July 28, 1776: New Hampshire militiamen are mustered atop Mount Independence, across from Fort Ticonderoga, for a reading of the Declaration of Independence, adopted earlier in the month in Philadelphia. They cheer heartily and fire a 13-gun salute.
July 28, 1927: Nellie Taylor Ross, the nation’s first woman governor, stops at the Concord home of former New Hampshire governor John G. Winant. She is on her way to Tilton, where she will give a Chatauqua speech in the evening. The Monitor reports that Ross, the former governor of Wyoming, is “noted for her charming manner” and “travels in an expensive car, with her own chauffeur.” Asked whether she will reveal all in her speech, Ross says one hour won’t give her enough time. “There is a difference between the truth and the whole truth,” she says. “Certainly I tell the truth.”
July 29, 2001: The New York Post runs a first-person essay by Concord’s Adam Young about the experience of trying to make the New York Giants’ roster. “I think I have a different perspective than a lot of guys,” Young writes. “You appreciate the things that come to you after having to battle your way through the ranks.”
July 29, 1914: On Star Island, the most prosperous of the Isles of Shoals, a 40-foot granite obelisk is dedicated to Rev. John Tucke, whose 18th century ministry on the island lasted 40 years.
July 30, 2000: John McCain, whose resounding defeat of George W. Bush in the state’s presidential primary sent shock waves through the Republican Party, formally releases his delegates at the GOP national convention in Philadelphia. “I will always be grateful,” McCain says of his time in New Hampshire. “One of the greatest experiences of my life was my time in that state.”
July 31, 1854: Samuel Wilson, believed to be the original “Uncle Sam,” dies at 87. Brought up in Mason, he became a contractor and supplied meat to the army during the War of 1812. He was known as Uncle Sam and stamped his supply barrels U.S. Asked by passersby on a New York wharf what the U.S. stood for, one of Wilson’s workmen said, “Uncle Sam.” The name quickly spread.
July 31, 1983: Walter Mondale speaks to voters at the Archway Restaurant in Concord and is impressed with the seriousness of their questions. “It was a thoughtful meeting,” he says. “They didn’t want the razzmatazz.”
July 31, 1947: The Monitor is inundated with letters to the editor urging the city to build a swimming pool. One resident, Hazel M. Stiles, writes: “Oh yes, we have Bear Brook if you have a car and someone to take you over. Most parents are working daytimes and cannot take the children. Yes, we have a bus at the cost of 35 cents each way, making 70 cents and an admission fee when you get there. How many times can a child afford to go there?”
Aug. 1, 1662: Englishmen sent north by Royal Gov. John Endicott in Boston to explore the headwaters of the Merrimack River reach Lake Winnipesaukee. An engraved boulder above the current Weirs Bridge marks the spot.
Aug. 1, 1990: Pamela Smart is arrested for arranging with her 16-year-old lover and two other boys to kill her husband Gregory the previous May. “I’ve been wrongly accused of a heinous crime,” Smart will tell Judge Douglas Gray at a bail hearing. “I’m 22 years old and I’m a widow. I’ve gone through immeasurable pain and suffering.” After listening to a tape in which she incriminates herself, the judge will order her held without bail until her trial.
Aug. 2, 2002: Four women hold a ‘nurse-in’ at Hunt Memorial Pool in Manchester. The protest is in response to an incident that took place in early July, when one of the women was asked to leave the pool for breast-feeding her baby.
Aug. 2, 1776: New Hampshire delegates Dr. Josiah Bartlett and William Whipple join other members of the Continental Congress in signing the Declaration of Independence.
Aug. 3, 2000: The political buzz regarding Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore’s choice for a running mate indicates that Gov. Jeanne Shaheen is one of six people on Gore’s short list. The governor responds by saying she would decline the opportunity if asked.
Aug. 3, 1852: On Lake Winnipesaukee, Harvard and Yale hold the first intercollegiate rowing race. Harvard wins by four lengths.
