Grand Canyon Becomes National Park: Wilderness Protected
Wilson signed the Grand Canyon into national park status in 1919, but it wasn't discovery — it was damage control. Miners had been blasting the rim for copper and asbestos. Entrepreneurs were building hotels on the edge. The Kolb brothers ran a photo studio literally hanging off the cliff. Roosevelt had tried to protect it as a national monument in 1908, but Congress blocked him. Took eleven more years and a world war before they agreed. The canyon is 277 miles long. Humans nearly turned it into real estate.
February 26, 1919
107 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on February 26
Astronomers began tracking the reign of the Babylonian king Nabonassar, establishing a precise chronological anchor that lasted for centuries. By standardizing …
Ptolemy needed a zero point for his astronomical tables. He chose February 26, 747 BC — the first day of King Nabonassar's reign in Babylon. Not because Nabonas…
Chandragupta I took a title nobody had used in centuries: *samrat*, supreme emperor. Not king. Emperor. He married a Licchavi princess named Kumaradevi and put …
Valentinian I became emperor because nobody else wanted the job. The previous emperor had died suddenly in Bithynia. The army gathered to pick a successor. They…
Solomon had the throne. Géza had the people. By 1074, Hungary was split between the legitimate king and his cousin who controlled two-thirds of the country. The…
The siege of Kaifeng killed more people than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. Conservative estimates: 600,000 dead, mostly from starvation and disease. The Mo…
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.