point New York. In 1779 Washington ordered a fifth of the army to carry out the Sullivan Expedition, an offensive against four of the six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy which had allied with the British and attacked American settlements along the frontier. There were no battles but at least forty Iroquois villages were destroyed and the hostile Indians moved permanently to Canada. In October, 1781 American and French forces and a French fleet trapped General Cornwallis at Yorktown in Virginia. Washington quick-marched south, taking command of the American and French forces September 14, and pressed the siege until Cornwallis surrendered. It was the end of significant fighting, though British forces remained in New York City and a few other places until the final peace was ratified in 1783. In March 1783, Washington learned about a conspiracy that was being planned by some of his officers who were upset about back pay in the Continental Army's winter camp at Newburgh, New York. He was able to defuse this plot. Later in 1783, by means of the Treaty of Paris, the British recognized American independence. Washington disbanded his army and on November 2 at Rockingham House in Rocky Hill, New Jersey and gave an eloquent [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mgw3&fileName=mgw3b/gwpage016.db&recNum=347 farewell address] to his soldiers. A few days later the British evacuated New York City, and Washington and the governor took possession of the city; at Fraunces Tavern in the city on December 4, he formally bid his officers farewell.

Activities between Revolution and Presidency

Fraunces Tavern On December 23 1783 General George Washington resigned his commission as Commander in Chief of the Army to the Congress, which was then meeting at the Maryland State House in Annapolis. This action was of great significance for the young nation, establishing the precedent that civilian elected officials, rather than military officers, possessed ultimate authority. Washington was a firm republican, believing that the people are sovereign and that no one should ever come to power in America because of military force, or because of birth in a noble family. At the time of Washington's departure from military service, he was listed on the rolls of the Continental Army as "General and Commander in Chief." (See Retirement, death, and honors section below for more on this topic.) Although the world was at peace in the late 1780s, Washington worried that the fledling nation had such a weak central government that it could not survive a future war. He therefore endorsed plans to create a new constitution. His support guaranteed it would happen and he presided over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. For the most part he did not participate in the debates involved, but his prestige was great enough to maintain collegiality and to keep the delegates at their labors. He adamantly enforced the secrecy adopted by the Convention during the summer. Many believe that the Framers created the Presidency with Washington in mind. After the Convention, his support convinced many, including the Virginia legislature, to support the Constitution. Washington farmed roughly 8,000 acres (32 km²). Like many Virginia planters at the time, he was frequently in debt and never had much cash on hand. In fact, he had to borrow $600 to relocate to New York, then the center of the American government, to take office as president. In 1788–1789, George Washington was elected the first President of the United States. The First U.S. Congress voted to pay Washington a salary of $25,000 a year—a significant sum in 1789. Washington, the wealthiest individual in the nation at the time and whose wealth (all of it in land that could eventually be sold) by some estimates exceeded $500 million in current dollars (as of 2005), refused to accept his salary.

Presidency

Main article: Washington Administration Washington Administration]] George Washington was elected unanimously by the Electoral College in 1789, and remains the only person ever to be elected president unanimously (a feat which he duplicated in 1792). As runner-up with 34 votes, John Adams became Vice President-elect. In 1791 Congress imposed an excise tax on distilled spirits, leading to protests. By 1794, after Washington ordered the protesters to appear in U.S. district court, the protests turning into full-scale riots, and outright rebellion. Washington raised an army, and marched at its head into the rebellious districts. There was no fighting, but Washington's forceful action proved the new government could protect itself. After two terms, Washington issued his "Farewell Adress" (actually a letter), and refused to run for a third term in office. This precedent of two terms was only to be broken successfully by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1940 and 1944.

Cabinet


Supreme Court appointments

As the first President, Washington appointed the entire Supreme Court, a feat almost repeated by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during his four terms in office (1933–45). Washington appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:
- John Jay - Chief Justice - 1789
- James Wilson - 1789
- John Rutledge - 1790
- William Cushing - 1790
- John Blair - 1790
- James Iredell - 1790
- Thomas Johnson - 1792
- William Paterson - 1793
- John Rutledge - Chief Justice, 1795 (an associate justice since 1790)
- Samuel Chase - 1796
- Oliver Ellsworth - Chief Justice - 1796

Major Presidential Acts


- Signed Judiciary Act of 1789
- Signed Indian Intercourse Acts, starting in 1790
- Signed Residence Act of 1790
- Signed Bank Act of 1791
- Signed Coinage Act of 1792 or Mint Act
- Signed Fugitive Slave Act of 1793
- Signed Naval Act of 1794

States admitted to the Union


- North Carolina (1789)
- Rhode Island (1790)
- Vermont (1791)
- Kentucky (1792)
- Tennessee (1796)

Retirement, death, and honors

Tennessee The Apotheosis of Washington is found in the rotunda of the United States Capitol]] After retiring from the presidency in March 1797, Washington returned to Mount Vernon with a profound sense of relief. He established a distillery there and became probably the largest distiller of whiskey in the nation at the time. In 1798 his distillery produced 11,000 gallons of whiskey and a profit of $7,500. During that year, Washington was appointed Lieutenant General in the United States Army (then the highest possible rank) by President John Adams. Washington's appointment was to serve as a warning to France, with which war seemed imminent. Washington never saw active service, however, and upon his death one year later the U.S. Army rolls listed him as a retired Lieutenant General, which was then considered the equivalent to his rank as General and Commander in Chief during the Revolutionary War. Within a year of this 1798 appointment, Washington fell ill from a bad cold with a fever and a sore throat that turned into acute laryngitis and pneumonia and died on December 14 1799, at his home. Modern doctors believe that Washington died from either a streptococcal infection of the throat or, since he was bled as part of the treatment, a combination of shock from the loss of blood, asphyxia, and dehydration. One of the physicians who administered bloodletting to him was Dr. James Craik, one of Washington's closest friends, who had been with Washington at Fort Necessity, the Braddock expedition, and throughout the Revolutionary War. Washington's remains were buried in a family graveyard at Mount Vernon. Congressman Henry Light Horse Harry Lee, a Revolutionary War comrade, famously eulogized Washington as "a citizen, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." With the exception of Dwight Eisenhower, who held a lifetime commission as General of the Army (five star), George Washington is the only President with military service to reenter the military after leaving the office of President. Even though he had been the highest-ranking officer of the Revolutionary War, having in 1798 been appointed a Lieutenant General (now three stars), it seemed, somewhat incongruously, that all later full (that is, four star) generals in U.S. history (starting with General Ulysses S. Grant), and also all five-star generals of the Army, were considered to outrank Washington. General John J. Pershing had attained an even higher rank of six-star general, General of the Armies (above five star—though the most stars Pershing actually ever wore were four). This issue was resolved in 1976 when Washington was, by Act of Congress, posthumously promoted to the rank of General of the Armies, outranking any past, present, and future general, and declared to permanently be the top-ranked military officer of the United States. [https://www.perscom.army.mil/tagd/tioh/rank/goa.htm]

Summary of Military Career


- 1753: Commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of the Virginia Militia
- 1754: Led abortive expedition to Fort Duquesne, later served as aide to General Edward Braddock
- 1755: Promoted to Colonel and named Commander of all Virginia Forces. Commissioned a Brigadier General later that year
- 1758–75: Retired from active military service
- June 1775: Commissioned General and Commander in Chief of the Continental Army
- 1775–81: Commands the Continental Army in over seven major battles with the British
- December 1783: Resigns commission as Commander in Chief of the Army
- July 1798: Appointed Lieutenant General and Commander of the Provisional Army to be raised in the event of a war with France
- 14 December 1799: Dies and is listed as a Lieutenant General (r) on the U.S. Army rolls
- 19 January 1976: Approved by the United States Congress for promotion to General of the Armies
- 11 October 1976: Declared the senior most U.S. military officer for all time by Presidential Order of Gerald Ford
- 13 March 1978: Promoted by Army Order 31-3 to General of the Armies with effective date of rank July 4, 1776

Personal information

Gerald Ford Admirers of Washington circulated an apocryphal story about his honesty as a child. In the story, he wanted to try out a new axe, so he chopped down his father's cherry tree; when questioned by his father, he gave the famous non-quotation: "I cannot tell a lie. It was I who chopped down the cherry tree.". The story first appeared after Washington's death in a naïve "inspirational" children's book by Parson Mason Weems, who had been rector of the Mount Vernon parish (See also George Washington's axe for an elaboration of this story). Parson Weems also fabricated a famous story about Washington praying for help in a lonely spot in the woods near Valley Forge. Nevertheless, Washington was a man of great personal integrity, with a deeply held sense of duty, honor and patriotism. He was courageous and farsighted, holding the Continental Army together through eight hard years of war and numerous privations, sometimes by sheer force of will. Because of Washington's involvement in Freemasonry, some publicly visible collections of Washington memorabilia are maintained by Masonic lodges, most notably the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia. The museum at Fraunces Tavern Museum in New York City includes specimens of Washington's false teeth. Washington was notable for his modesty and carefully controlled ambition. He never accepted pay during his military service, and was genuinely reluctant to assume any of the offices thrust upon him. When John Adams recommended him to the Continental Congress for the position of general and commander in chief of the Continental Army, Washington left the room to allow any dissenters to freely voice their objections. In later accepting the post, Washington told the Congress that he was unworthy of the honor. However, it should be reminded that Washington was always an ambitious man. He ensured that during the Continental Congress he arrived and was always present wearing his old colonial uniform so as to make it clear to all that he was deeply interested in commanding the continental troops. Congress actually made him the commander of the continental army before they authorized an army for him to command. In reality, no one else could have ensured that the southern colonies would assist the northern ones unless Washington was part of the equation; aside from a few other, less endearing leaders, Washington was likely, overall, the only choice that would achieve this. It is often said that one of Washington's greatest achievements was refraining from taking more power than was due. He was conscientious of maintaining a good reputation by avoiding political intrigue. He had no interest in nepotism or cronyism, rejecting, for example, a military promotion during the war for his deserving cousin William Washington lest it be regarded as favoritism. Thomas Jefferson wrote, "The moderation and virtue of a single character probably prevented this Revolution from being closed, as most others have been, by a subversion of that liberty it was intended to establish." Washington had to be talked into a second term of office as President, and very reluctantly agreed to it. However, he refused to serve a third term, setting a precedent that held until the Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. At John Adams's inauguration, Washington is said to have approached Adams afterwards and stated "Well, I am fairly out and you are fairly in. Now we shall see who enjoys it the most!" Washington also declined to leave the room before Adams and the new Vice President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, establishing the principle that even a former president is only, in the end, a private citizen.

Trivia


- A popular belief is that Washington wore a wig, as was the fashion among some at the time. He did not. He did, however, powder his hair, as represented in several portraits, including the well-known unfinished Gilbert Stuart [http://www.npg.si.edu/cexh/stuart/athen1.htm depiction].
- A number of younger men were essentially surrogate sons to the childless Washington, including Alexander Hamilton, Lafayette, Nathanael Greene, and George W. P. Custis, Washington's step-grandson. George Custis' daughter Mary would eventually become the wife of General Robert E. Lee.
- Washington was a cricket enthusiast and was known to have played the sport, which was popular at that time in the British colonies.
- Through his father's family, Washington was a direct descendant of King Edward III and William the Conqueror of England.
- One story about Washington has him throwing a silver dollar across the Potomac River. He may have thrown an object across the Rappahannock River, the river on which his childhood home, Ferry Farm, stood. However, the Potomac is over a mile wide at Mount Vernon. Also silver dollars did not exist then.
- Grew hemp, a common crop at the time used for fiber production, specifically to make rope. [http://www.stanford.edu/~johnbrks/theCafe/substance/marijuana.html]

Washington and slavery

Washington owned many slaves throughout his life, as did most of his peers in the Virginia plantation aristocracy. He was noteworthy, however, for the humane treatment of his slaves and for his growing unease with the "peculiar institution". Historian Roger Bruns has written, "As he grew older, he became increasingly aware that it was immoral and unjust. Long before the Revolution, Washington had taken the unusual position of refusing to sell any of his slaves or to allow slave families to be separated." After the Revolution, Washington told an English friend, "I clearly foresee that nothing but the rooting out of slavery can perpetuate the existence of our [Federal] union by consolidating it on a common bond of principle." He wrote to his friend John Francis Mercer in 1786, "I never mean... to possess another slave by purchase; it being among my first wishes to see some plan adopted, by which slavery in this country may be abolished by slow, sure, and imperceptible degrees." Ten years later, he wrote to Robert Morris, "There is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see some plan adopted for the gradual abolition [of slavery]." abolition As President, Washington was mindful of the risk of splitting apart the young republic over the question of slavery. He did not advocate the abolition of slavery while in office, but did sign legislation enforcing the prohibition of slavery in the Northwest Territory, writing to his good friend the Marquis de la Fayette that he considered it a wise measure. Lafayette urged him to free his slaves as an example to others— Washington was held in such high regard after the revolution that there was reason to hope that if he freed his slaves, others would follow his example. Lafayette purchased an estate in French Guiana and settled his own slaves there, and he offered a place for Washington's slaves, writing "I would never have drawn my sword in the cause of America if I could have conceived thereby that I was founding a land of slavery." Nevertheless, Washington did not free his own slaves in his lifetime. Washington included provisions in his will which freed his slaves upon his death. His widow Martha freed those she owned shortly before she died. As cited in Henry Wiencek's Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America, one of his slaves, Oney Judge Staines, escaped the Executive Mansion in Philadelphia in 1796 and lived the rest of her life free in New Hampshire.

Religious beliefs

Washington's religious views are a matter of some controversy. There is considerable evidence that he (like a number of Founding Fathers of the United States) was a Deist—believing in God but not believing in revelation or miracles. Before the Revolution, when the Episcopal Church was still the state religion in Virginia, he served as a vestryman (lay officer) for his local church. He spoke often of the value of prayer, righteousness, and seeking and offering thanks for the "blessings of Heaven". He sometimes accompanied his wife to Christian church services; however there is no record of his ever becoming a communicant in any Christian church, and he would regularly leave services before communion—with the other non-communicants. When Rev. Dr. James Abercrombie, rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, mentioned in a weekly sermon that those in elevated stations set an unhappy example by leaving at communion, Washington ceased attending at all on communion Sundays. Long after Washington died, asked about Washington's beliefs, Abercrombie replied: "Sir, Washington was a Deist!" His adopted daughter, Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis, and several others have said, however, that he was, indeed, a Christian. Various prayers said to have been composed by him in his later life are highly edited. He did not ask for any clergy on his deathbed, though one was available. His funeral services were those of the Freemasons at the request of his wife, Martha. Washington was an early supporter of religious pluralism. In 1775 he ordered that his troops not burn the pope in effigy on Guy Fawkes Night. In 1790 he wrote to Jewish leaders that he envisioned a country "which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.... May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid."

Legacy

Abraham, site of Washington's first inauguration as President]] Washington peacefully relinquished the presidency to John Adams after serving two terms in office. This is seen as one of Washington's most important legacies. Referring to this act, George III, the King of England defeated during the Revolution, called him "the greatest character of the age" and Napoleon complained "They wanted me to be another Washington". All presidents since Washington followed the custom of limiting their service in office to two terms, until Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was elected four times (1932, 1936, 1940, 1944). The Constitution was subsequently amended by the Twenty-second Amendment to set an express two-term limit upon future presidents. Washington set many other precedents that established tranquility in the presidential office in the years to come and is generally regarded by historians as one of the greatest presidents. He was also lauded posthumously as the "Father of His Country" and is often considered to be the most important of the United States' "Founding Fathers". He has gained fame around the world as a quintessential example of a benevolent national founder. Americans often refer to men in other nations considered the Father of their Country as "the George Washington of his nation" (for example, Mahatma Gandhi's role in India). Washington was ranked #26 in Michael H. Hart's list of the most influential figures in history.

Monuments and memorials

Today Washington's face and image are often used as national symbols of the United States, along with the icons such as the flag and great seal. Perhaps the most pervasive commemoration of his legacy is the use of his image on the one dollar bill and the quarter-dollar coin. The image used on the dollar bill is derived from a famous portrait of him painted by Gilbert Stuart, itself one of the most notable works of early American art. The capital city of the United States, Washington, D.C., is named for him. The District of Columbia was created by an Act of Congress in 1790, and Washington was deeply involved in its creation, including the siting of the White House. The Washington Monument, one of the most well-known landmarks in the city, was built in his honor. The George Washington University, also in D.C., was named after him, and it was founded in part with shares Washington bequeathed to an endowment to create a national university in Washington. The only state named for a president is the state of Washington in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Washington selected West Point, New York, as the site for the United States Military Academy. The United States Navy has named three ships after Washington. Other examples include the George Washington Bridge, which extends between New York City and New Jersey, and the palm tree genus Washingtonia is also named after him. See also: List of places named for George Washington List of places named for George Washington

Scholarly Secondary Sources

The literature on George Washington is immense. The Library of Congress has a comprehensive bibliography [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gwhtml/gwbib.html online]. Notable recent works include:
- Anderson, Fred 2000. [http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/a/anderson-war.html?oref=login Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766].
- Comora, Madeleine & Deborah Chandra. George Washington's Teeth. Illustrated by Brock Cole. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003; ISBN 0374325340. A lighthearted chronicle of his dental struggles, aimed at children and adults.
- Ellis, Joseph J. His Excellency: George Washington. New York: Knopf, 2004. ISBN 1400040310. Powerful interpretation of Washington's career.
- Elkins, Stanley M. and Eric McKitrick, The Age of Federalism. (1994), the leading scholarly history of the 1790s.
- Ferling, John E. The First of Men: A Life of George Washington (1989), solid and scholarly.
- Fisher, David Hackett. Washington's Crossing. (2004), prize-winning military history focused on 1775-1776.
- Flexner, James Thomas. Washington: The Indispensable Man. Boston: Little, Brown, 1974. ISBN 0316286168 (1994 reissue). Single-volume condensation of Flexner's popular four-volume biography.
- Freeman, Douglas. S. Washington: An abridgement in one volume by Richard Harwell of the seven-volume George Washington by Douglas Southall Freeman (1968), the standard scholarly biography.
- Grizzard, Frank E., Jr. George! A Guide to All Things Washington. Buena Vista and Charlottesville, VA: Mariner Publishing. 2005. ISBN 0-9768238-0-2. Grizzard is a leading scholar of Washington.
- Grizzard, Frank E., Jr. The Ways of Providence: Religion and George Washington. Buena Vista and Charlottesville, VA: Mariner Publishing. 2005. ISBN 0-9768238-1-0.
- Lengel, Edward G. General George Washington: A Military Life. New York: Random House, 2005. ISBN 1400060818.
- [Lodge, Henry Cabot]. George Washington (vol 2, 1899 covers 1783-99) [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12653 online at Project Gutenberg] old but generally accurate. Freeman and Flexner are much better.
- McDonald, Forrest . The Presidency of George Washington. (1988), Intellectual history showing Washington as exemplar of republicanism.
- Wiencek, Henry. An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003. ISBN 0374175268.
- Nash, Gary B. The Unknown American Revolution: The Unruly Birth of Democracy and the Struggle to Create America. Viking, 2005. ISBN 0670034207. A left-wing interpretation of the era, with little on Washington.

See also


- George Washington's presidency
- U.S. presidential election, 1789
- U.S. presidential election, 1792
- Famous military commanders
- George Washington's farewell address
- List of U.S. Presidential religious affiliations
- Newburgh conspiracy In recent years, a number of anti-Semitic groups have attributed false quotations to George Washington and other Founding Fathers, with the intention of inciting anti-Semitism. This subject is discussed in Neo-Nazi Theory (American founding fathers).

Notes

#The earliest known image in which Washington is identified as such is on the cover of the circa 1778 Pennsylvania German almanac (Lancaster: Gedruckt bey Francis Bailey). This identifies Washington as "Landes Vater" or Father of the Land.

External links


- [http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/] Full version of the on-line Papers of George Washington and other information from the University of Virginia
- [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/washpap.htm The Papers of George Washington] from the Avalon Project (includes Inaugural Addresses, State of the Union Messages, and other materials)
- [http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/commission.html Library of Congress: Washington's Commission as Commander in Chief]
- [http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/49.htm Farewell Address]
- [http://www.libraryreference.org/washington.html Biography of George Washington]
- [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jamesdow/s004/f647706.htm A pedigree of George Washington]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/1999-2/washington.htm Teaching about George Washington]
- [http://www.thirty-thousand.org/pages/section_IB5.htm The First Presidential Veto] Analysis of the first veto by a U.S. President
- [https://www.perscom.army.mil/tagd/tioh/rank/goa.htm General Washington's military rank]
- [http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/gw1.html White House Biography]
- [http://www.chicago-scots.org/clubs/History/Names-U-Z.htm]
-
- [http://www.archontology.org/nations/us/us2/washington.php George Washington: Archontology.org, chronology, dates, terms, election results]

Further Reading


- Barbara Bennett Peterson, "George Washington: America's Moral Exemplar", (2005). Washington, George Washington, George Washington, George Washington, George Washington, George Washington, George Washington, George Washington, George Washington, George Washington Washington, George Washington, George Washington, George Washington, George Washington, George Washington, George ko:조지 워싱턴 ja:ジョージ・ワシントン simple:George Washington th:จอร์จ วอชิงตัน

February 22

February 22 is the 53rd day of every year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 312 days remaining, 313 in leap years.

Events


- 1290s BC - The coronation of Ramses II, on whose face the sun's rays fall each year in Abu Simbel temple.
- AD 1281 - Martin IV becomes Pope.
- 1288 - Nicholas IV becomes Pope.
- 1495 - King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne.
- 1632 - Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published.
- 1744 - The Battle of Toulon begins.
- 1819 - By the Adams-Onís Treaty, Spain sells Florida to the United States for five million U.S. dollars.
- 1847 - Mexican-American War: The Battle of Buena Vista - 5,000 American troops drive off 15,000 Mexican.
- 1855 - The Pennsylvania State University is founded.
- 1856 - The Republican Party opens its first national meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- 1865 - Tennessee adopts a new constitution that abolishes slavery.
- 1876 - Johns Hopkins University is founded in Baltimore, Maryland.
- 1879 - In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many of 5 and 10-cent Woolworth stores.
- 1889 - President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states.
- 1904 - UK recognises the South Orkney Islands as part of Argentina, in 1908 claims them again.
- 1915 - Germany institutes unrestricted submarine warfare.
- 1920 - In Emeryville, California, the first dog race track to employ an imitation rabbit opens.
- 1923 - The United States begins the first transcontinental air mail route.
- 1923 - Barcelona (Catalonia): Albert Einstein visits the city, invited by the scientist Esteban Terradas i Illa, as part of the monografics course of High Studies and Exchange organized by the Mancomunitat de Catalunya and conducted by Rafael de Campalans.
- 1924 - Calvin Coolidge becomes the first President of the United States to deliver a radio broadcast from the White House.
- 1942 - World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as American defense collapses.
- 1943 - Members of White Rose are executed in Nazi Germany.
- 1948 - Start of the Czechoslovak Revolution.
- 1949 - Grady the Cow, a 1,200-pound cow gets stuck inside a silo on a farm in Yukon, Oklahoma and garners national media attention.
- 1956 - Elvis Presley enters the music charts for the first time, with "Heartbreak Hotel".
- 1958 - Egypt and Syria join to form the United Arab Republic.
- 1959 - Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.
- 1969 - Barbara Jo Rubin wins a United States thoroughbred horse race making history as the first woman to do so.
- 1973 - Cold War: Following President Richard Nixon's visit to China, the United States and the People's Republic of China agree to establish liaison offices.
- 1979 - Independence of Saint Lucia from the United Kingdom.
- 1980 - The United States ice hockey team defeats the Soviet Union team at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in an upset dubbed the "Miracle on Ice".
- 1994 - Aldrich Ames and his wife are charged by the United States Department of Justice with spying for the Soviet Union.
- 1997 - In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly had been successfully cloned.
- 2002 - A MH-47E Chinook helicopter crashes into the ocean near the Philippines, killing all 10 aboard.

Births


- 1040 - Rashi, French rabbi and commentator (d. 1105)
- 1403 - King Charles VII of France (d. 1461)
- 1440 - King Ladislaus Posthumus of Bohemia and Hungary (d. 1457)
- 1500 - Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian humanist (d. 1564)
- 1612 - George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, English statesman (d. 1677)
- 1705 - Peter Artedi, Swedish naturalist (d. 1735)
- 1714 - Louis-Georges de Bréquigny, French historian (d. 1795)
- 1732 (N.S.) - George Washington, first President of the United States (d. 1799)
- 1778 - Rembrandt Peale, American artist (d. 1860)
- 1788 - Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (d. 1860)
- 1796 - Alexis Bachelot, French missionary (d. 1838)
- 1796 - Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet, Belgian mathematician (d. 1874)
- 1817 - Carl Wilhelm Borchardt, German mathematician (d. 1880)
- 1819 - James Russell Lowell, American poet and essayist (d. 1891)
- 1839 - Francis Pharcellus Church, American editor and publisher (d. 1906)
- 1840 - August Bebel, German politician (d. 1913)
- 1849 - Nikolay Yakovlevich Sonin, Russian mathematician (d 1915)
- 1857 - Lord Robert Baden-Powell, English founder of the Boy Scouts (d. 1941)
- 1857 - Heinrich Hertz, German physicist (d. 1894)
- 1878 - Walter Ritz, Swiss physicist (d. 1909)
- 1880 - Frigyes Riesz, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1956)
- 1883 - Marguerite Clark, American silent film actress (d. 1940)
- 1886 - Hugo Ball, German author and poet (d. 1927)
- 1887 - Ksawery Tartakower, Polish chess player (d. 1956)
- 1889 - Lady Olave Baden-Powell, English Chief Girl Guide (d. 1977)
- 1892 - Edna St. Vincent Millay, American writer (d. 1950)
- 1899 - Dwight Frye, American actor (d. 1943)
- 1899 - George O'Hara, American actor (d. 1966)
- 1899 - Dechko Uzunov, Bulgarian painter (d. 1986)
- 1900 - Luis Buñuel, Spanish-born film director (d. 1983)
- 1902 - Fritz Strassmann, German physicist (d. 1980)
- 1903 - Morley Callaghan, Canadian writer (d. 1990)
- 1903 - Frank Plumpton Ramsey, English mathematician (d. 1903)
- 1907 - Sheldon Leonard, American actor, writer, director, and producer (d. 1997)
- 1907 - Robert Young, American actor (d. 1998)
- 1908 - Sir John Mills, English actor (d. 2005)
- 1914 - Renato Dulbecco, Italian-born virologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1918 - Sid Abel, Canadian hockey player (d. 2000)
- 1918 - Charlie Finley, American sports entrepreneur (d. 1996)
- 1918 - Don Pardo, American radio and television announcer
- 1918 - Robert Wadlow, tallest person in history (d. 1940)
- 1921 - Jean-Bédel Bokassa, ruler of the Central African Republic (d. 1996)
- 1921 - Wayne Booth, American literary critic (d. 2005)
- 1922 - Steven Hill, American actor
- 1925 - Edward Gorey, American illustrator (d. 2000)
- 1926 - Kenneth Williams, English actor (d. 1988)
- 1926 - Bud Yorkin, American film director
- 1927 - Guy Mitchell, American singer
- 1928 - Paul Dooley, American actor
- 1928 - Bruce Forsyth, British entertainer
- 1929 - Rebecca Schull, American actress
- 1930 - Marni Nixon, American singer
- 1932 - Ted Kennedy, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts
- 1934 - Sparky Anderson, baseball manager
- 1936 - J. Michael Bishop, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1938 - Ishmael Reed, American writer
- 1941 - Hipólito Mejía, President of the Dominican Republic
- 1944 - Jonathan Demme, American director
- 1944 - Robert Kardashian, American lawyer
- 1944 - Tom Okker, Dutch tennis player
- 1945 - Leslie Charleson, American actress
- 1949 - Niki Lauda, Austrian race car driver
- 1949 - Olga Morozova, Russian tennis player
- 1950 - Julius Erving, American basketball player
- 1950 - Ellen Greene, American actress
- 1950 - Miou-Miou, French actress
- 1950 - Julie Walters, English actress
- 1952 - Bill Frist, American politician
- 1959 - Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
- 1962 - Steve Irwin, Australian herpetologist and televison personality
- 1963 - Vijay Singh, Fiji golfer
- 1966 - Rachel Dratch, American actress and comedienne
- 1966 - Brian Greig, Australian politician
- 1967 - Alf Poier, Austrian comedian
- 1968 - Jeri Ryan, American actress
- 1969 - Byron Stroud, American bassist (Fear Factory)
- 1971 - Lea Salonga, Filipina actress and singer
- 1972 - Claudia Pechstein, German speed skater
- 1975 - Drew Barrymore, American actress
- 1979 - Brett Emerton, Australian footballer
- 1982 - Jenna Haze, American actress

Deaths


- 965 - Odo, Duke of Burgundy
- 1071 - Arnulf III, Count of Flanders (killed in battle)
- 1111 - Roger Borsa, King of Sicily
- 1371 - King David II of Scotland (b. 1324)
- 1512 - Amerigo Vespucci, Italian merchant and explorer (b. 1454)
- 1627 - Olivier van Noort, Dutch navigator (b. 1558)
- 1674 - Jean Chapelain, French writer (b. 1595)
- 1680 - Catherine Monvoisin, French sorceress
- 1690 - Charles Le Brun, French artist (b. 1619)
- 1727 - Francesco Gasparini, Italian composer (b. 1661)
- 1731 - Frederik Ruysch, Dutch physician and anatomist (b. 1638)
- 1732 - Francis Atterbury, English bishop and man of letters (b. 1663)
- 1742 - Charles Rivington, English publisher (b. 1688)
- 1797 - Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Freiherr von Münchhausen, German officer and adventurer (b. 1720)
- 1816 - Adam Ferguson, Scottish philosopher and historian (b. 1723)
- 1875 - Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, French painter (b. 1796)
- 1875 - Sir Charles Lyell, Scottish geologist (b. 1797)
- 1890 - John Jacob Astor III, American businessman (b. 1822)
- 1890 - Carl Heinrich Bloch, Danish painter (b. 1834)
- 1892 - Herman Koeckemann, German Catholic prelate (b. 1828)
- 1901 - George Francis FitzGerald, Irish mathematician (b. 1851)
- 1903 - Hugo Wolf, Austrian composer (b. 1860)
- 1939 - Antonio Machado, Spanish poet (b. 1875)
- 1943 - Hans Scholl, German resistance fighter (b. 1918)
- 1943 - Sophie Scholl, German resistance fighter (b. 1921)
- 1945 - Osip Brik, Russian writer (d. 1888)
- 1961 - Nick LaRocca, American jazz musician (b. 1889)
- 1965 - Felix Frankfurter, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (b. 1882)
- 1968 - Peter Arno, American cartoonist (b. 1904)
- 1976 - Angela Baddeley, English actress (b. 1904)
- 1976 - Florence Ballard, American singer (The Supremes) (b. 1943)
- 1980 - Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian artist (b. 1886)
- 1983 - Sir Adrian Boult, English conductor (b. 1889)
- 1984 - Jessamyn West, American writer (b. 1902)
- 1985 - Alexander Scourby, American actor (b. 1913)
- 1985 - Efrem Zimbalist, Russian violinist (b. 1889)
- 1987 - Andy Warhol, American artist, director, and writer (b. 1928)
- 1994 - Papa John Creech, American musician
- 1995 - Ed Flanders, American actor (b. 1934)
- 1997 - Joseph Aiuppa, American gangster (b. 1907)
- 1998 - Abraham Ribicoff, American politician (b. 1910)
- 2000 - Fernando Buesa, Spanish politician (b. 1946)
- 2002 - Chuck Jones, American animator (b. 1912)
- 2002 - Jonas Savimbi, Angolan rebel leader (b. 1934)
- 2004 - Roque Máspoli, Uruguayan footballer (b. 1917)
- 2004 - Andy Seminick, baseball player (b. 1920)
- 2005 - Zdzisław Beksiński, Polish artist (b. 1929)
- 2005 - Simone Simon, French actress (b. 1910)

Holidays and observances


- Roman Catholic Church - Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter
- United States - Washington's Birthday (traditionally)
- Saint Lucia - independence (1979)

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/22 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050222.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- February 21 - February 23 - January 22 - March 22 -- listing of all days ko:2월 22일 ja:2月22日 simple:February 22 th:22 กุมภาพันธ์

1732

Events


- February 23 - First performance of Handel's Orlando, in London
- June 9 - James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of Georgia. [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/ga01.htm]
- December 7 - The original Covent Garden Theatre Royal (now the Royal Opera House) is opened
- Genoa regains Corsica
- 139 members of the Paris Parlement are exiled by order of the King, but are eventually triumphant over the Crown, and secure their recall in December
- Cobalt discovered

Births


- January 24 - Pierre de Beaumarchais, French writer (d. 1799)
- February 22 - George Washington, 1st President of the United States (d. 1799)
- March 31 - Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer (d. 1809)
- April 5 - Jean-Honoré Fragonard, French painter (d. 1806)
- September 30 - Jacques Necker, French politician (d. 1804)
- October 6 - Nevil Maskelyne, English Astronomer Royal (died 1811)
- November 13 - John Dickinson, American lawyer and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention (d. 1808)
- December 6 - Warren Hastings, British administrator (d. 1818)
- December 23 - Richard Arkwright, English inventor (d. 1792)
- Abbas III, Shah of Persia

Deaths


- January 12 - John Horsley, British archaeologist
- February 13 - Charles-René d'Hozier, French historian (b. 1640)
- February 17 - Louis Marchand, French organist and harpsichordist (b. 1669)
- February 22 - Francis Atterbury, English bishop and man of letters (b. 1663)
- March 20 - Johann Ernst Hanxleden, German philologist (b. 1681)
- May 20 - Thomas Boston, Scottish church leader (b. 1676)
- July 16 - Woodes Rogers, English privateer and first Royal Governor of the Bahamas
- September 24 - Emperor Reigen of Japan (b. 1654)
- October 31 - Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia (b. 1666)
- December 4 - John Gay, English poet and dramatist (b. 1685) Category:1732 ko:1732년

December 14

December 14 is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 17 days remaining.

Events


- 867 - Adrian II becomes Pope
- 872 - John VIII becomes Pope
- 1287 - Zuider Zee sea wall collapses, killing over 50,000 people
- 1542 - Princess Mary Stuart becomes Queen Mary I of Scotland.
- 1790 - Alexander Hamilton proposes creation of a Bank of the United States
- 1819 - Alabama becomes the 22nd U.S. state
- 1896 - Glasgow Underground Railway, third in the world, opens (an accident closes it the same day and it only reopens in 1897),
- 1900 - Max Planck publishes his study of quantum theory (The birth of Quantum Theory)
- 1902 - First telegraph cable laid across the Pacific Ocean
- 1911 - First expedition reaches the South Pole, led by Roald Amundsen
- 1918 - Friedrich Karl von Hessen, a German prince elected by the Parliament of Finland to become King Väinö I, renounced the Finnish throne.
- 1932 - Iraq gains independence from the United Kingdom
- 1939 - USSR expelled from the League of Nations
- 1946 - UN General Assembly votes to establish its headquarters in New York City
- 1947 - NASCAR founded
- 1958 - 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition becomes the first ever to reach The Pole of Relative Inaccessibility
- 1959 - Motown record label is founded in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1962 - Mariner 2 became the first spacecraft to fly by Venus.
- 1962 - The Mona Lisa was assessed at US$100 million, the highest insurance valuance for a painting in history.
- 1964 - Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States 379 US 241 1964 decided by U.S. Supreme Court
- 1979 - Punk rock band The Clash release the influential double album London Calling.
- 1981 - Israel annexes the Golan Heights
- 1989 - Chile holds its first free election in 16 years. Patricio Aylwin was elected president.
- 1991 - A rock slide takes off 10 metres of Mount Cook's elevation in New Zealand.
- 1995 - The Dayton Agreement was signed in Paris to end the Yugoslav wars.
- 1996 - A massive freightliner hits the Riverwalk mall and hotel complex in New Orleans, Louisiana, injuring 116.
- 1999 - Charles M. Schulz, creator of the comic strip Peanuts, announced his retirement.
- 2000 - The Texas 7 rob a Radio Shack in Pearland, Texas. They stole police scanners that would be used in their following infamous heist.
- 2003 - The news of the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's capture is finally announced.
- 2003 - Celebration of the reopening of the Fenice Theater in Venice, Italy.
- 2004 - The Millau viaduct, the highest bridge in the world, is officially opened.

Births


- 1009 - Emperor Go-Suzaku of Japan (d. 1045)
- 1503 - Nostradamus, French astrologer and mathematician (d. 1566)
- 1546 - Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer (d. 1601)
- 1625 - Barthélemy d'Herbelot de Molainville, French orientalist (d. 1695)
- 1631 - Anne Conway, Viscountess Conway, English philosopher (d. 1679)
- 1640 (baptism date) - Aphra Behn, playwright and novelist (d. 1689)
- 1678 - Daniel Neal, English historian (d. 1743)
- 1720 - Justus Möser, German statesman (d. 1794)
- 1775 - Philander Chase, American founder of Kenyon College (d. 1852)
- 1775 - Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, British admiral (d. 1860)
- 1824 - Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, French painter (d. 1898)
- 1866 - Roger Fry, English artist and art critic (d. 1934)
- 1870 - Karl Renner, President of Austria (d. 1950)
- 1884 - Jane Cowl, American actress and playwright (d. 1950)
- 1895 - Paul Eluard, French poet (d. 1952)
- 1895 - King George VI of the United Kingdom (d. 1952)
- 1896 - Jimmy Doolittle, American general (d. 1993)
- 1897 - Margaret Chase Smith, American politician (d. 1995)
- 1902 - Frances Bavier, American actress (d. 1989)
- 1908 - Morey Amsterdam, American comedian and actor (d. 1996)
- 1909 - Edward Tatum, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1975)
- 1911 - Spike Jones, American comedian and musician (d. 1965)
- 1913 - Dan Dailey, American actor (d. 1978)
- 1914 - Karl Carstens, President of Germany (d. 1992)
- 1914 - Rosalyn Tureck, American pianist and harpsichordist (d. 2003)
- 1918 - James T. Aubrey, American television executive (d. 1994)
- 1918 - B.K.S. Iyengar, Indian yoga advocate
- 1919 - Shirley Jackson, American writer (d. 1965)
- 1922 - Nikolay Basov, Russian physicist, Noble Prize laureate (d. 2001)
- 1923 - Gerard Reve, Dutch writer
- 1932 - Charlie Rich, American musician (d. 1995)
- 1935 - Lee Remick, American actress (d. 1991)
- 1938 - Leonardo Boff, Brazilian theologian
- 1946 - Jane Birkin, English-born actress
- 1946 - Patty Duke, American actress
- 1946 - Michael Ovitz, American film producer
- 1946 - Stan Smith, American tennis player
- 1947 - Christopher Parkening, American guitarist
- 1949 - Bill Buckner, baseball player
- 1951 - Jan Timman, Dutch chess player
- 1953 - René Eespere, Estonian composer
- 1954 - Alan Kulwicki, American race car driver (d. 1993)
- 1954 - James Horan, American actor
- 1959 - Dana Childs, American radio personality and basketball coach.
- 1962 - Ginger Lynn, American actress
- 1963 - Cynthia Gibb, American actress
- 1965 - Craig Biggio, baseball player
- 1966 - Bill Ranford, Canadian hockey player
- 1967 - Ewa Białołęcka, Polish writer
- 1973 - Tomasz Radzinski, Canadian footballer
- 1974 - Billy Koch, baseball player
- 1977 - KaDee Strickland, American actress
- 1979 - Michael Owen, English footballer
- 1982 - Anthony Way, British singer and actor

Deaths


- 1460 - Guarino da Verona, Italian humanist and translator (b. 1370)
- 1510 - Friedrich of Saxony (b. 1473)
- 1542 - King James V of Scotland (b. 1512)
- 1591 - Saint John of the Cross, Spanish friar and poet (b. 1542)
- 1624 - Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, English statesman (b. 1536)
- 1651 - Pierre Dupuy, French scholar (b. 1582)
- 1713 - Thomas Rymer, English historian (b. 1641)
- 1715 - Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1636)
- 1735 - Thomas Tanner, English bishop and antiquarian (b. 1674)
- 1741 - Charles Rollin, French historian (b. 1661)
- 1788 - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German composer (b. 1714)
- 1788 - King Charles III of Spain (b. 1716)
- 1799 - George Washington, first President of the United States (b. 1732)
- 1861 - Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria (b. 1819)
- 1873 - Louis Agassiz, Swiss-born zoologist and geologist (b. 1807)
- 1947 - Edward Higgins, English Salvation Army general (b. 1864
- 1963 - Dinah Washington, American singer (b. 1924)
- 1964 - William Bendix, American actor (b. 1906)
- 1984 - Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898)
- 1985 - Roger Maris, baseball player (b. 1934)
- 1989 - Andrei D. Sakharov, Russian physicist and activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (declined) (b. 1921)
- 1990 - Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss writer (b. 1921)
- 1993 - Myrna Loy, American actress (b. 1905)
- 1998 - Norman Fell, American actor (b. 1924)
- 1998 - Annette Strauss, philanthropist and Mayor of Dallas, Texas (b. 1924)
- 2003 - Jeanne Crain, American actress (b. 1925)
- 2003 - Blas Ople, foreign minister of the Philippines (b. 1927)
- 2004 - Rod Kanehl, baseball player (b. 1934)
- 2004 - Fernando Poe, Jr., Filipino actor (b. 1939)

Holidays and observances


- R.C. Saints - Memorial of Saint John of the Cross
- Also see December 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- USA - admission of Alabama as 22nd state (1819)

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/14 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/site/this_day_in_history/this_day_December_14.php The History Channel: This day in History] ---- December 13 - December 15 - November 14 - January 14 -- listing of all days ko:12월 14일 ms:14 Disember ja:12月14日 simple:December 14 th:14 ธันวาคม

Commander-in-Chief

:For the television series, see Commander in Chief (television). Commander-in-Chief is the commander of all the military forces within a particular region or of all the military forces of a state. As a practical term it refers to the military competencies which reside in a nation-state's executive head of state or government. Oftentimes a given country's Commander-in-Chief need not be or have been a commissioned officer or even a veteran, a