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Kitty Hawk Beach
In this photograph of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright brothers' 1900 campsite can be seen amidst the sand-swept landscape. That autumn Orville wrote his sister, "the wind [has] blown millions and millions of loads of sand up in heaps along the coast, completely covering houses and forests."
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Orville Wright's Telegram
This is the actual telegram sent by Orville Wright to his father, Bishop Milton Wright, following the successful flight at Kitty Hawk. A typo not only mispelled Orville's name, but understated the flying time by two seconds -- he had actually stayed aloft for fifty-nine seconds.
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Woodrow Wilson Inauguration
Woodrow Wilson was the first university professor to become president of the United States, and he had written important books about government and international relations. Here he is at his 1913 inauguration alongside the outgoing president William Howard Taft.
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German Soldiers wearing Gas Masks
In 1915 the Germans introduced the use of poison gas in warfare. In response to the appalling development, both sides during World War I were forced to make regular use of gas masks. Here are two German soldiers wearing masks inside their trench.
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World War I Gun Crew in Battle
This photograph from 1918, of American soldiers making an advance against Germans in their trenches, gives a sense of the hellishness of this war.
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Woodrow Wilson's War Message to Congress
President Woodrow Wilson delivered his historic war message before the joint session of the Senate and House on the night of April 2, 1917. The clock above the American flag shows 8:43pm.
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WWI Soldier
Here is one of the more than a million American men who were sent overseas to fight in World War I. American infantrymen were popularly known as "doughboys," perhaps referring to their mud-splattered uniforms. Whatever the nickname's origin, it came to symbolize the grit and determination of the American soldier.
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Wilson on Ship to Paris
President Wilson looks weary in late 1918 on board the S.S. George Washington en route to Paris and the Peace Conference.
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Wilson Speaking on Behalf of the League of Nations
In the fall of 1919 Wilson launched an extraordinary cross country speaking tour to convince the American public of the importance of the League of Nations. Here he is speaking to a San Francisco audience, delivering the impassioned, eloquent words that he had become known for. Notice the old-fashioned sound collectors used to amplify the President's voice.
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