
January 1, 1863 - The Emancipation Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation during the Civil War that all persons held as slaves in the rebellious states were to be free. Although the proclamation had its limitations, it did transform the war, allowing Black men to join the Union Army and Navy. Slaves who had been working to insure their own liberty knew that the war for the Union must become a war for freedom. The proclamation became a historical document for human freedom and the original is housed in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. The biggest celebration of the abolishment of slavery is called Juneteenth. It wasn't until June 19, 1865, that word of the emancipation reached Texas. Juneteenth became an official federal holiday in 2021.
Learn more about the Emancipation Proclamation:
Adults:
- The Broken Constitution: Lincoln, Slavery, and the Refounding of America by Noah Feldman
- The Crooked Path to Abolition: Abraham Lincoln and the Antislavery Constitution by James Oakes
- I Freed Myself: African American Self-Emancipation in the Civil War Era by David Williams
Children:
- Ben and the Emancipation Proclamation by Patrice Sherman
- The Emancipation Proclamation by Charles W. Carey
- The Emancipation Proclamation: Asking Tough Questions by Nel Yomtov
Learn more about Juneteenth:
Adults:
- Juneteenth: The Story Behind the Celebration by Edward T. Cotham
- On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed
Children:
- The History of Juneteenth: A History Book for New Readers by Arlisha Norwood
- The Juneteenth Story: Celebrating the End of Slavery in the United States by Alliah L. Agostini
- Opal Lee and What it Means to be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth by Alice Faye Duncan

January 24, 1848 - California Gold Rush begins
The California Gold Rush began when James Wilson Marshall discovered gold flakes in the American River while building a water-powered sawmill for landowner John Sutter. Sutter tried keeping the discovery a secret, but word got out, and within six months, most of the male population of San Francisco had left for the gold mines. In December 1848, President Polk spoke of the discovery of gold in California, and men traveled by land and sea to find their fortunes. In 1849, the non-native population of California went from 20,000 to 100,000. This massive migration resulted in the miners being dubbed 49ers – hence the San Francisco 49ers football team. The gold rush peaked in 1852 with $81 million pulled from the earth. Hydraulic mining began in 1853, resulting in the destruction of the region’s landscape and independent miners forced into wage labor with big mines.
Learn more about gold rushes:
Adults:
- The Rush: American's Fevered Quest for Fortune: 1848-1853 by Edward Dolnick
- Stampede: Gold Fever and Disaster in the Klondike by Brian Castner
Children:
- Gold Rushes by Natalie Hyde
- Hurry Freedom: African Americans in Gold Rush California by Jerry Stanley
- If You Were a Kid During the California Gold Rush by Josh Gregory
- Life During the California Gold Rush by Bethany Onsgard
Learn more about westward expansion:
Adults:
- Brave Hearted: The Women of the American West 1836-1880 by Katie Hickman
- Frontier Grit: The Unlikely True Stories of Daring Pioneer Women by Marianne Monson
- The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey by Rinker Buck
Children:
- Black Heroes of the Wild West by James Otis Smith
- Enduring the Oregon Trail: A This or That Debate by Jessica Rusick
- What Was the Wild West? by Janet B. Pascal
- Women in the Old West by Marti Dumas

January 27, 1945 - Liberation of Auschwitz
At Auschwitz, the largest extermination and concentration camp run by the Nazis, over 1 million people were murdered, mostly Jews. The Red Army liberated the Auschwitz camps after defeating German forces in Krakow, Poland. Shortly before the Russians arrived, SS soldiers ordered 65,000 prisoners on death marches toward German territory. When the army entered the camp, there were about 7000 people in dire health and warehouses full of other people’s belongings. There was evidence that the German soldiers tried to cover up their crimes by destroying buildings and burning plundered possessions and paper records. Auschwitz consisted of three main camps with many smaller sub-camps. Auschwitz I was a concentration camp, Auschwitz II – Birkenau, was for extermination, and Auschwitz III – Monowice, was a forced labor camp. After the war, former prisoners and the Polish government turned the camp into a museum and memorial. The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum was created in 1947 and receives more than 1 million visitors each year.
Learn more about Auschwitz:
Adults:
- The Dressmakers of Auschwitz: The True Story of the Women Who Sewed to Survive by L.J. Adlington
- The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World by Jonathan Freedland
- One Hundred Saturdays: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World by Michael Frank
- The Sisters of Auschwitz: The True Story of Two Sisters' Resistance in the Heart of Nazi Territory by Roxane van Iperen
Children:
- Auschwitz: Voices from the Death Camp by James M. Deem
- A Rebel in Auschwitz: The True Story of the Resistance Hero Who Fought the Nazis from Inside the Camp by Jack Fairweather
Learn from Auschwitz survivors in their own words:
Adults:
- Always Remember Your Name: A True Story of Family and Survival in Auschwitz by Andra Bucci
- The Daughter of Auschwitz: My Story of Resilience, Survival, and Hope by Tova Friedman
- Lily’s Promise: Holding on to Hope Through Auschwitz and Beyond—A Story for All Generations by Lily Ebert
Children:
- I Will Protect You: A True Story of Twins Who Survived Auschwitz by Eva Mozes Kor
- Survivor’s Club: The True Story of a Very Young Prisoner of Auschwitz by Michael Bornstein

January 29, 1936 - The Baseball Hall of Fame inducts its first members
The Baseball Hall of Fame has elected new members annually since 1936. The first members were Babe Ruth, Christy Matthewson, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, and Walter Johnson. On June 12, 1939, the Hall of Fame building opened in Cooperstown, N.Y. and the first four Hall of Fame classes were inducted. Today there is the Hall of Fame Classic held each Memorial Day weekend, featuring Hall of Famers and players representing each of the 30 Major League Baseball teams. The induction ceremony for new members is held each year during Hall of Fame Weekend in July. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum consists of five buildings holding more than 40,000 three-dimensional objects. It has preserved more than 3 million documents and 250,000 baseball photographs and images. The Museum has as many as 3,000 visitors a day. (National Baseball Hall of Fame image from Wikipedia Commons)
Learn more about the Baseball Hall of Fame:
Adults:
- The Hall: A Celebration of Baseball's Greats: In Stories and Images, the Complete Roster of Inductees by The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
- The National Baseball Hall of Fame Collection: Celebrating the Games Greatest Players by James Buckley Jr.
Children:
- Baseball by James Buckley Jr.
- Who Got Game?: Baseball: Amazing but True Stories by Derrick Barnes
Learn more about baseball legends:
Adults:
- The Book of Joe: Trying Not to Suck at Baseball & Life by Joe Maddon
- The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson by Jeff Pearlman
- The Real Hank Aaron: An Intimate Look at the Life and Legacy of the Home Run King by Terence Moore
- Whispers of the Gods: Tales from Baseball’s Golden Age, Told by the Men Who Played It by Peter Golenbock
Children:
- All Star: How Larry Doby Smashed the Color Barrier in Baseball by Audrey Vernick
- Baseball’s Leading Lady: Effa Manley and the Rise and Fall of the Negro Leagues by Andrea Williams
- Mickey Mantle: The Commerce Comet by Johan Winter
- Yogi: The Life, Loves, and Language of Baseball Legend Yogi Berra by Barb Rosenstock
Factual information adapted from: The National Archives Museum, History: California Gold Rush, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.