November 19, 1863 –
President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on this date, four and a half months after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg. He gave it at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
The speech remains an important part of American history on account of its having been written on the back of an envelope despite stringent postal requirements that addresses be printed clearly on the front. Lincoln at the time thought it was a failure.
The Haus of Dcaligari 