Learn our History Today: March 26

Learn Our History Today:  On March 26, 1776, four months prior to the Continental Congress declaring independence, South Carolina approved a new constitution and government with the legislature renaming itself the General Assembly of South Carolina.  Under the General Assembly, John Rutledge was elected president and Henry Laurens was elected vice president. 

And on this day in 1953, an American medical researcher named Dr. Jonas Salk announced that he had successfully tested a new vaccine against the crippling virus, poliomyelitis, the cause of polio.  His announcement on national radio followed an epidemic year for polio, in which 58,000 new cases popped up in the U.S.  Salk went on to be celebrated as the greatest doctor of his time by promising to eventually eradicate the disease known as “infant paralysis.”

Also on this day in 1969, a women’s group called Women Strike for Peace held the first large antiwar demonstration since President Richard Nixon took office in January of that year.