GPO welcomes five new members to the Depository Library Council. Learn more.

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May 21, 1881, in Washington, D.C., humanitarians Clara Barton and Adolphus Solomons founded the American National Red Cross. It received its first U.S. Federal charter in 1900. The Red Cross supports a nationwide network of more than 650 chapters and 36 blood service regions. Some 500,000 Red Cross volunteers and 30,000 paid employees annually mobilize relief to people affected by disasters, train nearly 12 million people in essential medical skills, and exchange more than a million emergency messages for U.S. military service personnel and their families. It is also the nation’s largest supplier of blood and blood products, serving more than 3,000 hospitals.

• American Red Cross History
• Clara Barton’s House
• Clara Barton Papers
• A Proclamation of American Red Cross Month, 2023

Check out the latest blog from In Custodia Legis, Online Legal Reports Collection Surpasses 4,000 Historical and Contemporary Reports, highlighting GPO’s collaboration with the Law Library of Congress.

On May 23rd, 1785, Benjamin Franklin announced his invention of the bifocal eyeglass. The term “bifocals” actually was not coined by Franklin and did not come about until 1824 when John Isaac Hawkins invented trifocal lenses. Franklin referred to his invention as the “double spectacle.”

• Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government: Scientist and Inventor
• The Papers of Benjamin Franklin
• Finding Franklin: A Resource Guide
• The Medical World of Benjamin Franklin
• Benjamin Franklin: Man of Business and Science
• Artfully Yours, Benjamin Franklin