1614: Pocahontas Marries John Rolfe

Pocahontas, daughter of the chief of the Powhatan Indian confederacy, marries English tobacco planter John Rolfe in Jamestown, Virginia. The marriage ensured peace between the Jamestown settlers and the Powhatan Indians for several years.

In May 1607, about 100 English colonists settled along the James River in Virginia to found Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America. The settlers fared badly because of famine, disease, and Indian attacks, but were aided by 27-year-old English adventurer John Smith, who directed survival efforts and mapped the area. While exploring the Chickahominy River in December 1607, Smith and two colonists were captured by Powhatan warriors. At the time, the Powhatan confederacy consisted of around 30 Tidewater-area tribes led by Chief Wahunsonacock, known as Chief Powhatan to the English. Smith's companions were killed, but he was spared and released, (according to a 1624 account by Smith) because of the dramatic intercession of Pocahontas, Chief Powhatan's 13-year-old daughter. Her real name was Matoaka, and Pocahontas was a pet name that has been translated variously as "playful one" and "my favorite daughter."

In 1608, Smith became president of the Jamestown colony, but the settlement continued to suffer. An accidental fire destroyed much of the town, and hunger, disease, and Indian attacks continued. During this time, Pocahontas often came to Jamestown as an emissary of her father, sometimes bearing gifts of food to help the hard-pressed settlers. She befriended the settlers and became acquainted with English ways. In 1609, Smith was injured from a fire in his gunpowder bag and was forced to return to England.

After Smith's departure, relations with the Powhatan deteriorated and many settlers died from famine and disease in the winter of 1609-10. Jamestown was about to be abandoned by its inhabitants when Baron De La Warr (also known as Delaware) arrived in June 1610 with new supplies and rebuilt the settlement--the Delaware River and the colony of Delaware were later named after him. John Rolfe also arrived in Jamestown in 1610 and two years later cultivated the first tobacco there, introducing a successful source of livelihood that would have far-reaching importance for Virginia.

In the spring of 1613, English Captain Samuel Argall took Pocahontas hostage, hoping to use her to negotiate a permanent peace with her father. Brought to Jamestown, she was put under the custody of Sir Thomas Gates, the marshal of Virginia. Gates treated her as a guest rather than a prisoner and encouraged her to learn English customs. She converted to Christianity and was baptized Lady Rebecca. Powhatan eventually agreed to the terms for her release, but by then she had fallen in love with John Rolfe, who was about 10 years her senior. On April 5, 1614, Pocahontas and John Rolfe married with the blessing of Chief Powhatan and the governor of Virginia.

Their marriage brought a peace between the English colonists and the Powhatans, and in 1615 Pocahontas gave birth to their first child, Thomas. In 1616, the couple sailed to England. The so-called Indian Princess proved popular with the English gentry, and she was presented at the court of King James I. In March 1617, Pocahontas and Rolfe prepared to sail back to Virginia. However, the day before they were to leave, Pocahontas died, probably of smallpox, and was buried at the parish church of St. George in Gravesend, England.

John Rolfe returned to Virginia and was killed in an Indian massacre in 1622. After an education in England, their son Thomas Rolfe returned to Virginia and became a prominent citizen. John Smith returned to the New World in 1614 to explore the New England coast. On another voyage of exploration in 1614, he was captured by pirates but escaped after three months of captivity. He then returned to England, where he died in 1631.

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1887: Anne Sullivan Worked "Miracle" On Helen Keller

Born in Alabama in 1880, Helen Keller lost her sight and hearing due to a childhood illness a year an a half later.  In March, 1887 Anne Sullivan, a 20-year-old graduate of the Perkins School for the Blind, who had regained useful sight through a series of operations, was hired to teach the wild, unruly, totally deaf and blind child.  As soon as she arrived at the Keller family estate, Anne Sullivan began using the manual alphabet to spell words into Helen's hand.  Although Helen quickly learned to make the letters correctly, she had no idea that she was spelling words, or even that words existed.

But on April 5, 1987, a breakthrough occurred.  Sullivan drew water from a pump and put Helen's hand under the spout.  As the cool water gushed over one hand, she spelled the word "w-a-t-e-r" into the other hand.  Suddenly, Helen Keller made the connection. Quickly, she reached down to touch the earth and demanded its letter name.  By the end of what Keller later called, "the most important day I can remember in my life," she had learned 30 words.

From then on, Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller were inseparable until the death of the former in 1936.  With her teacher's help, Helen quickly mastered the alphabet, learned to read and write raised-print letters, and at the age of ten, learned to speak.  She entered Radcliffe College in 1900, graduating with honors in 1904. While still a student, Helen began a writing career that continued for the next half century.  Her best-known book, "The Story of My Life" was an international bestseller, translated into more than 50 languages.  She also contributed frequently to magazines and newspapers, writing most often on blindness, deafness, social issues, pacifism, socialism, and women's rights.  In addition to her writing, she was active in support of various programs to aid the blind and the deaf.

Helen Keller met every American president from Grover Cleveland through John F. Kennedy, and as an international celebrity, she met such major world figures as Charlie Chaplin and Nehru.  Mark Twain, who knew her from her early youth, said, "The two most interesting characters of the 19th century are Napoleon and Helen Keller."