1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system
Federal News Network presents a daily update of important moments in the history of the U.S. government.
On Nov. 19, 1863, at the dedication of a military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln delivered one of the most memorable speeches in American history. In fewer than 275 words, Lincoln inspired the Union to fight on and win the Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg, fought some four months earlier, was the single bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Although a Union victory, in three days more than 45,000 men were killed, injured, captured or went missing. The battle also proved to be the turning point of the war, as Gen. Robert E. Lee’s retreat from Gettysburg marked the last Confederate invasion of Northern territory. An attorney named David Wills bought 17 acres of pasture, at the direction of Pennsylvania’s governor, to turn into a cemetery for the fallen. Wills invited Edward Everett, one of the most famous orators of the day, to deliver a speech at the cemetery’s dedication. Lincoln’s invitation was somewhat an afterthought. At the dedication, the crowd listened for two hours to Everett before Lincoln spoke. Lincoln’s address lasted just two or three minutes. The speech reflected his redefined belief that the Civil War was not just a fight to save the Union, but a struggle for freedom and equality for all, an idea Lincoln had not championed in the years leading up to the war.
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