Biden and Harris will meet with King's family on the March on Washington's 60th anniversary
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will observe Monday's 60th anniversary of the March on Washington by meeting with organizers and relatives of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The White House says all of Kingโs children have been invited.
US official says Solomon Islands leader 'missed opportunity'
The U.S. deputy secretary of state says the prime minister of the Solomon Islands โmissed an important opportunityโ by failing to attend a memorial service to mark the anniversary of a key World War II battle, amid concerns the South Pacific island nation is building closer ties with China.
Spidernauts and space dogs: What happens to the creatures of spaceflight
Animal spaceflights paved the way for the first human astronauts and today creatures big and small continue to space travel advancing our knowledge of how the zero-gravity environment impacts all beings and aiding research down on Earth.
JFK's Harvard sweater sold at auction for more than $85,000
This undated photo released by RR Auction shows a Harvard University letter sweater that once belonged to former President John F. Kennedy, up for auction between Feb. 11-18, 2021, by the Boston-based auction firm. (Nikki Brickett/RR Auction via AP)BOSTON โ John F. Kennedy's Harvard University sweater, given away to a television cameraman who mentioned that he was chilly while interviewing Jacqueline Kennedy, has sold at auction for more than $85,000. The crimson wool cardigan, featuring a large black block-letter โHโ and eight white mother-of-pearl buttons, was one of several mementos from U.S. presidents sold during a President's Day auction that ended Thursday, according to Boston-based RR Auction. AdJFK's Harvard sweater, with his surname sewn into the collar, was acquired by Herman Lang, a CBS cameraman who filmed an interview with Jacqueline Kennedy in 1964, the year after the 35th president's assassination in Dallas. It is believed that because the interview was outdoors, Lang mentioned that he was cold and was offered the sweater, according to RR Auction.
A quirky Presidents Day sale: Washington's hair, JFK sweater
(Nikki Brickett/RR Auction via AP)BOSTON โ It's almost Presidents Day, and now there's a chance to own a quirky piece of White House history. Boston-based RR Auction said online bidding gets underway Thursday and runs through Feb. 18. RR Auction spokesperson Mike Graff said the collection โhonors Americaโs esteemed commanders-in-chief." Last year, RR Auction sold a lock of Lincolnโs hair wrapped in a bloodstained telegram about his 1865 assassination to an unidentified buyer for $81,000. Lang mentioned he was cold, and one of the former first lady's staffers brought him the cardigan, RR Auction says.
โEven as we grieved, we grewโ: Amanda Gorman, youngest Inaugural poet, calls out to world
American poet Amanda Gorman reads a poem during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)WASHINGTON โ Inaugural poet Amanda Gorman summoned images dire and triumphant as she called out to the world โeven as we grieved, we grew.โIn language referencing Biblical scripture and at times echoing the oratory of John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the 22-year-old Gorman read with urgency and assertion as she began by asking โWhere can we find light/In this never-ending shade?โ and used her own poetry and life story as an answer. But while democracy can be periodically delayed,It can never be permanently defeated.โFrostโs appearance at the Kennedy inaugural was a kind of valedictory โ he was 86 and died two years later. Her first two books come out later this year โ the picture story โChange Thingsโ and a bound edition of her inaugural poem.
Inaugural poet Amanda Gorman: 'Even as we grieved, we grew.'
American poet Amanda Gorman reads a poem during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. In one of the inauguration's most talked about moments, poet Amanda Gorman summoned images dire and triumphant Wednesday as she called out to the world โeven as we grieved, we grew." Did you catch the 2 @HamiltonMusical references in the inaugural poem? โThat day gave me a second wave of energy to finish the poem,โ Gorman told the AP. Two other books come out in September โ the illustrated โChange Singsโ and a volume of her inaugural poem and other works.
Of presidents and health, history replete with secrecy, lies
The White House issued a vaguely worded statement at first, although Trump's doctors answered some questions from reporters on Saturday. Like many administrations before him, the White House tried to keep Wilson's sickness a secret. But with an election coming on, Roosevelt and the White House staff issued a statement saying the problem was far less serious. The first known instance of a so-called pool reporter inside the White House was in 1881 when James A. Garfield was shot. โI listen for every sound,โ Trusdell wrote to his wife in a note about his overnight Garfield watch at the White House.
History on screen: East Germany through its filmmakers' eyes
In this Wednesday, June 17, 2020 photo Gunnar Dedio, German film producer and managing director of PROGRESS Film GmbH poses for a photo between rolls of film in the archive of PROGRESS Film, in Leipzig, Germany. A new project is underway to digitize thousands of East German newsreels, documentaries and feature films 30 years after Germanys reunification. The East German Augenzeuge, or Eyewitness, newsreel on the Kennedy visit trumpeted the prank as a triumph, scoffing that the American president got an โunexpected surprise instead of the great view into the East German capital promised by his Secret Serviceโ and allegedly had to cut his visit from โ20 minutes to five." Germany was divided into four occupation zones after World War II, the Soviet-influenced East Germany and West Germany's American, British and French sectors. In 1950, the year after East Germany was established as a country, the authorities formed another company, Progress, as a state monopoly to distribute DEFA films and to import foreign productions.
James Meredith film weighs 'complicated' civil rights figure
FILE - In this July 19, 2018, file photo, civil rights movement activist James Meredith, right, greets a friend with a black power salute as he takes a coffee break at a north Jackson, Miss., grocery store. It was one of the most violent moments of the Civil Rights Movement and it forever changed life in the American Deep South. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)RIO RANCHO, N.M. โ A new documentary is diving into the complicated, and sometimes contradictory life of James Meredith, a Black civil rights figure who helped change Mississippi. It was one of the most violent moments of the Civil Rights Movement and Meredith's determination to enroll in Ole Miss forever transformed life in the American Deep South. โI hope that people will see this from the viewpoint from the first person ... almost as if they are James Meredith going through this.โ___Russell Contreras is a member of The Associated Pressโ Race and Ethnicity Team.
US Latino civil rights group moves 2021 convention online
LULAC, the nation's oldest Latino civil rights organization, voted Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, to postpone its planned national convention in Albuquerque, N.M., in 2021 over uncertainty caused by COVID-19. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)RIO RANCHO, N.M. โ The League of United Latin American Citizens, the oldest Latino civil rights group in the U.S., has decided to move its 2021 national convention online amid concerns and health orders caused by COVID-19. The state currently limits the number of people at large gatherings and LULAC national conventions typically attract thousands of activists. The group still plans to hold a national convention in Albuquerque in 2023 because the city and the LULAC's local chapters made financial commitments to hold an event in the city. LULAC national conventions and gatherings have attracted presidents, presidential candidates, and international leaders.
Reagan's age, Mitt's binders: Presidential debate highlights
FILE - In this Oct. 21, 1960 file photo taken a television in New York displays a debate between Republican presidential candidate Vice President Richard M. Nixon, left, and Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John F. Kennedy, D-Mass. The 1960 presidential election offered the country's first televised debates. Here are some of the most memorable moments in presidential debate history:THE FIRST TELEVISED DEBATEThe 1960 presidential election offered the country's first televised debate. THE KIDS ARE OFF-LIMITSDemocrat John Kerry's response to a question about homosexuality during a 2004 presidential debate against Republican incumbent George W. Bush caused a fight between him and Vice President Dick Cheney. The women detailed their allegations against the former president as Trump watched, his hands folded in front of him.
Letters reveal public distaste for booze in JFK White House
FILE - In this Dec. 6, 1960, file photo, President Dwight Eisenhower poses with President-elect John F. Kennedy at the White House in Washington, before a private conference. Researchers at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in 2020 have found a cache of letters from Americans objecting to JFK's embrace of cocktails at White House events. Case in point: Researchers at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum have found a cache of letters from Americans objecting to JFK's embrace of cocktails at White House events. Can we risk our national and international security on such potential incompetence?Eisenhower was no teetotaler, but historians say he presided over a largely cocktail-free White House. JFK Library archivists say the letters of protest began arriving after newspapers reported on Kennedy's first official event: a January 1961 reception honoring the new president's appointees.
Jackie O's island getaway sold to land preservation groups
The Marthas Vineyard estate of former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is being sold to a pair of nonprofits that plan on turning the property into conservation land open to the public, officials said Thursday. The 304-acre Aquinnah property, among the largest and most spectacular undeveloped parcels on the island, will be known as the Squibnocket Pond Reservation," the statement said. Red Gate Farm was a sheep farm and hunting cabin when Kennedy Onassis bought it in 1979. It has been maintained by Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of Kennedy Onassis and President John F. Kennedy. We are excited to partner with two outstanding island organizations, and for the entire island community and the general public to experience its beauty."
Kennedy loss in Massachusetts may mark end of 'Camelot' era
The loss marks the first time a member of the political dynasty has come up short in a race for Congress in Massachusetts. The Kennedy legacy hung over the race, especially in the closing weeks, when Kennedy more explicitly invoked his pedigree including JFK; former U.S. Kennedy helped raise millions of dollars for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House Democrats campaign arm, during the 2018 midterm elections. Massachusetts voters may have rejected him, but few remaining House Democrats carry the same national fundraising appeal as Kennedy. In 1986, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend lost a U.S. House race in Maryland, and in 2002, Mark Kennedy Shriver also lost a congressional primary in Maryland.
White House Rose Garden is getting a face-lift
FILE - In this May 7, 2019 file photo, first lady Melania Trump arrives for a one year anniversary event for her Be Best initiative in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. Melania Trump has announced plans to renovate the White House Rose Garden. Melania Trump on Monday announced details of a plan already underway to spruce up the White House Rose Garden, an iconic outdoor space famous for its proximity to the Oval Office. She used the Rose Garden to announce her โBe Bestโ youth program in May 2018. The White House did not provide a cost estimate.
Martin Luther King's traffic ticket changed history's course
The man was Martin Luther King Jr., and his citation on May 4, 1960, led to him being sentenced, illegally, to a chain gang. AdSmith later wrote that they were stopped because the officer saw her white face with a black man. Nixon had just been endorsed by Martin Luther King Sr., the leader of Ebenezer Baptist Church. But Nixon ignored their pleas for help, while Kennedy called Mrs. King to express his sympathy. AdAccording to The Gallup Poll, Black people voted 61% Democrat/39% Republican in 1956, and 68% Democrat/32% Republican in 1960.