On this day in 1800, president John Adams orders the United States government to move to Washington DC from Philadelphia. The nations capitol didn't even exist 10 years prior to this order, it was just an empty hill on the Potomac River. It was created in a compromise of a new nation. Southern states wanted the capitol in the south, northern states wanted it in the north. Neither side could agree and it actually threatened to destroy the country before it began. What broke the deadlock was a conversation between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Because the northern states had most of the military action of the Revolutionary War, they also had most of the debt. Hamilton suggested the US government take on debt of the war. The southern states were against this because they had paid off their debt. The compromise was to build a new city on the border of Virginia and Maryland.
On this day in 1988 the Soviet Union began to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. It had occupied the country for almost 10 years. Their invasion caused the US to boycott the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. Once again the US doesn't learn when it comes to trying to occupy a country that has a lot of resolve to not be occupied. Kind of Vietnam part II.
On this day in 1972 George Wallace was shot in Maryland while on campaign for president. Wallace was famous for being the governor of Alabama during the civil right era. He famously said "Segregation now! Segregation forever!" Later in life he claimed he only said that to get elected. Far be it a politician saying what the people want him to say just to get elected.
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