JFK Wants To Put A Man On The Moon; Lincoln Suspends Habeas Corpus: Today In History

May 25, 2017, is the 145th day of the year, with 220 days remaining. The moon is in a new moon phase.

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The race to space

According to the NASA archives, it was on May 25, 1961, that President John F. Kennedy announced before a special joint session of Congress the ambitious goal of safely sending an American to the moon before the end of the decade.

The announcement came at a time during which the president felt pressure to have the United States “catch up to and overtake” the Soviet Union in the famed “space race,” an ambition that would become reality on July 20, 1969. But in 1961, Kennedy’s announcement came almost a full month after cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space on April 12.

Watch JFK's full announcement.

Lincoln suspends habeas corpus rights for John Merryman

In 1861, John Merryman, a state legislator from Maryland, was arrested for attempting to hinder Union troops from moving from Baltimore to Washington during the Civil War and was held at Fort McHenry by Union military officials.

Although Merryman’s attorney sought a writ of habeas corpus so that a federal court could examine Merryman’s charges, President Abraham Lincoln suspended the right of habeas corpus, leading the general in command of Fort McHenry to refuse to turn Merryman over to the authorities. And despite federal judge Roger Taney issuing a ruling that Lincoln hadn’t the authority to suspend habeas corpus, the president nevertheless did not respond, appeal or order the release of Merryman.

During a July 4 speech, President Lincoln was defiant in his insistence that suspending the rules was necessary in quenching the rebellion of the south.

For more American history, Patch has you covered.

Photo credit: NASA