MARCH 1 ^ST

1781: The Continental Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation. It was the first collective agreement by the 13 founding states of the United States of America. The Articles were intended to provide the states with sovereignty and established a very limited federal government. Over the next several years, the lack of a strong central government caused enough problems for the young nation that the states met again to draft the United States Constitution.

1872: Yellowstone, the world’s first national park, is founded. The park was created by the United States Congress in legislation signed by President Ulysses S. Grant. The park’s geothermal features, including geysers and hot springs, are the result of a massive supervolcano called the Yellowstone Caldera that lies beneath the Earth’s crust there. The volcano last erupted approximately 640,000 years ago. The park was created after extensive lobbying by Ferdinand Hayden, a geologist who led several expeditions there in the 18602. Yellowstone’s first superintendent was Nathaniel P. Langford, who served in a volunteer capacity for five years. It its early years, Yellowstone was plagued by poaching, vandalism, and lawlessness because Langford lacked the resources to properly administer the park. Harry Yount was appointed Yellowstone’s gamekeeper to bring the park under control, making him the first national park ranger in history. In 1886, the park came under the Army’s protection. In 1978 the park was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. More than three million visitors go to Yellowstone every year.

1936: the Hoover

Dam is completed. The dam, in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, was the largest hydroelectricity facility in the world when generators were installed. Over 3.25 million cubic yards of concrete was used in the construction of the dam, and another 1.1 million cubic yards in the dam’s power plant.