Big speech

A date which will live in world history. Also, 7 other things worth your time.

President Franklin Roosevelt had just finished lunch 79 years ago today, when he heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Barely 24 hours later, he was addressing a joint session of Congress, giving perhaps the most important speech of his lifetime.

His address ran just 500 words—so, twice as long as the Gettysburg Address, but still considerably shorter …