Department of State and Related Foreign Affairs Agencies.
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. An earlier posting noted that after many years of consideration around the World, Imperial Germany and Austria-Hungary became the first countries to institute Daylight Saving Time. Great Britain and France soon followed suit. The … Continue reading Daylight Saving Time Begins, 1916, Part II
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. After many years of consideration around the World, Imperial Germany became the first country to institute Daylight Saving Time. On April 6, 1916, the Federal Council (Bundesrat) passed an order directing a change in … Continue reading Daylight Saving Time Begins, 1916
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. In March 1948, the Department of State sent a request for information about host country atomic energy developments to its diplomatic offices overseas. The Department directed posts to forward copies of basic laws, statutes, … Continue reading Atomic activity in Iran. How things change.
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. The book The Invisible Government, published by Random House Publishers in 1964, is one of the first major exposés of the activities of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The book was written by the … Continue reading The Department of State Reacts to Public Revelations of Intelligence Activities, 1964
Today’s post is written by Larry Shockley, Archives Specialist in the Office of Innovation. A 1995 comedic film titled Canadian Bacon was directed by Michael Moore, and starred Alan Alda as a U.S. President whose approval ratings were tanking. In order to give his administration the desired boost with his base the president and his advisors … Continue reading U.S. and Canada Prepare for War Against … Each Other?
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. One of the more notable incidents in the combat experience of U.S. troops during World War I is that of the so-called "Lost Battalion." During the fighting in the Meuse-Argonne in October 1918, over … Continue reading Aftermath of War: A World War I Hero Lost at Sea: The Death of Charles Whittlesey, 1921
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. On January 17, 1893, Hawaiian Queen Liliuokalani was overthrown in a coup. The resulting Provisional Government sent five commissioners to Washington to negotiate a treaty of annexation with the United States. To accomplish that, … Continue reading Making Good History: Preserving Records of the February 1893 Negotiations with Hawaiian Commissioners
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. This is a revision of an earlier post. Tomorrow marks the centennial of the first Thanksgiving celebration after the armistice effectively ending World War I.[1] With the end of the war, Americans had more … Continue reading Thanksgiving Around the World, 1918
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. An earlier post described a minor contretemps involving use of the Department of State communications precedence indicator "NIACT" [Night Action]. That problem persisted over the years as demonstrated by a 1978 exchange of telegrams … Continue reading Why Did You Wake Us Up in the Middle of the Night?: Use of NIACT, 1978
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. On January 21, 1963, at the behest of McGeorge Bundy at the White House, the Department of State sent a circular telegram to 14 embassies in Europe and the U.S. mission in Geneva.[i] The … Continue reading Why Did You Wake Us Up in the Middle of the Night?: Use of NIACT, 1963
