President James K. Polk signs the Smithsonian Institution Act, creating a national museum and research complex at the bequest of English scientist James Smithson.
31st President Herbert Hoover (and American Heritage author) is born in West Branch, Iowa. The first president born west of the Mississippi River, Hoover served as the Secretary of Commerce under Presidents Harding and Coolidge before being elected to the White House in 1928.
One day after the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan accepts the terms of the Potsdam Conference and agrees to an unconditional surrender. More »
Missouri becomes 24th state
Missouri is admitted to the Union as the 24th state. A contentious issue, Congress finally decided that Missouri would enter the Union as a slave state, though it defined its southern border as the northernmost limit of slavery expansion.
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