Five Letters That Changed The World

Think about the last five important documents you've received.  They came in an envelope, right?  Here's another other important document that changed the course of history.  What's the one thing they have in common?  They arrived in a sealed envelope.

1. Abraham Lincoln's Beard: In 1860, Grace Bedell, an 11-year-old girl, wrote to Abraham Lincoln, then the Republican presidential candidate, suggesting that he grow a beard because "all the ladies like whiskers." Lincoln grew a beard, becoming the iconic bearded figure we recognize today.
2. Albert Einstein and the Atomic Age: Albert Einstein wrote a letter to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on August 2, 1939, alerting him to the potential of a nuclear chain reaction in uranium, which could lead to "extremely powerful bombs of a new type." This letter is considered to have initiated the Atomic Age.
3. George Washington and the American Revolution: During the American Revolution, George Washington wrote to Nathaniel Sackett, offering him $50 a month to develop a spy network. This espionage system, including the Culper Spy Ring, played a crucial role in gathering intelligence on British movements, contributing to the American victory.
4. Women's Suffrage Movement: In 1920, Tennessee House Representative Harry Thomas Burn received a letter from his mother urging him to vote for women's suffrage. Despite previously opposing the movement, Burn's vote led to Tennessee ratifying the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote.
5. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail": Arrested in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. composed a powerful response to local clergy criticizing public demonstrations. This letter underscored the necessity of protests against segregation and became a key text in the Civil Rights Movement

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