1830: The U.S.S. Constitution is mentioned in a newspaper article as one being considered for decommission, having served the for over thirty years.

Today: The Constitution has been preserved for the last 170 years, thanks to Holmes's poem, and is on view at the Boston Navy Yard.

1830: At the site of FortDearborn, on the shore ofLake Michigan, the town of Chicago is planned.

Today: Chicago has three million people and is the country's third largest city. It was the second largest from the end of the nineteenth century until the 1990 census, when Los Angeles overtook it.

1830: The trip from Boston to New York takes thirty-six hours by steamboat and stage.

Today: The trip from Boston to New York takes less than an hour-and-a-half by airplane, but travel time to and from major metropolitan airports can double or triple that time.

1830: Illustrator John James Audubon...