The Cornerstone – Today In Southern History

Sep 18, 2025

George Washington and other dignitaries laid the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol in a traditional Masonic ceremony.

1862 – Ten men, all noncombatants, were loaded onto wagons, seated on newly made coffins, and taken to the Palmyra, Missouri fairgrounds where they were executed under order of federal General McNeil in what became known as the Palmyra massacre.
1895 – Booker T. Washington delivers his “Atlanta compromise” address.
1940 – “You Can’t Go Home Again” by Thomas Wolfe of Asheville, North Carolina was published by Harper and Brothers.
1947 – The National Security Act, which unified the Army, Navy and newly formed Air Force, went into effect.
1984 – Joe Kittinger of Florida completed the first solo balloon crossing of the Atlantic.
1997 – Ted Turner, Atlanta, Georgia Media tycoon, announced that over the next ten years he would give $1 billion to the United Nations.

Today In Southern History