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In order to tackle the 19th century’s version of “shovel ready jobs,” the nation’s first engineering college opened on this date in 1825 in Troy, New York, now known as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. At the time, engineering primarily concerned great structures, applying math and physical sciences to bridges, canals, shipbuilding, fortifications and large buildings. In the years since, engineering has come to be applied to many other fields, such as chemical, electrical, petroleum, and, of course, computers. As a force …

On this date in 1900, President William McKinley’s Secretary of State, John Hay, announced the so-called “open door” policy to stimulate trade with China, free of exclusion by imperial European powers scrambling for control of Chinese markets in the era before the income tax. This was significant because a very large portion of federal revenue came from tariffs or customs on imports. In 1900, federal receipts were around $567 million, of which 41 percent were from customs duties. Today, China …

The place where many of our ancestors first stepped ashore when they came to America seeking a new life opened on this date in 1892—Ellis Island in New York Harbor. The very first immigrant processed at the new facility was a 15-year-old Irish girl named Annie Moore. Over the course of more than 60 years, some 12 million people flowed through the center. Some sources say the number is considerably higher. The peak year was 1907, when just over a …

On this New Year’s Eve, some 317 million Americans of all ages are ready to greet the year 2014. A hundred years ago, the U.S. population was just over 97 million. Fifty years ago, it was just over 186 million. The 2010 Census counted just under 309 million people. To show how the nation is growing, by this time tomorrow there will be 10,800 new babies on hand to welcome the new year, the first of whom will be reported …

As a year draws to a close, it is common to reflect on the passage of time. How history will judge 2013 is not yet known, but this year’s anniversaries are woven into the fabric of today. Two-hundred years ago, a newspaper in Troy, New York coined the term “Uncle Sam” in reference to the United States. One-hundred years ago, Henry Ford unveiled the first moving assembly line. Fifty years ago, the Supreme Court issued the Miranda decision, mandating legal …

The first successful organ transplant in the U.S. was performed this month in 1954 in Boston by Harvard’s Dr. Joseph Murray, who passed away just last year. He transplanted a kidney from one identical twin to another, who lived just over eight years longer. For his pioneering work on organ transplants, Dr. Murray received the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1990. Now, there are nearly 17,000 kidney transplants each year in the U.S., the most common and successful of the …