American Minute with Bill Federer
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This is PART ONE: January1 to June 30

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American Minute with Bill Federer
January 1st

The Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on this day. It stated: "I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as commander-in-chief...do, on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three...publicly proclaim...that all persons held as slaves...are, and henceforward shall be, free....And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence...and...recommend...they labor faithfully for reasonable wages." Lincoln concluded: "And upon this act...I invoke...the gracious favor of Almighty God."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 2nd

Today, January 2nd, is Betsy Ross Day. She was born a day earlier on January 1, 1752, to a Quaker family in Philadelphia, the 8th of 17 children. She apprenticed as a seamstress, where she fell in love with an upholsterer named John Ross, son of an Episcopal rector and nephew of George Ross, who signed the Declaration of Independence. As Quakers forbade interdenominational marriage, John and Betsy eloped. They attended Christ's Church and their pew was next to George Washington's. During the Revolution, John died when a munitions depot he was guarding blew up. Shortly after, General Washington asked Betsy Ross to sew the American Flag.

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 3rd

Frederick the Great of Prussia called these ten days "the most brilliant in the world's history." After winning the Battle of Trenton, Christmas night, George Washington's small force dodged General Cornwallis' 8,000 man British army. Then one night, Washington left his campfires burning and sneaked his army around the back of the British camp at Princeton, New Jersey. At daybreak, this day, January 3, 1777, Washington attacked, capturing three regiments of British troops. Enthusiasm swept America. Ezra Stiles, president of Yale College, stated: "Who but a Washington, inspired by Heaven, could have conceived the surprise move upon the enemy at Princeton?"

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 4th

Called the "Father of American Medicine," he signed the Declaration of Independence, was Surgeon General of the Continental Army, and was a staff member of the Pennsylvania Hospital, where he opened the first free medical clinic. His name was Benjamin Rush, and he was born this day, January 4, 1745. Rush also founded a Bible Society, a Sunday School Union and a Society for the Abolition of Slavery. Dr. Benjamin Rush stated: "The only foundation for a useful education in a republic is to be laid on the foundation of religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 5th

Raised by an elderly white couple after his mother was kidnapped following the Civil War, he left home at age eleven and began school in Neosho, Missouri, paying his own tuition. He drifted from there to several towns across Kansas, supporting himself by working as a cook, doing laundry and odd jobs. He eventually received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Iowa State College of Agriculture. Booker T. Washington recruited him to teach at Tuskegee Institute, where he introduced hundred of uses for the peanut, soybean and sweet potato, creating a multi-million dollar industry - revolutionizing the South's economy. His name was George Washington Carver, and he died this day, January 5, 1943. Turning down offers to work for Henry Ford and Thomas Edison, George Washington Carver said: "God is going to reveal to us things He never revealed before if we put our hands in His."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 6th

In 567 AD, at the Council of Tours, the church tried to reconcile a dispute between Western Europe and Eastern Europe. The West celebrated the feast of Christ's birth on Christmas day, December 25th as it's major holiday, and the East celebrated this day, January 6th as Epiphany, remembering the visit of the Wise Men and Jesus' baptism. Since no agreement could be reached on a specific
date, the decision was made to have all 12 days between December 25th and January 6th designated "holy days" or as it was later pronounced "holidays." These became known as the "Twelve Days of Christmas."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 7th

He became the 13th President when President Zachary Taylor died unexpectedly. He sent Commodore Perry to Japan and admitted California, which had just begun the Gold Rush, into the Union. His name was Millard Fillmore and he was born this day, January 7, 1800. When the Library of Congress caught fire, he and his Cabinet formed a bucket brigade to extinguish the flames. Millard Fillmore stated: "On commencing my Presidential career, I found the Sabbath had frequently been employed...for private interviews with the President....To...end to this [I] ordered my doorkeeper to meet all Sunday visitors with an indiscriminate refusal."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 8th

Though the War of 1812 had ended two weeks earlier, news had not yet reach New Orleans and on this day, January 8, 1815, five thousand British soldiers charged in a frontal assault against General Andrew Jackson's Tennessee and Kentucky sharpshooters. French pirate Jean Lafitte and his men aided the Americans. In just a half-hour, over two thousand British were killed and only 8 Americans. General Jackson wrote: "It appears that the unerring hand of Providence shielded my men from the shower of balls, bombs, and rockets, when every ball and bomb from our guns carried with them a mission of death."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 9th

Richard Milhous Nixon was born this day, January 9, 1913. A Lieutenant Commander in the Navy during WWII, he was a Congressman, Senator, and Vice-President under Eisenhower. He lost his first presidential race to John F. Kennedy by the smallest margin in a presidential election up to that date. He served as America's 37th President before resigning. In his Inaugural Address, President Nixon stated: "No man can be fully free while his neighbor is not.... This means black and white together as one nation, not two.... What remains is...to insure...that as all are born equal in dignity before God, all are born equal in dignity before man."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 10th

His daughter was Harriet Beecher Stowe, who wrote the abolitionist novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin." His son was Henry Ward Beecher, a famous New York preacher who was known for denouncing slavery and government corruption, and for being in support of a woman's right to vote. His name was Lyman Beecher and he died this day, January 10, 1863. A renowned New England clergyman, Lyman Beecher wrote: "If this nation is, in the providence of God, destined to lead the way in the moral and political emancipation of the world, it is time she understood her...calling... For mighty causes...are rushing with accumulating power to their consummation of good or evil."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 11th

He was the grandson of Princeton president Jonathan Edwards, whose preaching began the Great Awakening revival. He became the president of Yale, serving for twenty-two years. His name was Timothy Dwight, and he died this day, January 11, 1817. Finding many of Yale's students enamored with French enlightenment, Timothy Dwight often visited with students on campus, logically answering questions of faith. By the end of his tenure, not only did the majority of the student body profess Christianity, but many became ministers. Timothy Dwight wrote: "Where there is no religion, there is no morality,..the ultimate foundation of...life, liberty and property is buried in ruins."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 12th

"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." This famous quote was from British statesman Edmund Burke, who was born this day, January 12, 1729. Considered the most influential orator in the House of Commons, Burke stands out in history, for, as a member of the British Parliament, he defended the rights of the American colonies and strongly opposed the slave trade. Edmund Burke stated: "What is liberty without...virtue? It is...madness, without restraint. Men are qualified for liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 13th

Educated at Oxford, James Oglethorpe joined the Austrian army and was fighting the invading Muslim Turks at age 17. Upon return to England, he entered Parliament and presided over prison reform. There he got the idea of founding a colony in America where the poor and destitute could start afresh and where people persecuted for their faith could find refuge. James Oglethorpe secured a charter for the Colony of Georgia and on this day, January 13, 1733, one hundred and twenty settlers, who had sailed across the ocean to America, went ashore, knelt down and declared: "Our end in leaving our native country is not to gain riches and honor, but singly this: to live wholly to the glory of God."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 14th

Albert Schweitzer was born this day, January 14, 1875, in a village in Alsace, Germany. A Lutheran pastor's son and acclaimed for playing the organ, he earned doctorates in philosophy and theology, was pastor of St. Nicholai's Church, principal of St. Thomas College, and professor at University of Strasbourg. Then, at age 30, he read a Paris Missionary Society article on the desperate need for physicians in Africa. To everyone's dismay, he enrolled in medical school and became a medical missionary, founding a hospital in the jungle village of Lambarene, Gabon, west central Africa. A friend of Albert Einstein, Albert Schweitzer won the Nobel Peace Prize and used the prize money to build a leper colony. He visited the United States in 1949 and his daughter married an American doctor volunteering at the hospital. Overcoming innumerable difficulties, Dr. Albert Schweitzer wrote: "One day, in my despair, I threw myself into a chair in the consulting room and groaned out: 'What a blockhead I was to come out here to doctor savages like these!' Whereupon his native assistant quietly remarked: 'Yes, Doctor, here on earth you are a great blockhead, but not in heaven.'"

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 15th

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was born this day, January 15, 1929. A Baptist minister, like his father and grandfather, he pastored Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, and Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, before forming the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Reverend King wrote: "I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers.... I stand in the middle of two opposing forces... One is a force of complacency....the other force is one of bitterness and hatred...expressed in...Elijah Muhammad's Muslim movement.... I have tried to stand between these two forces...for there is the more excellent way of love."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 16th

Thomas Jefferson had it commemorated on his tombstone, along with the Declaration of Independence. What was it? It was Jefferson's Article of Religious Freedom, passed this day, January 16, 1786, in the Virginia Assembly. In it, Jefferson wrote: "Well aware...that Almighty God hath created the mind free...all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments...tend only to begat habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of religion, who being Lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was in his Almighty power to do, but to extend it by its influence on reason alone."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 17th

On January 17, 1781, Washington's southern army defeated the British troops at Cowpens. In hot pursuit, Lord Cornwallis reached the Catawba River just two hours after the American troops had crossed, but a storm made the river impassable. He nearly overtook the Americans again at the Yadkin River, just as they were getting out on the other side, but a torrential rain flooded the river. This happened a third time at the Dan River. British Commander Henry Clinton wrote: "Here the royal army was again stopped by a sudden rise of the waters, which had only just fallen (almost miraculously) to let the enemy over."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 18th

By a resolution of the Senate, he was esteemed as one of the five greatest senators in U.S. history. An outstanding orator, his political career spanned almost four decades, serving as Secretary of State for Presidents William Henry Harrison, John Tyler and Millard Fillmore. His name was Daniel Webster, born this day, January 18, 1782. Webster fought to end the slave trade, opposed creating a national bank and settled the Northeast boundary of the United States. Daniel Webster stated: "If our posterity neglects religious instruction...no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 19th

William Orville Douglas died this day, January 19, 1980. He was a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court for 36 years, after teaching law at Yale and Columbia University. In the 1952 case of Zorach v. Clauson, Justice William Douglas asserted: "The First Amendment, however, does not say that in every respect there shall be a separation of Church and State.... Otherwise the state and religion would be aliens to each other." Justice Douglas continued: "We are a religious people and our institutions presuppose a Supreme Being.... When the state encourages religious instruction...it follows the best of our traditions."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 20th

On this day, January 20, 1961, President John F. Kennedy delivered his Inaugural Address, following prayers by a rabbi, a Protestant minister, a Catholic cardinal, a Greek Orthodox bishop, and a poem by Robert Frost. President Kennedy stated: "The same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe - The belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God." President Kennedy concluded: "Let us go forth... asking His blessing and His help...knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 21st

He produced epic films in Hollywood for almost five decades and started Paramount Pictures. His name was Cecil B. DeMille and he died this day, January 21, 1959. His best-known films include: Samson and Delilah, The Ten Commandments and The Greatest Show on Earth, for which he won an Academy Award. At the opening of The Ten Commandments, Cecil B. DeMille stated: "Man has made 32 million laws since the Commandments were handed down to Moses on Mount Sinai...but he has never improved on God's law.... They are the charter and guide of human liberty, for there can be no liberty without the law."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 22nd

On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court's decision in the case of Roe v. Wade allowed abortions in the first six months of pregnancy. Twenty-three years later, Norma McCorvey, who was the "Jane Roe" in the Roe v. Wade suit, was interviewed by USA Today. She stated that once, while employed at a clinic when no one was in: "I went into the procedure room and laid down on the table...trying to imagine what it would be like having an abortion... I broke down and cried." On ABC's World News Tonight, Norma McCorvey said: "I think abortion's wrong. I think what I did with Roe v. Wade was wrong."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 23rd

On this day, January 23, 1789, John Carroll founded Georgetown University. But who was John Carroll? He was the first Catholic bishop in the United States, and cousin of the wealthiest citizen in America, Charles Carroll, the last surviving signer of the Declaration. In 1776, the Continental Congress asked John Carroll to be part of a commission, which included Benjamin Franklin, to enlist the aid of Canada in the cause of the American Revolution. Bishop John Carroll wrote: "Freedom and independence, acquired by...and cemented with the mingled blood of Protestant and Catholic fellow-citizens, should be equally enjoyed by all."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 24th

James Madison's strong position of defending religious freedom began when, as a youth, he stood with his father outside a jail in the village of Orange and listened to several Baptists preach from their cell windows, having been imprisoned for their religious opinions. Madison wrote of his disapproval of this practice to a friend named William Bradford, on this day, January 24, 1774,
stating: "There are at this [time] in the adjacent [Culpepper] County not less than 5 or 6 well meaning men in [jail] for publishing their religious sentiments which in the main are very orthodox."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 25th

President Ronald Reagan delivered his State of the Union Address to Congress on this day, January 25, 1984, making reference to the fact that they open each session of Congress with prayer. President Reagan stated: "Each day your members observe a 200-year-old tradition meant to signify America is one nation under God. I must ask: If you can begin your day with a member of the clergy standing right here leading you in prayer, then why can't freedom to acknowledge God be enjoyed again by children in every school room across this land?"

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 26th

After commanding in World War I, he became superintendent of West Point, and in 1930 became a four star general and the youngest Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army. During World War II, he became Allied Supreme Commander in the Southwest Pacific and received the surrender of the Japanese. He was promoted to a five star general and served as Supreme United Nations Commander during the Korean War, until President Harry Truman made the unpopular decision to removed him. His name was Douglas MacArthur, and he was born on this day, January 26, 1880. To the cadets at West Point, Douglas MacArthur stated: "The soldier, above all other men, is required to practice the greatest act of religious training - sacrifice."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 27th

President Woodrow Wilson issued a Proclamation on this day, stating: "Whereas, in the various countries now engaged in war, there are nine millions of Jews, the great majority of whom are destitute of food, shelter, and clothing; driven from their homes without warning...causing starvation, disease and untold suffering; and Whereas the people of the United States of America have learned with sorrow of this terrible plight... I, Woodrow Wilson, do proclaim January 27, 1916, as a day upon which to... make contributions...for the aid of the stricken Jewish people. Contributions may be addressed to the American Red Cross."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 28th

Seventy-three seconds after lift-off, on this day, January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, killing its entire seven member crew, which included a Highschool teacher, the first private citizen to fly aboard the craft. In his address to the nation after this disaster, President Ronald Reagan stated: "The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in
which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth,' to 'touch the face of God.'"

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 29th

He read a poem at President John F. Kennedy's Inauguration. He won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry and received the Congressional Gold Medal. Beginning as a farmer in New Hampshire, he became a teacher at Amherst College, the University of Michigan and a professor of poetry at Harvard. His name was Robert Frost, and he died this day, January 29, 1963. In an interview on radio station WQED, Pittsburgh, Robert Frost stated: "Ultimately, this is what you go before God for: You've had bad luck and good luck and all you really want in the end is mercy."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 30th

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born this day, January 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, New York. He was the thirty-second President of the United States, serving over 12 years, longer then any other President. His administration spanned the Great Depression and World War II. In a 1935 radio broadcast, Franklin D. Roosevelt declared: "We cannot read the history of our rise and development as a nation, without reckoning with the place the Bible has occupied in shaping the advances of the Republic.... [W]here we have been the...most consistent in obeying its precepts, we have attained the greatest measure of contentment and prosperity."

American Minute with Bill Federer
January 31st

Jacob Duche' was born this day, January 31, 1738. He was the Anglican clergyman who, at the request of the Continental Congress, opened the first session of Congress with prayer. Conscious of the impending British attack, Rev. Jacob Duche' read Psalm 35, which begins: "Plead my cause, Oh, Lord, with them that strive with me, fight against them that fight against me... Let those be turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me." Of that reading, John Adams wrote in a letter to his wife: "I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. It seem as if heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read on that morning."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 1st

Five dollars was all she was paid by the Atlantic Monthly Magazine for her poem, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, which was published this day, February 1, 1862. The Union's theme song during the Civil War Julia Ward Howe wrote it while visiting Washington, D.C., and seeing it teem with military, galloping horses and innumerable campfires. Sleeping unsoundly one night, Julia Ward Howe penned: "In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea; With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me: As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, While God is marching on."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 2nd

February 2, 1848, the United States Congress ratified the peace treaty which ended the Mexican War and, in exchange for 15 million dollars, brought the territories of California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming, into the Union. The treaty began: "In the Name of Almighty God: The United States and the United Mexican States animated by a sincere
desire to put an end to the calamities of the war....have, under the protection of Almighty God, the Author of Peace, arranged, agreed upon, and signed the following: Treaty of Peace."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 3rd

On the frigid night of February 3, 1943, the Allied ship Dorchester plowed through the waters near Greenland. At 1:00am, a Nazi submarine fired a torpedo into its flank, killing many in the explosion and trapping others below deck. It the ensuing chaos, four chaplains: a priest, a rabbi and two protestant ministers; distributed life jackets. When there were none left, the four chaplains ripped off their own jackets and put them on four young men. Standing embraced on the slanting deck, the chaplains bowed their heads in prayer as they sank to their icy deaths. Congress honored them by declaring this "Four Chaplains Day."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 4th

For a time he earned his living barnstorming and performing daring feats of aviation. He became a flying cadet in the U.S. Air Service Reserve, and flew mail routes to Chicago. In 1927, after 33 and a half hours, this twenty-five year-old became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. His name was Charles A. Lindbergh, son of a U.S. Congressman, and he was born this day, February 4, 1902. Years later, speaking at the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences, Charles Lindbergh stated: "It was not the outer grandeur of the Roman but the inner simplicity of the Christian that lived though the ages."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 5th

Persecuted in England for preaching religious liberty, Roger Williams fled to Boston, arriving this day, February 5th, 1631. He pastored a short time in the Massachusetts Bay Colony only to be sentenced to be sent back to England for his opposition to the state church. He escaped and lived among the Narragansett Indians, befriending them and learning their language. They gave him the
land upon which he founded Providence Plantation, Rhode Island. This was the first place ever where the freedom to worship was separated from the control of the state. In 1639, he organized the first Baptist Church in the new world.

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 6th

He started his professional career as radio host in Iowa, served in the Army Air Corp during World War II, and became an actor, appearing in over 50 films. He was President of the Screen Actors Guild, switched from Democrat to Republican, and became Governor of California. At the age of seventy, he was the oldest person elected President of the United States. In 1981 he survived an assassination attempt. Who was he? Ronald Reagan, born this day, February 6, 1911. President Ronald Reagan stated at Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas, 1984: "If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a Nation gone under."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 7th

Frederick Douglass was born this day, February 7, 1817. A former slave, he had become an abolitionist and a commanding spokesman for slaves. His powerful orations exposed the injustices of slavery and championed their right to life and liberty. In retelling of his conversion, Frederick Douglass said: "I loved all mankind, slaveholder not excepted, though I abhorred slavery more than ever. I saw the world in a new light.... I gathered scattered pages of the Bible from the filthy street gutters, and washed and dried them, that...I might get a word or two of wisdom from them."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 8th

The Boys Scouts of America was incorporated this day, February 8, 1910. It was founded two years prior in England by Sir Robert Baden-Powell, a hero of the South African Boer Wars. His troops were besieged two hundred days by an overwhelming army, but due to his resourcefulness, his men survived. The Boy Scouts are now the largest voluntary youth movement in the world, with membership over 25 million. The Scout Oath states: "On my honor, I will do my best: To do my duty to God and my country... To help other people at all times. To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 9th

"Tippecanoe and Tyler too." This was the campaign slogan of ninth President William Henry Harrison, born this day, February 9, 1773. He was the first President to die in office, serving the shortest term of only thirty days. A Major General, Harrison was commander of the Northwest, winning the Battle of Tippecanoe. He was the son of Benjamin Harrison, signer the Declaration, and grandfather of Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd President. In his Inaugural Address, 1841, President William Henry Harrison stated: "I deem the present occasion sufficiently important and solemn to justify me in expressing to my fellow citizens a profound reverence for the Christian religion, and a thorough conviction that sound morals, religious liberty, and a just sense of religious responsibility are essentially connected with all true and lasting happiness."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 10th

Cortez ordered his ships sunk - there was no turning back. With 500 men Cortez set out this day, February 10, 1519, toward Mexico City. Entering the city triumphantly, Montezuma proudly showed them the grand buildings, including a theater made of human skulls, wherein was counted 136,000 skulls... a tower was made of skulls too numerous to count,...walls and steps covered with human blood, pits where the human bodies were thrown after people had eaten off the arms and legs... black-robed priests with hair matted down with human blood,.. Soldier Bernal Diaz del Castillo recorded Cortez' comments: "Senor Montezuma, I do not understand how such a great Prince and wise man as you are has not come to the conclusion...that these idols of yours are not gods, but...devils" ...He explained...creation of the world, and how we are all brothers, sons of one father and one mother....That a cross (when they asked why we worshipped it) was a sign of the other Cross on which our Lord God was crucified...for the salvation of the whole human race."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 11th

On February 11, 1861, newly elected President Abraham Lincoln delivered a Farewell Speech in Springfield, Illinois, as he left for Washington, D.C. Lincoln stated: "I now leave, not knowing when or whether...I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington." Abraham Lincoln continued: "Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever
attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 12th

Can you believe it? Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the exact same day, February 12, 1809, but their lives had completely different effects. Lincoln is best known for freeing the slaves by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, affirming that all men are equal. Darwin is best known for the theory of evolution, arguing that all men are not equal because some
are more evolved. Darwin's theory has been used by atheists to explain away belief in God, whereas the last act of Congress signed by Lincoln, before he was shot, was to place the phrase "In God We Trust" on all our national coin.

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 13th

"Man has forgotten God, that is why this has happened," was Solzhenitsyn's response when questioned about modern cultural. A Russian author, Solzhenitsyn was imprisoned for eight years by Joseph Stalin. He wrote "The Gulag Archipelago" for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970, but the Communist government would not allowed him to leave the country to accept it. Finally, under international pressure, the Soviet Union expelled him on this day February 13, 1974. While in Washington, D.C., in 1975, Alexander Solzhenitsyn warned: "I...call upon America to be more careful...because they are trying to weaken you...to disarm your strong and magnificent country in the face of this fearful threat - one that has never been seen before in the history of the world."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 14th

In the 3rd century, Emperor Claudius the Goth not only commanded that the Roman gods must be worshiped, but he temporarily forbade marriage, because he believed single men made better soldiers. Legend has it that Valentine, who was a bishop in Italy, risked the Emperor's wrath by refusing to worship idols and for secretly marrying young couples. Saint Valentine was dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and have his head cut off on February 14, 269AD. While awaiting execution, it is said he prayed for the jailers' sick daughter, who miraculously recovered. He wrote her a note and signed it, "from your Valentine."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 15th

Today, February 15th, in the year 1898, the U.S.S. Maine blew up in Havana Harbor. President William McKinley approved the Joint Resolution of Congress, which stated: "The abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than three years in the island of Cuba...have been a disgrace to Christian civilization, culminating, as they have, in the destruction of a United States battle ship with 266 of its officers and crew, while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana... Therefore, Resolved by...Congress assembled...That the people of the island of Cuba are and of a right ought to be free."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 16th

"From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shore of Tripoli." The Marine Corp anthem recalls when Muslims of North Africa, known as the Barbary Pirates, were seizing American ships and cargo, and selling the crews as slaves. On February 16, 1804, in what Admiral Horatio Nelson described as the "most bold and daring act of the age," Lieutenant Stephen Decatur sailed his ship, the Intrepid, at night into the pirate harbor of Tripoli, burned a ship and escaped unharmed amidst fierce enemy fire. The Arabic version of the original treaty offered by Tripoli, which they had not honored, stated: "We...agreed that if American Christians are traveling with a nation that is at war with...Tripoli...neither he nor his goods shall be taken."


American Minute with Bill Federer
February 17th

A baseball star, Billy Sunday played for the Chicago White Sox in the 1890's. Born in a log cabin in Iowa, his father, a Union Army soldier, died of pneumonia and Billy grew up in an orphanage. His baseball career took off and he became one of the most popular athletes in the nation. While recovering from a baseball injury, he began attending YMCA meetings. A national sensation occurred this day, February 17, 1889, when Billy Sunday preached his first sermon as an evangelist in Chicago. Over the next 46 years 100 million people would hear him. In his animated style, Billy Sunday said: "Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 18th

Pilgrim's Progress was published this day, February 18, 1678. It was written John Bunyan, who was born in Bedford, England, and at age 29, became a Baptist minister. Bunyon was imprisoned over 12 years for preaching without a license. While in jail, he supported his family by making shoelaces. Pilgrim's Progress, which is an allegory of a Christian's journey to the Celestial City, has been translated into over 100 languages and, after the Bible, held the position as the world's best-seller for hundreds of years. It could be found in nearly every colonial New England home. In Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyon wrote: "Christian ran thus till he came at a place somewhat ascending, and upon that place stood a cross...So I saw in my dream, that just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back..."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 19th

Born in Massachusetts, Adoniram Judson was educated at Brown University. On this day, February 19, 1812, being 23-years-old, he and his 22-year-old wife Ann, sailed from New England to Calcutta. They were America's first foreign missionaries. Settling in the strange land of Rangoon, they began to preach and write in Burmese. Enduring many hardships, Adoniram was imprisoned during the Burmese War. He later gained respect from the Burmese and British officials, translating his acclaimed English-Burmese Dictionary and the Bible. By his death, there were 63 churches, 123 ministers and over 7000 baptized Christians in Burma. As a young man, Adonirum wrote: "How do Christians discharge this trust committed to them? They let three fourths of the world sleep the sleep of death, ignorant of the simple truth that a Savior died for them."


American Minute with Bill Federer
February 20th

A Colonel during the Revolutionary War, he fought in the battles of Long Island and Saratoga, built the fortifications at Breed's Hill and commanded the Colonial Militia at the Battle of Bunker Hill. His name was William Prescott and he was born this day, February 20, 1726. When the British blockaded the Boston harbor, William Prescott wrote to the city's inhabitants: "Providence has placed you where you must stand the first shock... We...must sink or swim together.... Let us...stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. And may He...grant us deliverance."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 21st

Washington's birthday and Lincoln's birthday, both in the month of February, have been celebrated for generations all across the United States, but the Uniform Holiday Bill, signed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1968, moved the celebration of Washington's Birthday to the third Monday in February. Sometime after this, the name of the holiday was changed to "Presidents Day." Of note is that virtually every President swore into office with their hand upon a Bible, ended their oath with the phrase "So help me God" and acknowledged a Supreme Being in their address upon assuming the Presidency. Eisenhower, Reagan and George H.W. Bush are among those who included a prayer in their Inaugural Addresses. President Eisenhower stated: "My friends, before I begin...would you permit me the privilege of uttering a little private prayer of my own. And I ask that you bow your heads. Almighty God, as we stand here at this moment..."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 22nd

George Washington was born this day, February 22, 1732. In his Inaugural Address, he said: "It would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe." Washington continued: "No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people
of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of Providential agency."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 23rd

The Panama Canal Zone was acquired for ten million dollars by the United States on this day, February 23, 1904. Years later, in 1912, President William Taft referred to it in an address to Congress: "Our defense of the Panama Canal, together with our enormous world trade and our missionary outposts on the frontiers of civilization, require us to recognize our position as one of the foremost in the family of nations." President Taft continued, we must "clothe ourselves with sufficient naval power...to give weight to our influence in those directions of progress that a powerful Christian nation should advocate."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 24th

"Remember the Alamo" was the cry of the Texas army. The battle began today, February 24th, 1836, when three thousand Mexicans attacked 182 Texans. Within thirteen days, all defenders were killed, including Davy Crockett and James Bowie. The Texas Declaration of Independence stated: "General Antonio Lopez Santa Ana, who having overturned the constitution of his country, now offers, as the cruel alternative, either abandon our homes...or submit to the most intolerable of all tyranny.... [He] denies us the right of worshiping the Almighty according to the dictates of our own conscience."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 25th

"Our institutions of freedom will not survive unless they are constantly replenished by the faith that gave them birth" stated Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, who was born this day, February 25, 1888. A graduate of Princeton, he helped negotiate the Peace Treaty with Japan after World War II and served as U.S. Ambassador to the UN. John Dulles remarked: "Man has his origins and...destiny in God.... Our institutions reflect the belief...that all men were endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights....that human institutions ought...to help men develop their God-given possibilities."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 26th

Hailed as the greatest of the Romanticists poets, he is best know for writing The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Miserables. His father had been a general in Napoleon Bonaparte's army. His name was Victor Marie Hugo, born this day, February 26, 1802. Hugo supported Napoleon's heir, but when he turned out to be a tyrant, Hugo opposed him and was forced into exile for nineteen years. Victor Hugo wrote in his Preface to Cromwell, 1827: "Lastly, this threefold poetry flows from three great sources-The Bible, Homer, Shakespeare.... The Bible before the Iliad, the Iliad before Shakespeare." Victor Hugo stated: "England has two books, the Bible and Shakespeare. England made Shakespeare, but the Bible made England."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 27th

"Listen my children and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere... Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch... One if by land, two if by sea..." These lines are from the famous poem, Paul Revere's Ride, written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who was born this day, February 27, 1807. He was an American poet and Harvard Professor, and he wrote such American classics as:
Evangeline; The Song of Hiawatha; and The Courtship of Miles Standish. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow stated: "Man is unjust, but God is just; and finally justice triumphs."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 28th

A member of the Continental Congress, Richard Stockton served as a justice on the New Jersey Supreme Court and signed the Declaration of Independence. He was captured by the British and held prisoner for a month, dying shortly after his release as a result of the harsh treatment he received. The State of New Jersey honored him by placing his statue in the U.S. Capitol Statuary Hall. Stockton, California, was named for his grandson, Robert, who was the U.S. Naval Commodore who captured California in 1846. Richard Stockton, who died on this day, February 28, 1781, wrote in his Will: "As my children...may...be...impressed with the last words of their father, I think proper here, not only to subscribe to the...Christian religion...but also in the heart of a father's affection, to charge...them to remember "that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

American Minute with Bill Federer
February 29th

February 29th is Leap Day. In 45BC, Julius Caesar replaced the many calendars used throughout the Roman Empire, based on the moon's cycles, with one calendar based on the sun, having 365 days and an "leap" day every fourth year. An interesting event occurred on this day in 1504. On his last voyage, Christopher Columbus was shipwrecked on the Island of Jamaica. When the Indians became hostile, Columbus correctly predicted a lunar eclipse on this day and the frightened Indians quickly made peace. Columbus wrote: "My hope in the One who created us all sustains me: He is an ever present help in trouble."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 1st

Before the U.S. Constitution was written, what was the government in the United States? It was the Articles of Confederation, ratified this day, March 1st, 1781. Signed by such statesmen as Ben Franklin and Roger Sherman, it was an attempt to loosely knit the thirteen States together. The Articles of Confederation declared: "The...states hereby...enter into a...league of friendship...to assist each other, against...attacks made upon them...on account of religion, sovereignty, [and] trade... It has pleased the Great Governor of the World to incline the hearts of the Legislatures...to ratify the said Articles."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 2nd

March 2, 1836, the people of Texas signed a Declaration of Independence, stating: "The government [of] General Santa Ana...now offers...the cruel alternative, either abandon our homes...or submit to the most intolerable...tyranny.... It denies us the right of worshiping the Almighty according to the dictates of our own conscience... It has demanded us to deliver up our arms... It has...incited the...savage, with the tomahawk and scalping knife, to massacre the inhabitants of our...frontiers." The Texas Declaration concluded: "Conscious of...our intentions, we fearlessly and confidently commit...to...the Supreme Arbiter of the Destinies of Nations."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 3rd

How did the phrase "In God We Trust" get on our coins? It was on this day, March 3, 1865, that Congress approved inscribing the motto on all our national coins. Abraham Lincoln signed the bill into law. Less that two months later Lincoln was assassinated. At a Memorial Address for Lincoln, Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax noted: "Nor should I forget to mention here that the last act of Congress ever signed by [President Lincoln] was one requiring that the motto, in which he sincerely believed, 'In God We Trust,' should hereafter be inscribed upon all our national coin."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 4th

March 4th was Inauguration Day up until 1937, when it was changed to January 20th. Every President acknowledged a Supreme Being in their address upon assuming office. For example, Thomas Jefferson referred to: "That Infinite Power which rules the destinies of the universe..." Andrew Jackson: "My fervent prayer to that Almighty Being..." Abraham Lincoln: "The Almighty has His own purposes..." FDR: "We humbly ask the blessing of God..." Calvin Coolidge: "America...cherishes no purpose save to merit the favor of Almighty God." Harry S Truman: "We believe that all men are created equal because they are created in the image of God..." John F. Kennedy: "The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God..." Ronald Reagan: "With God's help, we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us. And after all, why shouldn't we believe that? We are Americans."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 5th

On this day, March 5, in the year 1770, the Boston Massacre took place. The British had been forcing Colonists to house their soldiers. A crowd had gathered to protest and in the confusion British soldiers fired into the mob, killing five of them. On the 4th anniversary of the Massacre, in 1774, John Hancock, who would later become famous for being the first to sign the Declaration of Independence, stated: "Let us play the man for...the cities of our GOD. While we are using the means in our power, let us humbly commit our righteous cause to the great LORD of the Universe."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 6th

On March 6, 1776, General Washington issued the order from his headquarters at Cambridge: "The...Legislature [has set apart] a day of fasting, prayer and humiliation, 'to implore the Lord and Giver of all victory to pardon our manifold sins and wickedness, and...bless the Continental army with His divine favor and protection,' all officers and soldiers are strictly enjoined to pay...reverence...to...the Lord of hosts for His mercies...and for those blessings which our...uprightness of life can alone encourage us to hope through His mercy obtain." Within eleven days, Washington, using fifty captured cannons, forced the British to evacuate Boston.

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 7th

On March 7, 1774, the British passed the Boston Port Act, closing the harbor to all commerce to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party. The surrounding towns rallied to their aid by secretly sending food to the inhabitants of Boston. Colonel William Prescott, who commanded the colonial militia at Bunker Hill wrote: "Providence has placed you where you must stand the first shock... If we submit to these regulations, all is gone. Our forefathers passed the vast Atlantic, spent their blood and treasure, that they might enjoy their liberties, both civil and religious, and transmit them to their posterity.... Now if we should give them up, can our children rise up and call us blessed?"

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 8th

Known as THE GREAT DISSENTER because of his unconventional opinions, he served for thirty years on the Supreme Court. Who was he? Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., born this day, March 8, 1841. A Union soldier during the Civil War, he went on to become a Harvard Law School Professor. In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him to the U.S. Supreme Court, where he served to a more advanced age than other justice. On his 90th birthday, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., replied to a reporter: "Young man, the secret of my success is that at an early age I discovered I was not God."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 9th

On this date, March 9,1862, the historic Civil War battle took place between the Confederate iron-plated ship Merrimac, which had just destroyed two Union boats, and the Union's ironclad vessel, the Monitor, designed by Swedish Immigrant John Ericsson. After 4 hours of bombardment, with cannon balls deflecting off their decks, the Confederate ship was crippled and withdrew to Virginia. Naval warfare was forever changed that day. When John Ericsson was offered payment for designing the Monitor, he replied: "Nothing could induce me to accept any remuneration... [It is] my contribution to the glorious...triumph...which freed 4,000,000 bondsmen..." John Ericcson wrote to President Abraham Lincoln: "Attachment to the Union alone impels me to offer my services at this frightful crisis - my life if need be - in the great cause which Providence has caused you to defend."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 10th

26-year-old William Penn received from King Charles the charter to Pennsylvania on this date, March 10, 1681, as repayment of a debt owed to his deceased father. An Oxford graduate, Penn had previously converted to Quakerism and suffered imprisonment in the Tower of London. His colony became a refuge for the persecuted peoples of Europe. Before his arrival, Penn wrote to the Indians in America, whom he insisted on treating fairly: "My Friends, There is one...God....[and He] hath made...the king of the country where I live, give...unto me a great province therein, but I desire to enjoy it with your...consent, that we may always live together as...friends." History records that since William Penn insisted on paying the Indians a fair sum for their land and treated them with honesty and respect, Pennsylvania never experienced the Indian problems which some of the other colonies had.

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 11th

His outspoken stand against slavery resulted in enraged Congressman Preston S. Brooks from Carolina violently beating him on the head with a cane while he was sitting at his desk on the floor of the United States Senate, the injuries from which he never fully recovered. Who was he? Senator Charles Sumner, who died this day, March 11, 1874. A Senator from Massachusetts for 23 years and a founder of the Republican Party, Charles Sumner declared: "That great story of redemption, when God raised up the slave-born Moses to deliver His chosen people from bondage, and...that sublimer story where our Saviour died a cruel death that all men, without distinction of race, might be saved, makes slavery impossible."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 12th

The Girls Scouts of America was started on this date, March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Georgia, by Mrs. Juliette Low. After meeting Sir Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, Juliette formed the Girl Scouts to be a nonsectarian, nonpolitical and interracial organization, for the purpose of building good character and citizenship. By the 1920s the movement had spread across America and grown to a membership of millions world-wide. The original Girl Scout promise, made upon joining, was: "On my honor, I will try: to do my duty to God and my country, to help other people at all times, to obey the Girl Scout laws."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 13th

Susan B. Anthony, whose face is on a U.S. dollar coin, died this day, March 13, 1906. Raised in a devout Quaker home, known properly as the Society of Friends, her father owned a cotton mill and refused to buy cotton from farmers who owned slaves. Her religious upbringing instilled in her the concept that every one was equal before God, thus motivating her to crusade for freedom for slaves and women's right to vote. She also spoke out against liquor, drunkenness and abortion. She encountered mobs, armed threats, things thrown at her and was even hung in effigy. After the Civil War, Susan B. Anthony worked hard for the passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. She arranged for women to be admitted to the University of Rochester and, in 1872, she was arrested and fined for voting in the Presidential Election. Finally, in 1920, fourteen years after her death, women in America were given the right to vote.

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 14th

Born in Germany this day, March 14, 1879, he began teaching himself calculus at the age of fourteen. He developed the theory of relativity, which was the basis for the application of atomic energy and won the Nobel Prize in 1921. His name was Albert Einstein. While on a lecture tour in America, the Nazis confiscated his home. Einstein then became a U.S. citizen. In 1952 he was offered the position of President of Israel, but declined. Albert Einstein's statement inscribed in Fine Hall at Princeton University reads: "God is clever, but not dishonest."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 15th

On this day, March 15, 1984, the Senate voted down voluntary silent prayer in public schools. President Ronald Reagan responded: "I am deeply disappointed that, although a majority of the Senate voted for it, the school prayer amendment fell short." President Reagan later remarked: "In 1962, the Supreme Court...banned the...saying of prayers. In 1963, the Court banned the reading of the Bible in our public schools,...a series of assaults were made in one court after another... Without God there is no virtue because there is no prompting of the conscience,...without God democracy will not and cannot long endure."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 16th

He was called the "Chief Architect of the Constitution," and wrote many of the Federalist Papers, which where instrumental in convincing the States to ratify the Constitution. He introduced the Bill of Rights in the first session of Congress. As President, he and his wife Dolly had to flee the White House when the British set it on fire during the War of 1812. Who was he? James Madison, born this day, March 16, 1751. James Madison, in his Memorial and Remonstrance, wrote: "Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 17th

This day, March 17th, is the date St. Patrick died around 461AD. At sixteen, he was kidnapped to Ireland and made a slave, herding sheep and pigs on a farm for six years, until he escaped back to England. In his early forties he returned to Ireland, confronted the Druids, converted Chieftains, and used the three-leaf clover to explain the Trinity. Founding 300 churches and baptizing 120,000 converts, he wrote in his Confessions: "Patrick the sinner, an unlearned man to be sure.... None should ever say that it was my ignorance that accomplished any small thing,..it was the gift of God."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 18th

On this date, March 18, 1845 missionary John Chapman died, better known as Johnny Appleseed. His father was one of the Minutemen who fought the British at Concord in 1775. Collecting apple seeds from cider presses in western Pennsylvania, he began planting nurseries from the Alleghenies to central Ohio, giving thousands of seedlings to pioneers. Bare foot, wearing a mush pan over his eccentric long hair, and an old coffee sack over his shoulders, Johnny's harmony with the Indians and devotion to the Bible led William Venable to write: "Remember Johnny Appleseed---All ye who love the apple---He served his kind by word and deed---In God's grand greenwood chapel."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 19th

William Bradford was born this day, March 19, 1590. He sailed with the Pilgrims on the Mayflower and was chosen as their governor in 1621, being reelected 30 times until his death. In his History of the Plymouth Plantation, William Bradford wrote of the Pilgrims' plight: "What could now sustaine them but ye spirite of God and His grace? May not and ought not the children of these fathers rightly say: Our fathers...came over this great ocean, and were ready to perish in this wilderness; but they cried unto ye Lord, and He heard their voyce... All great and honourable actions are accompanied with great difficulties...Last and not least, they cherished a great hope and inward zeal of laying good foundations, or at least making some ways toward it, for the propagation and advance of the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in the remote parts of the world, even though they should be but stepping stones to others in the performance of so great a work."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 20th

On this date, March 20, 1727, Sir Isaac Newton, one of the world's greatest scientists, died. With his mother widowed twice, he was raised by his grandmother before being sent off to grammar school and later Cambridge. He discovered calculus, the laws of gravity and built the first reflecting telescope. Using a prism, Newton demonstrated how a beam of sunlight contained of all the colors of the rainbow. Regarding the Bible, Sir Isaac Newton wrote: "The system of revealed truth which this Book contains is like that of the universe, concealed from common observation yet...the centuries have established its Divine origin."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 21st

On this date, March 21, 1685, Johann Sebastian Bach was born. By the age of ten, both his parents had died. At eighteen he was appointed organist at a church, followed by positions in royal courts. Once he was imprisoned because the duke he worked for did not want him seeking employment elsewhere. Widowed with seven children, he remarried and had thirteen more. Bach composed hundreds of pieces, sometimes at the rate of one per week and influenced composers such as Mozart and Beethoven. John Sebastian Bach stated: "The aim...of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 22nd

On this date, March 22, 1758, Princeton University President Jonathan Edwards died as a result of a smallpox inoculation. Himself a Yale graduate, being valedictorian of his class, Jonathan Edwards' preaching began the Great Awakening, a revival of such proportions that history credits it with uniting the colonies prior to the Revolution. Of this awakening, Benjamin Franklin wrote: "It was wonderful to see... From being thoughtless or indifferent...it seemed as if all the world were growing religious, so that one could not walk thro' the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in...every street."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 23rd

On this date, March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry spoke to the Second Virginia Convention, which, because of British hostilities, was meeting in St. John's Church. He proclaimed: "There is a just God who presides over the destines of nations...who will raise up friends to fight our battle for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.... Patrick Henry concluded: "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 24th

Rufus King was born this day, March 24, 1755. He was one of the signers of the U.S. Constitution, noted for being one of the youngest delegates at the Constitutional Convention, only 32 years old. A Harvard graduate, Rufus had been an aide to General Sullivan during the Revolutionary War. He later served as U.S. Minister to England and was a Senator from New York. In a speech made before the Senate at the time Missouri was petitioning for statehood, Rufus King stated: "I hold that all laws...imposing...[slavery] upon any human being are absolutely void because [they are] contrary to the law of nature, which is the law of God."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 25th

"Old Hickory." During the Revolution, young Andrew Jackson refused to polish the boots of a British officer and was slashed on the arm with a sword and jailed. His mother died of prison fever while caring for captured American soldiers. Jackson carried a bullet in his body from a duel defending his wife's honor. In the War of 1812, General Jackson defeated over 2,000 British in the Battle of New Orleans. In January of 1835, President Andrew Jackson survived an assassination attempt when a bearded man fired two pistols at him at point blank range. On this day, March 25, 1835, Andrew Jackson wrote in a letter: "I was brought up a rigid Presbyterian, to which I have always adhered. Our excellent Constitution guarantees to every one freedom of religion, and charity tells us (and you know Charity is the real basis of all true religion)...judge the tree by its fruit. All who profess Christianity believe in a Saviour, and that by and through Him we must be saved." Jackson concluded: "We ought, therefore, to consider all good Christians whose walks correspond with their professions, be they Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Baptist, Methodist or Roman Catholic."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 26th

Richard Allen was born to slave parents in Philadelphia and sold with his family to a plantation in Dover, Delaware. With the permission of his master, he began attending the Methodist meetings and learned to read and write. Richard Allen was converted at age 16 and is said to have worked harder to prove that Christianity did not make slaves worse servants. He then invited a minister to visit and preach to his master, resulting in his master's conversion after hearing that on the Day of Judgement slaveholders would be "weighed in the balance and found wanting." His repentant master then made arrangements for Richard, now 26, to become free. Richard Allen became a licensed exhorter and founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church, their building being dedicated by Francis Asbury, the circuit-riding preacher who became the Methodists' first American Bishop. By the time of Richard Allen's death, this day, March 26, 1831, the African Methodist Episcopal Church had grown to over 10,000 members.

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 27th

He was the grandson of the sixth president, John Quincy Adams, and the great-grandson of John Adams, the second President. His name was Henry Adams, and he died this day, March 27, 1918. An American philosopher and historian, Henry Adams authored a nine volume work, entitled, History of the United States. With insight from his unique heritage going back to the founding of the United States, Henry Adams wrote: "The Pilgrims of Plymouth, the Puritans of Boston, the Quakers of Pennsylvania, all avowed a moral purpose, and began by making institutions that consciously reflected a moral idea."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 28th

On this date, March 28, 1885, the Salvation Army was officially organized in the United States. It was begun in England by "General" William Booth in 1865, who conducted meetings among the poor in London's East End slums. Originally named the Christian Mission, he designed uniforms and adopted a semi-military system of leadership. Today thousands of officers, both men and women, minister across the globe. In 1965, one hundred years after its founding, President Lyndon Johnson remarked to the Salvation Army in New York: "For a century now, the Salvation Army has offered food to the hungry and shelter to the homeless--in clinics and children's homes, through disaster relief, in prison and welfare work, and a thousand other endeavors...But you have not stopped there... The Salvation Army has reminded men that physical well-being is just not enough; that spiritual rebirth is the most pressing need of our time and of every time; that the world cannot be changed unless men change."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 29th

Tenth President John Tyler was born this day in March 29, 1790. He was the first Vice-President ever to assume the Presidency when William Henry Harrison died after only one month in office. To mourn his death, President John Tyler's first act in office was to proclaim a National Day of Fasting and Prayer, in which he stated: "When a Christian people feel themselves to be overtaken by a great public calamity, it becomes them to humble themselves under the dispensation of Divine Providence, to recognize His righteous government over the children of men...and to supplicate His merciful protection for the future."

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 30th

During the Civil War, on this day, March 30, 1863, just three months after his Emancipation Proclamation, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a National Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer. He stated: "We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God...we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own." President Lincoln concluded: "Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become...too proud to pray to the God that made us!"

American Minute with Bill Federer
March 31st

Queen Ka'ahumanu served as regent-prime minister of Hawaii after the death of her husband, King Kamehameha. Together with her son, King Kamehameha II, they ended all idolatry and human sacrifice on the islands. On this date, March 31, 1820, the first missionaries, led by Hiram Bingham, arrived in Hawaii on the ship, Thaddeus. Hiram learned the Hawaiian language, devised a twelve letter alphabet and, with his associates, translated the Bible into Hawaiian. He originated Hawaii's first newspaper and pastored the first church. The Queen received Christ and helped spread the Gospel throughout the islands. Just prior to her death, Queen Ka'ahumanu was presented with the newly completed version of the New Testament in the Hawaiian language. Her last words were: "I am going where the mansions are ready."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 1st

60,000 U.S. troops landed on the Island of Okinawa this day, April 1, 1945, in the largest amphibious attack mounted by the Americans in the Pacific war. One of the bloodiest campaigns, it cost Americans 12,000 dead, 36,000 wounded and 400 ships sunk or damaged. Though Japan's losses exceeded 100,000, their kamikaze suicide attacks grew more intense, not relenting until the bombing of Hiroshima. After receiving Japan's surrender in Tokyo Bay, General Douglas MacArthur stated: "Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 2nd

The world of communication was revolutionized by a man who died this day, April 2, 1872. His name: Samuel Morse. He invented the telegraph and the Morse Code. An outstanding portrait artist in his own right, founding the National Academy of Design, Morse erected the first telegraph lines between Baltimore and the U.S. Supreme Court chamber in Washington, D.C. in 1844. The first message he sent over this new communication system was only four words, a verse from the Bible, Numbers 23:23: "What hath God Wrought! "

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 3rd

The story "A Man Without a Country" was partially based on the life of Benedict Arnold, the American patriot turned traitor, yet the British never trusted him so he died a lonely man "without a county." This classic was written by Edward Everett Hale, born this day, April 3, 1822. The son of the editor of the Boston Daily Advertiser and nephew of Revolutionary hero Nathan Hale, Edward entered Harvard College at age 13 and after graduation taught at the prestigious Boston Latin School. He published more than fifty books, spoke out against slavery, served forty-five years as pastor of Boston's South Congregational Church and in 1903 became Chaplain of the United States Senate. Edward Everett Hale wrote: "I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I should do and, with the help of God, I will do."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 4th

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated this day, April 4th, 1968. He had been pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta and rose to national prominence through the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Awarded the Nobel Prize in 1964, Congress set aside his birthday as a National Holiday. Martin Luther King said: "I have a dream...where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers....I have a dream that one day...the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it....This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing...'Let Freedom Ring...' When we let it ring...we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 5th

Born in a slave hut this day, April 5th, 1856, was Booker T. Washington. In dire poverty after the Civil War, he moved to West Virginia to work in a salt furnace and coal mine. At age 16 he walked nearly 500 miles to attend Hampton Institute. After graduation, he taught in West Virginia until he founded Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where he recruited George Washington Carver as a professor. At his death, the school boasted of 1,500 students, and a faculty of 200 teaching 38 trades. The first African American to have his image on a U.S. coin and postage stamp, Booker T. Washington wrote in his book, Up From Slavery (1907): "If no other consideration had convinced me of the value of the Christian life, the Christlike work which the Church of all denominations in America has done during the last thirty-five years for the elevation of the black man would have made me a Christian."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 6th

Today, April 6, 1917, the United States entered World War I by declaring war on Germany. Within the next two years, America enlisted four million soldiers and spent 35 billion dollars, resulting in an Allied victory. In a National Day of Prayer Proclamation, President Woodrow Wilson stated: "In view of the entrance of our nation into the vast and awful war which now afflicts the greater part of the world...[I] set apart...a day upon which our people should...offer concerted prayer to Almighty God for His divine aid in the success of our arms."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 7th

The "Greatest Show on Earth" was a gigantic success, owned by American showman P.T. Barnum, who died this day, April 7, 1891. His biggest draw, selling 20 million tickets, was General Tom Thumb, a man only 25 inches tall. They were received by President Lincoln and even gave a command performance before Queen Victoria. The circus not being open Sundays, Barnum let his "Great Roman Hippodrome" in New York be used by Dwight L. Moody for large evangelistic campaigns. P.T. Barnum stated: "Most persons, on the whole, are humbugged by believing too little, than by believing too much."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 8th

Five Star General Omar Bradley died this day, April 8, 1981. During World War II, he commanded the Army in North Africa and in 1944, led the 12th Army Group in France and Germany, which consisted of one million men in four armies. In 1950, he became the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Omar Bradley stated: "We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount.... The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 9th

The Civil War ended this day, April 9, 1865, as General Robert E. Lee surrendered at the courthouse of Appomattox, Virginia. The War had resulted in approximately 258,000 Confederate deaths and 360,000 Union deaths. General Lee took off his sword and handed it to General Grant, and Grant handed it back. The next day, General Lee issued his final order: "After four years of arduous service, marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude....I have determined to avoid the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them to their countrymen. By the terms of the agreement, officers and men can return to their homes." Robert E. Lee concluded: "I earnestly pray that a merciful God will extend to you His blessing and protection."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 10th

Millions of people in 91 countries are helped by The Salvation Army, founded by William Booth, who was born this day, April 10, 1829. He began by ministering to the poor, drunk and outcast, and fought to end teenage prostitution in England. Awarded an honorary degree from Oxford, he traveled the U.S., met with President Theodore Roosevelt and was given the honor of opening a session of the United States Senate with prayer. Booth wrote: "While there is a drunkard left, while there is a lost girl upon the streets, where there remains one dark soul without the light of God - I'll fight! I'll fight to the very end."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 11th

"Houston, we've had a problem" were the fateful word received from Apollo 13, which was launched for the moon this day, April 11, 1970. Mission control identified that an oxygen tank had exploded, irreparably damaging the craft. Special prayer services were held at the Chicago Board of Trade, at St. Peter's Basilica by the Pope, at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem and reported in The New York Times. Even the U.S. Senate adopted a resolution urging prayer. In sub-zero temperature, the crew ingeniously pieced together an oxygen filter, jump-charged the command module batteries, and manually steered the ship to land successfully in the ocean near a raging hurricane.

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 12th

Less than two months after Lincoln was inaugurated President, the Civil War began this day, April 12, 1861, with Confederate troops in Charleston, South Carolina, firing upon Fort Sumter. The Confederate Army was unstoppable, twice winning battles at Bull Run, Virginia, just twenty miles from Washington, D.C., forcing the Union troops to retreat to the fortifications of the Capitol. It wasn't until the Battle of Gettysburg, over two years into the war, that the tide began to turn. President Lincoln confided: "I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 13th

On this day, April 13, 1743, the 3rd U.S. President was born. He approved the Louisiana Purchase and commissioned Lewis and Clark to explore it. Best known for drafting the Declaration of Independence, he was also Governor of Virginia. His name was Thomas Jefferson. Inscribed on the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., is Thomas Jefferson's statement: "Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 14th

Noah Webster published the first edition of his Dictionary on this day, April 14, 1828. This 26-year project standardized the spelling of the English language. With 30,000 new definitions, it gave American English its first identity. Proving unprofitable, though, the rights to reprint were purchased after Webster's death by George and Charles Merriam. In the preface of his original edition, Noah Webster wrote: "To that great and benevolent Being, who, during the preparation of this work...has borne me and my manuscripts in safety across the Atlantic, and given me strength...to bring the work to a close, I...present...my most grateful acknowledgments."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 15th

April 15, the day income taxes are due to the IRS, is the day the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic in the year 1912. It had struck an iceberg the night before, just five days after departing from England on its maiden voyage. Over 1500 lost their lives. Also on April 15, President Abraham Lincoln died in 1865. He had been shot the night before in Ford's Theater by John Wilkes Booth, just five days after the Civil War ended. Over a half a million lost their lives in that War. President Lincoln, whose last act in office was to sign the bill placing "In God We Trust" on our national coins, declared in a speech at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, 1861: "The Declaration of Independence gave liberty not alone to the people of this country, but hope to all the world, for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance. This is the sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence....I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 16th

In 1859, on this day, April 16, French historian Alexis de Tocqueville died. For nine months he had traveled the U.S. to observe its institutions, writing his famous work, Democracy in America, published 1835, which has been described as "the most comprehensive...analysis of...character and society in America...ever...written." In it, de Tocqueville wrote: "Upon my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention.... In France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom marching in opposite directions. But in America I found they were intimately united."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 17th

On this day, April 17, 1790, the son of a poor candle-maker died. The 15th of 17 children, he apprenticed as a printer, and published a popular almanac. He retired at age 42, then taught himself five languages, invented the rocking chair, bifocal glasses, and the lighting rod, which earned him degrees from Harvard and Yale. He helped found the University of Pennsylvania, a hospital, America's first postal system and fire department. He became the governor of Pennsylvania, signed the Declaration of Independence and called for prayer at the Constitutional Convention. He was also president of America's first anti-slavery society. His name was Ben Franklin. In his Poor Richard's Almanac (May 1757), Ben Franklin wrote: "Work as if you were to live 100 years; pray as if you were to die tomorrow."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 18th

Plymouth Colony founder William Brewster died this day, April 18, 1644. He helped lead the Pilgrim's church in England, allowing them to meet for worship at his home. He was captured, imprisoned, and later fled with them to Holland. He sailed with the Pilgrims to America, signed the Mayflower Compact and was elected a ruling elder. Governor William Bradford wrote of him: "My dear and loving friend, Mr. William Brewster...had...suffered much...for...the gospel's sake and...this poor persecuted church for over thirty-five years in England, Holland, and this wilderness."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 19th

"Like the old soldier..." World War II hero General Douglas MacArthur retired on this day, April 19, 1951. He was Supreme Allied Commander in the Pacific, receiving Japan's surrender. He had served in France during World War I, was superintendent of West Point, and the youngest man to be Army Chief of Staff. He commanded the UN forces during the war with North Korea, but was dismissed by President Truman for not fighting a limited war. Douglas MacArthur remarked: "Like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who has tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 20th

The Indians of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania had been ministered to by colonial missionary David Brainerd, born this day, April 20, 1718. With his interpreter, Moses Tinda Tautamy, he rode horseback along the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers, camping at night. David Brainerd contracted tuberculosis and was nursed at the home of Princeton University president Jonathan Edwards, eventually dying at the age of 29. Though the number of converts during his lifetime were few, his diary has inspired millions around the world, including John Wesley, missionary William Carey and devotional writer Oswald J. Smith. David Brainerd wrote: "Oh, how precious is time, and how it pains me to see it slide away, while I do so little to any good purpose. Oh, that God would make me more fruitful."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 21st

"Mark Twain," a river measurement meaning "twelve feet deep," was the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, who died this day, April 21, 1910. Growing up along the Mississippi, he left school at age twelve when his father died and became a printer's apprentice. He piloted steamboats, but the War between the States suspended all river traffic. Famous for such works as "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "Tom Sawyer," he was responsible for talking Ulysses S. Grant into writing memoirs of the Civil War. In his classic style, Mark Twain remarked: "If the Ten Commandments were not written by Moses, then they were written by another fellow of the same name."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 22nd

A gunshot at high noon on this day, April 22, 1889, began the famous Oklahoma land rush. Within nine hours some two million acres became the private property of settlers who staked their claims. Riding as fast as they could, many found desirable plots already taken by "Sooners," individuals who entered the territory sooner than was permitted. The remaining land was assigned to the various Indian tribes, who joined together in approving the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma in 1907. The Preamble begins: "Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessing of liberty; to secure just and rightful government; to promote our mutual welfare and happiness, we, the people of the State of Oklahoma, do ordain and establish this Constitution."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 23rd

William Shakespeare was born this day, April 23, 1564. His 37 plays have impacted world literature. He married Ann Hathaway, had three children, moved to London, and became shareholding director of the Globe Theater, writing such classics as Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Four years before the Pilgrims landed in America at Plymouth Rock, William Shakespeare died on this same day, April 23, in the year 1616. Shakespeare wrote in his Will: "I commend my soul into the hands of God, my Creator, hoping and assuredly believing, through the only merits of Jesus Christ, my Saviour, to be made partaker of life everlasting." Carved on William Shakespeare's Tombstone in the Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-on-Avon, England, are the lines: "Good Friend For Jesus Sake Forbeare, To Digg The Dust Enclosed Heare. Blese Be Ye Man Spares Thes Stones, And Curst Be He Moves My Bones."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 24th

Originally for legislators to do research, it was begun this day, April 24, 1800, with a five thousand dollar allocation from Congress. The British set fire to it during the War of 1812, burning hundreds books, but the Library of Congress was restocked by Thomas Jefferson, who provided over six thousand volumes. It has since grown to be one of the largest libraries in the world. Relocated to its present site in 1897, the Library of Congress is inscribed with the verse: "What does the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with thy God."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 25th

The U.S. Senate, starting this day, April 25, 1789, decided to open every session with prayer. This continued the practice of the Continental Congress during the Revolution, as Ben Franklin remarked "In the beginning of the Contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for Divine protection." The first Senate Chaplain was Bishop Samuel Provoost, who conducted George Washington's Inaugural Service at St. Paul's Chapel. All 61 Senate Chaplains have been Christian, though leaders of other faiths have periodically been invited to offer prayer. The U.S. Senate Chaplain after World War II was Peter Marshall, who prayed: "Our liberty is under God and can be found nowhere else. May our faith be...not merely stamped upon our coins, but expressed in our lives."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 26th

The first English settlers landed in America on this day, April 26, 1607, at the site of Cape Henry, named for Prince Henry of Wales. Their first act was to erect a wooden cross and commence a prayer meeting. They ascended the James River, named for King James, and settled Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in America. Virginia, so named for the "Virgin Queen" Elizabeth, stated in its Charter: "For the Furtherance of so noble a Work...in propagating of Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Worship of God."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 27th

Forced to resign from the Army for excessive drinking, he failed as a farmer and a businessman. Not until he volunteered for the Civil War did things changed. He was promoted to brigadier general, captured Fort Henry and Vicksburg, and established Union control of the Mississippi. Lincoln then placed him over the entire Army and within a year he forced Lee to surrender. His name: Ulysses S. Grant, who was born this day, April 27, 1822. As the 18th President, Grant stated: "On...the hundredth anniversary of our...nation, a grateful acknowledgment should be made to Almighty God for the protection...He has vouchsafed to our...country."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 28th

Leading the charge at the Battle of Trenton, a musket ball struck his shoulder, hitting an artery. He recovered and continued to fight for General Washington, becoming friends with French officer Lafayette. After the Revolution, he studied law under Thomas Jefferson, was elected Senator, Governor of Virginia, and Secretary of State. He negotiated the Louisiana Purchase and set the Monroe Doctrine. Who was he? James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States, born this day, April 28, 1758. In his First Annual Message to Congress, 1817, President James Monroe stated: "For advantages so numerous and highly important it is our duty to unite in grateful acknowledgments to that Omnipotent Being from whom they are derived, and in unceasing prayer that He will endow us with virtue and strength to maintain and hand them down in their utmost purity to our latest posterity."

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 29th

"Damn the torpedoes! Full steam ahead!" were the words of Admiral David Farragut, who captured Mobile, Alabama, and on this day, April 29, 1862, captured New Orleans. Under tremendous fire, he breached the heavy chain cable that was stretched across the Mississippi, and courageously led his ships up the channel filled with mines, called "torpedoes." The loss of New Orleans was a major disaster for the South, as it was the Confederacy's largest city. During his last illness, David Farragut, the Navy's first four star Admiral, asked for a clergyman to pray to the Lord for him, saying: "He must be my pilot now!"

American Minute with Bill Federer
April 30th

The size of the U.S. doubled this day, April 30, 1803, with the Louisiana Purchase. Nearly a million square miles, at less than three cents an acre - it was the greatest land bargain in history! How did it happen? Napoleon Bonaparte needed money quickly for his military campaigns, therefore he sold all the French controlled land west of the Mississippi for just fifteen million dollars. Napoleon fought in Europe, Egypt and Russia, yet in the end he was banished to the tiny island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic, where he commented to General Count de Montholon: "Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires; but upon what foundation did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force! But Jesus Christ founded His upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 1st

Unbelievable! This day, May 1st, in the year 305 AD, the most powerful man in the world, Emperor Diocletian, stepped down from ruling the Roman Empire. Just two years prior he had begun a vast systematic persecution of Christians, intending to exterminate them once and for all. He forbade worship, burned books, arrested clergy, and demanded that everyone sacrifice to pagan deities or be killed. From Europe to Northern Africa, countless believers became martyrs to the faith. Suddenly Diocletian was struck with a painful intestinal disease and abdicated his throne, taking up farming in Yugoslavia. Eight years later, in 313AD, Emperor Constantine officially ended all persecution of Christians.

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 2nd

The director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, died this day, May 2, 1972. For forty-eight years, under eight U.S. Presidents, he oversaw the Federal Bureau of Investigation, becoming famous for his dramatic campaigns to stop gangsters and organized crime. He established the use of the fingerprint in law enforcement, and successfully tracked down well-known criminals. FDR gave him the task of investigating foreign espionage and left-wing activist groups. J. Edgar Hoover stated: "The criminal is the product of spiritual starvation. Someone failed miserably to bring him to know God, love Him and serve Him."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 3rd

He was a physician in the Revolutionary War, a member of the Continental Congress and signed the Constitution. He was Secretary of War under Washington and Adams, and helped plan the Military Academy at West Point. The Star-Spangled Banner was written while the British bombed the fort which was named for him. Who was he: James McHenry, who died this day, May 3, 1816. As president of the Baltimore Bible society, James McHenry stated: "Neither...let it be overlooked that public utility pleads...for the general distribution of...Holy Scriptures...which...can alone secure to society order and peace."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 4th

Selling one million copies a year for over one hundred years, McGuffey's Readers were the mainstay of public education in America. Millions of school children read them, making them some of the most influential textbooks of all time. They were written by William McGuffey, who died this day, May 4, 1873. He was a professor at the University of Virginia, president of Ohio University, and formed one of nation's first teachers' associations. A lesson in McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader stated: "How powerless conscience would become without the belief of a God."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 5th

May 5th, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed an Act of Congress designating the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer. This has always been a part of American life. Indeed, President Washington declared a National Day of Prayer during his first year in office. President Madison did during the War of 1812, Lincoln during the Civil War, and President Woodrow Wilson during World War I. It was President Harry S Truman, though, who made it an annual event, saying: "In times of national crisis when we are striving to strengthen the foundations of peace...we stand in special need of Divine support."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 6th

In exchange for some brass buttons, and scarlet cloth worth about twenty-four dollars, Manhattan Island was purchased from the Manhattan Indian tribe on this day, May 6, 1626, by the Peter Minuit, Dutch Governor of the New Netherlands Province. Naming the Island New Amsterdam, it was later taken over by the British and renamed New York City. The original Charter of Freedoms for the colony stated: "The...colonists shall...in the speediest manner, endeavor to find out ways...whereby they may support a Minister and Schoolmaster, that thus the service of God and zeal for religion may not grow cool and be neglected."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 7th

World War II ended in Europe on this day, May 7, 1945, when German emissaries entered a schoolhouse in Reims, France, where General Dwight Eisenhower had his headquarters, and signed an unconditional surrender. The War in Europe had lasted five and half years and cost tens of millions of lives. After the war Eisenhower was elected the 34th President by the largest number of votes in history. In a nationally broadcast address from an American Legion event, 1955, President Eisenhower stated: "Without God there could be no American form of government nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first - the most basic - expression of Americanism."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 8th

The 33rd U.S. President was born this day, May 8, 1884. He was captain of a field artillery battery in France during World War I, judge in Jackson County, Missouri; a U.S. Senator; and Vice-President under Franklin D. Roosevelt. As President, he ended World War II by dropping the atomic bomb. His name: Harry S. Truman, who stated at the Attorney General's Conference on Law Enforcement, 1950: "The fundamental basis of this nation's laws was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings...of Isaiah and St. Paul. I don't think we emphasize that enough these days."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 9th

Mothers were officially honored this day, May 9, 1914, with the first National Mother's Day Proclamation, signed by President Woodrow Wilson. It designated the second Sunday in May as a "public expression of...love and reverence for the mothers of our country." This was due to the life-long efforts of Anna Jarvis, the daughter of a Methodist minister in West Virginia. She organized Mothers' Day Work Clubs to care for wounded Civil War soldiers, both Union and Confederate, raised money for medicine, inspected bottled milk, improved sanitation and hired women to care for families where mothers suffered from tuberculosis. In his Mother's Day Proclamation, 1986, President Ronald Reagan said: "A Jewish saying sums it up: "God could not be everywhere--so He created mothers."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 10th

A surprise attack before dawn, on this day May 10, 1775, gave America one of its first great victories of the Revolutionary War. Ethan Allen, who commanded the Green Mountain Boys of Vermont, captured Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain without the loss of a man, by overrunning the stronghold in the early morning while the British were still sleeping. Allen demanded immediate surrendered, whereupon the bewildered British captain asked in whose name such a request was being made. Ethan Allen responded: "In the Name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 11th

The son of a rabbi, he was born this day, May 11, 1888. When he was four-years old, he immigrated with his family from Russia to New York. Falling in love with America, he served in the U.S. infantry during World War I and wrote some of the country's most popular songs, including: "Alexander's Ragtime Band," "White Christmas" and "God Bless America," the royalties from which he gave to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Who was he? Irving Berlin, who in 1945 received the Army's Medal of Merit from President Truman, in 1955 received the Congressional Gold Medal from President Eisenhower, and in 1977 received the Freedom Medal from President Ford. "God Bless America, Land that I Love, Stand Beside Her, and Guide Her, Through the Night, with the Light From Above."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 12th

"The Battle Hymn of the Republic" was performed for the first time this day, May 12, 1861, for Union recruits during the Civil War. Said to have been Lincoln's favorite song, it was written by Julia Ward Howe when she visited Washington and saw the city teeming with military horses and campfires burning. Sleeping unsoundly one night, Julia Ward Howe wrote her poem, which ends: "In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea; With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me: As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, While God is marching on."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 13th

The first settlers to establish a permanent English settlement in the New World landed in Jamestown, Virginia, this day, May 13, 1607. Many of the one hundred colonists sent out by the London Company died of hunger, malaria, exposure or were killed by Indians. When their minister died, they wrote: "In memory of the Reverend Robert Hunt...During his life our factions were ofte healed, and our greatest extremities so comforted that they seemed easy in comparison with what we endured after his...death. We all received from him...Holy Communion...as a pledge of reconciliation."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 14th

Midnight, May 14, 1948, the State of Israel came into being and was immediately recognized by the United States and the Soviet Union. A homeland for the thousands of Jews who were persecuted and displaced during World War II, it was attacked the next day by the Transjordanian Army, the Arab Legion, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. Against all odds, Israel survived. In November of 1948, President Harry S. Truman wrote to Dr. Chaim Weizmann, the first president of Israel: "I want to tell you how happy and impressed I have been at the remarkable progress made by the new State of Israel." In 1968, President Johnson stated: "America and Israel have a common love of human freedom and a democratic way of life....Through the centuries, through dispersion and through very grievous trials, your forefathers clung to their Jewish identity and their ties with the land of Israel. The prophet Isaiah foretold - 'And He shall set up an ensign for the nations and He shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from all the four corners of the earth.' History knows no more moving example of persistence against the cruelest odds."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 15th

Army Day, Navy Day and Air Force Day were combined in 1949 to become Armed Forces Day, celebrated the third Saturday of May. This day honors the men and women of all armed forces, now serving under one Department of Defense. Army Day formerly was the date the US entered World War I, Navy Day was on President Theodore Roosevelt's birthday and Air Force Day was on the day the War Department established a division of aeronautics. Secretary of Defense William Perry stated on Armed Forces Day, May 1995: "God grants liberty only to those who love it and are always ready to...defend it."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 16th

Seward's Folly is what Alaska was called when it was first purchase from the Russians, as it was thought to be of no value. Only when it was discovered to be rich in natural resources was appreciation shown to Secretary of State William Seward, who was born this day, May 16, 1801. Serving under Abraham Lincoln, he was wounded by an accomplice of John Wilkes Booth the same night Lincoln was shot. As the vice-president of the American Bible Society, 1836, William Seward stated: "I know not how long a republican government can flourish among a great people who have not the Bible; the experiment has never been tried."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 17th

Amazing! The first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court was also the president of the American Bible Society. Who was he? John Jay, who died this day, May 17, 1829. A member of the Continental Congress, even serving as its president, John Jay signed the Treaty of Paris with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, officially ending the Revolutionary War. He helped ratify the Constitution by writing the Federalist Papers with Madison and Hamilton. In December of 1776, John Jay addressed the New York Convention, stating: "We have the highest reason to believe that the Almighty will not suffer slavery and the Gospel to go hand in hand. It cannot, it will not be."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 18th

On May 18, 1920, in a small town in Poland, Karol Wojtyla was born. He became a chemical worker during World War II, risked punishment from the communists by being ordained into the ministry as a priest, and in 1978, became Pope John Paul II. Speaking seven languages, and traveling more than any other pontiff, he survived an assassination attempt in 1981 by a Muslim Turkish national. In 1993, being greeted by President Bill Clinton at Regis University in Denver, Colorado, Pope John Paul said: "The inalienable dignity of every human being and the rights which flow from that dignity - in the first place the right to life and the defense of life - are at the heart of the church's message." Pope John Paul ended his address, saying: "In spite of divisions among Christians, 'all those justified by faith through baptism are incorporated into Christ...brothers and sisters in the Lord.'"

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 19th

The invincible Spanish Armada sailed off this day, May 19, 1588, to conquer England. Queen Elizabeth relied on Sir Francis Drake, who used smaller, faster vessels and ingeniously sent burning ships at midnight downwind where the Spaniards were anchored, dispersing them in a panic. Aided by gale force winds half the Spanish fleet was wrecked. Had England lost, there would have been no Pilgrims, no New England, and no United States. A coin minted after the event in the Netherlands, 1588, showed on one side the ships of the Spanish Armada sinking and on the other side men kneeling under the inscription "Man Proposeth, God Disposeth."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 20th

This day, May 20, 1927, at 7:52 am, one of the greatest feats in aviation began, as Charles Lindbergh departed Roosevelt Field in New York, in his silver monoplane named "The Spirit of St. Louis." Thirty-three and a half hours later he landed in France, completing the first solo flight across the Atlantic. At twenty-five years old, he was decorated by the president of France, the King of England, and President Calvin Coolidge. At the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences, February of 1954, Charles Lindbergh stated: "It was not the outer granduer of the Roman but the inner simplicity of the Christian that lived through the ages."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 21st

The American Red Cross was organized this day, May 21, 1881, by Clara Barton, a schoolteacher who had moved to Washington at the outbreak of the Civil War. She distributed relief supplies to wounded soldiers and, at the request of President Lincoln, aided in searching for missing men. She helped in hospitals in Cuba during the Spanish-American War and in Europe during the Franco-German war, working with Henri Dunant, founder of the International Red Cross. In May of 1918, at the opening of the Second Red Cross Drive in New York City, President Woodrow Wilson recognized those in this great service, stating: "Being members of the American Red Cross...a great fraternity and fellowship which extends all over the world...this cross which these ladies bore here today is an emblem of Christianity itself....When you think of this, you realize how the people of the United States are being drawn together into a great intimate family whose heart is being used for the service of the soldiers not only, but for the long night of suffering and terror, in order that they and men everywhere may see the dawn of a day of righteousness and justice and peace."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 22nd

A Signer of the Constitution who was licensed to preach? That was Hugh Williamson, delegate from North Carolina, who died this day, May 22, 1819. At age 24 he studied theology in Connecticut and was admitted in the Presbytery of Philadelphia. He preached two years, visiting and praying for the sick, but it became apparent that a chronic chest weakness would not permit him to continue public speaking. He attended medical school, and eventually became Surgeon General, distinguishing himself in the Revolutionary War. Dr. Hugh Williamson also helped his friend Dr. Benjamin Franklin conduct many electrical experiments.

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 23rd

Fur trapper, Indian agent, and soldier; this was Kit Carson, who died this day, May 23, 1868. Carson's exploits west of the Mississippi were as famous as Daniel Boone's east. In January of 1868, Kit was appointed superintendent of Indian Affairs in Colorado. Though suffering severe breathing pain, he brought the Ute Indian Chiefs to Washington to arrange a treaty. As they toured northern cities, meeting crowds and posing for pictures with dignitaries such as John C. Fremont and General James Carleton, Kit became wearied. He almost died while staying with the Indian Chiefs at New York City's Metropolitan Hotel. Kit wrote: "I felt my head swell and my breath leaving me. Then, I woke...my face and head all wet. I was on the floor and the chief was holding my head on his arm and putting water on me. He was crying. He said, 'I thought you were dead. You called on your Lord Jesus, then shut your eyes and couldn't speak.' I did not know that I spoke...I do not know that I called on the Lord Jesus, but I might - it's only Him that can help me where I now stand...My wife must see me. If I was to write about this, or died out here, it would kill her. I must get home."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 24th

Abolitionist leader William Lloyd Garrison, died this day, May 24, 1879. He published the anti-slavery paper in Boston called "The Liberator," and founded the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833. Suffering hundreds of death threats for his politically incorrect stand for the value of all human life, William Lloyd Garrison wrote: "I desire to thank God, that He enables me to disregard 'the fear of man which bringeth a snare,' and to speak His truth...and...while life-blood warms my throbbing veins...to oppose...the brutalizing sway - till Afric's chains are burst, and freedom rules the rescued land."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 25th

"The shot heard around the world " was a line in the famous poem "The Concord Hymn," recounting the Revolutionary War battle between the Minutemen and the British troops by a bridge in Concord, Massachusetts. It was written by poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was born this day, May 25, 1803. Being friends with such notable writers as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Louisa May Alcott, Emerson composed some of the best poems in American literature. Ralph Waldo Emerson stated: "America is another name for opportunity. Our whole history appears like a last effort of divine Providence in behalf of the human race."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 26th

On this day, May 26, 1907, a movie legend was born named Marion Michael Morrison, better known as John Wayne. He played football at USC and held some behind-the-scenes jobs at Fox Studios, before being discovered by director John Ford, who cast "The Duke" in many epic western and war films. Exemplifying courage, respect and patriotism, John Wayne stated in the album America-Why I Love Her: "If we want to keep these freedoms, we may have to fight again. God forbid, but if we do, let's always fight to win... Face the flag, son...and thank God it's still there."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 27th

Twentieth-Century Fox made a motion picture in 1955 entitled "A Man Called Peter," about the life of U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall, who was born this day, May 27, 1902. He emigrated from Scotland, was ordained a Presbyterian minister, and became a U.S. citizen in 1938. A novel entitled "Christy," written by his wife, Catherine, was made into a CBS television series. His son, Peter Marshall, is the well-known author of such books as: "The Light and the Glory," "From Sea to Shining Sea" and "Sounding Forth The Trumpet," which chronicle the providential expansion of liberty throughout American history. In July of 1947, U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall opened a session of the 80th Congress with the prayer: "God of our Fathers, whose Almighty hand hath made and preserved our Nation... May it be ever understood that our Liberty is under God and...to the extent that America honors Thee, wilt Thou bless America."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 28th

He left Yale for four years to fight in the Revolutionary War. After graduation, he became a lawyer and taught school in New York. Dissatisfied with the children's spelling books, he wrote the famous "Blue-Backed Speller," which sold over one hundred million copies. After twenty-six years of work, he published the first American Dictionary of the English Language. His name was Noah Webster, and he died this day, May 28, 1843. In his book, "The History of the United States," published in 1832, Noah Webster wrote: "All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 29th

The 35th U.S. President was born this day, May 29, 1917. He was awarded the Navy's medal for heroism for his service during World War II, and the Pulitzer Prize for his book Profiles in Courage. The youngest man ever elected President, he served three years before being assassinated. His name: John F. Kennedy. In his Inaugural Address, January of 1961, President Kennedy stated: "The same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe - The belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 30th

Southern women scattered spring flowers on the graves of both the Northern and Southern soldiers who died during the Civil War. This was the origin of Memorial Day, which in 1868 was set on May 30th. From the Spanish-American War, to World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, up through the present, this is a day for honoring all who gave their lives to preserve America's freedom. Beginning in 1921, every President has placed a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is inscribed with the phrase: "Here Rests In Honored Glory An American Soldier Known But To God."

American Minute with Bill Federer
May 31st

At a Memorial Day event, May 31, 1923, Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President, gave a message entitled "The Destiny of America," saying: "Settlers came here from mixed motives, some for...adventure, some for trade and refuge, but...generally defined.... They were intent upon establishing a Christian commonwealth in accordance to the principle of self-government.... It has been said that God sifted the nations that He might send choice grain into the wilderness." President Coolidge concluded: "Who can fail to see in it the hand of destiny? Who can doubt that it has been guided by a Divine Providence?"

American Minute with Bill Federer
June 1st

"Don't Give Up The Ship!" were the dying words uttered this day, June 1, 1813 by Captain James Lawrence, as he lay on the deck of the U.S. Frigate Chesapeake. The British had bombarded them as they sailed out of Boston during the War of 1812. Captain Oliver Hazard Perry was so taken by his courage that he named his flagship on Lake Erie "Lawrence" and put Captain Lawrence's dying words on his battle flag. It later became the slogan of the U.S. Navy. After a great victory on Lake Erie, Captain Perry stated: "The prayers of my wife are answered."

American Minute with Bill Federer
June 2nd

There was a marriage in the White House this day, June 2nd, 1886. The only President in history to marry while in office wed Frances Folsom and together they had five children. He was both the 22nd and 24th President, being the only person to serve a second term after being defeated following his first. Who was he? Grover Cleveland. In his Second Inaugural Address, March of 1893, President Cleveland stated: "Above all, I know there is a Supreme Being who rules the affairs of men and whose goodness and mercy have always followed the American people, and I know He will not turn from us now if we humbly and reverently seek His powerful aid."

American Minute with Bill Federer
June 3rd

The Dutch hoped there existed a water route across America to the Pacific, and they sent Henry Hudson to find it. Although he was unsuccessful, he did lay claim to the land along the Hudson River, so named for him. There the Dutch West India Company founded the colony of New Netherlands, receiving their charter this day, June 3, 1621. New Netherlands later became New York. The Dutch leader, called the "Staten Generaal," after which Staten Island was named, gave the regulation: "[Colonists] shall...by their Christian life and conduct, lead Indians...to the knowledge of God and His Word, without, however, persecuting anyone because of his faith."

American Minute with Bill Federer
June 4th

The turning point in the Pacific War began today, June 4, 1942. American intelligence intercepted Japan's plans to capture Midway Island and from there Hawaii. The outnumbered U.S. Fleet ambushed the Japanese armada, but was losing badly. It was not until American dive bombers, navigating by guess and by God, sighted the Japanese aircraft carriers far below through a break in the clouds at the precise moment the Japanese planes had left to attack the U.S.S. Yorktown. In just five minutes, the screeching American dive bombers sank three Japanese carriers, and a fourth shortly after. This providential event turned the War and Japan was never again able to go on the offensive.

American Minute with Bill Federer
June 5th

Today, June 5, 1967, the Six-Day War began. Egypt had 80,000 troops and 900 tanks advancing on Israel. Jordan and Syria, with Soviet weapons, violently shelled Jerusalem and Israeli villages. Cairo radio announced: "The hour has come in which we shall destroy Israel." The hot line between Washington and Moscow was used for the first time. In a surprise move, Israeli air force destroyed 400 Egyptian planes, courageously drove Syria from the Golan Heights and captured all of Jerusalem. In a CBS-TV interview, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion stated: "In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles." Seven months later, at a dinner at the LBJ Ranch in Texas, President Lyndon B. Johnson toasted Israeli Prime Minister Eshkol, saying: "That is our intention in the Middle East and throughout our world. To pursue peace. To find peace. To keep peace forever among men. If we are wise, if we are fortunate, if we work together-perhaps our Nation and all nations may know the joys of that promise God once made about the children of Israel: 'I will make a covenant of peace with them . . . it shall be an everlasting covenant.'"

American Minute with Bill Federer
June 6th

"D-Day" June 6, 1944, one hundred and fifty-six thousand men landed on the Normandy coast of France. It was the largest invasion force in history. General Dwight Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, had issued the order: "You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade.... The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.... Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely." General Eisenhower concluded: "Let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."

American Minute with Bill Federer
June 7th

Daniel Boone began to explore Kentucky on this day, June 7, 1769. Six years later he brought the first settlers to Kentucky and founded the fort of Boonesboro. He was captured by the Shawnee Indians and taken to Detroit. There learned the British had incited an Indian attack on the Kentucky settlement. He escaped and his warning saved the town. As to his faith, Boone wrote to his wife in October of 1816: "The religion I have is to love and fear God, believe in Jesus Christ, do all the good to my neighbor, and myself that I can, do as little harm as I can help, and trust on God's mercy for the rest."

American Minute with Bill Federer
June 8th

On June 8, 1845, "Old Hickory" died. Wounded by a sword during the Revolutionary War, he later fought the Seminole Indians, and in the War of 1812 defeated the British at New Orleans. He was governor of the Florida Territory, and is credited with having proposed the name "Tennessee" at that State's first convention. His beloved wife Rachel died just three months before he took office as the seventh President of the United States. His name? Andrew Jackson. In reference to the Bible, President Jackson stated: "That book, Sir, is the Rock upon which our republic rests."

American Minute with Bill Federer
June 9th

Withholding taxes from people's paychecks began this day, June 9, 1943. Congress passed it as an emergency measure to get money to fight Hitler. The idea came from Beardsley Ruml, treasurer of Macy's and chairman of New York's Federal Reserve Bank. He called it the "pay-as-you-go" tax. So much money came in with so few complaints that it was continued after the war. But Americans weren't always taxed. In a Veto Message to Congress, May of 1830, President Andrew Jackson stated: "Through the favor of an overruling and indulgent Providence our country is blessed with general prosperity and our citizens exempted from the pressure of taxation, which other less favored portions of the human family are obliged to bear."

American Minute with Bill Federer
June 10th

The U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, graduated its first class on this day, June 10, 1854. The Academy was established under the direction of George Bancroft, Secretary of the Navy for President James Polk. Bancroft was also known as the "father of American history," having written the first comprehensive history of the United States. In an address entitled, "The Progress of Mankind," published in his work "Literary and Historical Miscellanies," George Bancroft stated: "The Divine Being should...be known, not as a distant Providence...but as God present in the flesh... The idea of GOD WITH US dwelt and dwells in every system of thought that can pretend to vitality; in every oppressed people, whose struggles to be free have the promise of success; in every soul that sighs for redemption."

American Minute with Bill Federer
June 11th

He sent Paul Revere on his midnight ride to warn Lexington that the British were coming. A Harvard graduate, he was a successful doctor in Boston, but left his comfortable career when the British passed the hated "Stamp Act." With Samuel Adams, he organized the Provincial Congress to protest. Courageously fighting in the Battle of Bunker Hill, a monument marks the spot where he died. His name was Joseph Warren, born this day, June 11, 1741. On the second anniversary of the Boston Massacre, March of 1772, Joseph Warren stated: "If you perform your part, you must have the strongest confidence that the same Almighty Being who protected your pious and venerable forefathers...will still be mindful of you."

American Minute with Bill Federer
June 12th

He received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service in the Pacific during World War II. He studied at Yale, was a congressman, ambassador to the U.N., CIA director and Vice-President under Ronald Reagan before becoming America's forty-first President. His name: George Bush, born this day, June 12, 1924. In his Inaugural Address, January of 1989, President Bush stated: "I have just repeated word for word the oath taken by George Washington 200 years ago, and the Bible on which I place my hand is the Bible on which he placed his.... And my first act as President is a prayer. I ask you to bow your heads."

American Minute with Bill Federer
June 13th

Nineteen-year-old Marquis de Lafayette purchased a ship and sailed to America, arriving this day, June 13, 1777. Trained in the French Military, he was appointed a major general. He endured the freezing winter at Valley Forge, and fought at Brandywine, Barren Hill and Monmouth. He led troops against the traitor Benedict Arnold and commanded at Yorktown, pressuring Cornwallis to surrender. In July of 1791, George Washington wrote to Lafayette: "We must, however, place a confidence in that Providence who rules great events, trusting that out of confusion He will produce order, and, notwithstanding the dark clouds which may threaten at present, that right will ultimately be established."

American Minute with Bill Federer
June 14th

Thirteen Stars and Thirteen Stripes. It was on this day, June 14, 1777, that the Second Continental Congress selected the Flag of the United States. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed a Proclamation making this day "National Flag Day." On this day in 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Joint Resolution of Congress (Public Law 396) adding the phrase "One Nation Under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance. Eisenhower stated: "From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural school house, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty. To anyone who truly loves America, nothing could be more inspiring than to contemplate this rededication of our youth, on each school morning, to our country's true meaning... In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America's heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country's most powerful resource, in peace or in war."

American Minute with Bill Federer
June 15th

The Legend of Robinhood speaks of Richard the Lionhearted. The real King Richard the Lionhearted, so named for his courage in battle,