Liberty Bell Museum of Allentown

03/31/2023

The Liberty Bell Museum is closing. Our last day is Saturday, April 1. No, this is not an April Fool’s joke.

Thank you for your support and patronage over the past 60 years! The support we have received from the community is very much appreciated.

The collections of the Liberty Bell Museum will be moved to the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum located at 432 Walnut St, Allentown, PA 18102. Please give them your support.

Pip the Mouse will be at the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum this Holiday Season. Please see their website for updates.

The Lehigh County Historical Society is one of the largest historical societies in America. Our 30,000 square foot headquarters museum, the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum, is a state-of-the-art climate-controlled facility that houses one of the finest historical research libraries in the state of Pen...

03/30/2023

Today in History...
March 30, 1964
Clue: The original run of this television quiz show with a twist made its debut on NBC, and its first champion was a 26-year-old homemaker from North Carolina. Answer: What is “Jeopardy!”?
https://www.looper.com/338556/heres-what-the-very-first-episode-of-jeopardy-was-like/

03/28/2023

Today in History...
March 28, 1979
The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania nearly suffered a meltdown when its reactor core overheated and released radioactive steam into the atmosphere. The incident created a great deal of debate over the safety of nuclear energy.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nuclear-accident-at-three-mile-island

03/25/2023

Today in History...
March 25, 1911
A fast-spreading fire in the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York City killed 145 garment workers, nearly half of whom chose to jump from 8th, 9th, and 10th story windows rather than burn to death. Most of the victims, mainly Jewish and Italian immigrant women in their teens and 20s, were trapped on the top floors of the building because of faulty or missing safety equipment, and doors that were locked to prevent workers from leaving the building during their 12-hour shift. The tragedy put a national spotlight on the dangerous conditions and the rights of workers in the New York garment industry.
https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/triangle-shirtwaist-fire

03/24/2023

Today in History...
March 24, 1603
After 44 years on the British throne, Elizabeth I died at the age of 69. She is credited with establishing England as a world power and is remembered as one of the greatest British monarchs.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/queen-elizabeth-i-dies

03/23/2023

Today in History...
March 23, 2001
After 15 years in orbit, Earth’s first long-term inhabited space station, Mir, was brought down on a trajectory that burned most of it in the atmosphere and deposited the remaining pieces in an uninhabited part of the Pacific Ocean.
https://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/space/03/23/mir.descent/

03/22/2023

Today in History...
March 22, 1972
The Equal Rights Amendment, which stated “Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction”, was passed by the U.S. Senate and sent to the states for ratification. Congress originally imposed a deadline of March 22, 1979, later extended to June 30, 1982 for the required 38 states to ratify the amendment; this requirement was not met until 2020.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/equal-rights-amendment-passed-by-congress

03/21/2023

Today in History...
March 21, 1965
Thousands of civil rights demonstrators, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., began a five-day, 50-mile march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in support of voting equality.

Selma March, also called Selma to Montgomery March, political march from Selma, Alabama, to the state’s capital, Montgomery, that occurred March 21–25, 1965. Led by Martin Luther King, Jr., the march was the culminating event of several tumultuous weeks during which demonstrators twice attempted...

03/20/2023

Today in History...
March 20, 1852
The first volume of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s controversial anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published. The work was originally a newspaper serial, which ran in the abolitionist periodical “The National Era” from June 5, 1981 to April 1, 1852. It eventually became the best-selling novel of the 19th Century.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/uncle-toms-cabin-is-published

03/19/2023

Today in History...
March 19, 1918
Daylight Saving Time was established in the U.S. by an act of Congress and went into effect of March 31 of that year. This act also established time zones across the continental U.S.
https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/history.html

03/18/2023

Today in History...
March 18, 1852
Henry Wells and William Fargo founded Wells, Fargo & Co. to expedite delivery of mail and supplies to the gold fields of California, to provide banking services, and to safely bring western gold to the Philadelphia Mint.
https://www.legendsofamerica.com/wells-fargo/

03/17/2023

Today in History...
March 17, 1905
Eleanor Roosevelt married distant cousin and future President Franklin Roosevelt in New York City. The bride was walked down the aisle by her uncle, sitting U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt.
https://www.fdrlibrary.org/document-march