On this day in 1901 Vice President Theodore Roosevelt gave his famous "speak softly and carry a big stick" speech while attending the Minnesota state fair. This was to be his policy on European expansion in the western hemisphere, a silent threat to stay out of our back yard or else you won't like us when we're angry. Twelve days later President McKinley was shot and Roosevelt was in charge of the country.
On this day in 1789 Congress founds the U.S. Treasury, thus getting our country on its way to becoming the economic super power that it is today. Where there was money, there was power, and that's where Alexander Hamilton stepped in. A financial genius, Hamilton founded every monetary institution in the United States government at the time. He came up with a brilliant plan to eliminate the national debt created by the loans taken out to fund the Revolutionary war. George Washington might have been the face of the nation, but it was Hamilton who was actually running it for the first few years.
On this day (or night as it were) in 1666 the great London fire erupts and engulfs most of the city, displacing some 100,000 people. The fire started when the King's baker didn't properly extinguish his oven, and during the night an ember ignited and soon burnt his home down. Strong summer winds did the rest by spreading the fire throughout the mostly wooden buildings of the city. A blessing in disguise, the fire allowed London to be rebuilt, this time with stone, and become the beautiful city that it is today. A 202 foot column was erected as a memorial to those affected by the fire.
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