February 15, 1889: The U.S. Department of Agriculture, founded on May 15, 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln, is raised to Cabinet-level status by President Grover Cleveland.
Interestingly enough, when the DOA was created, its 1st Commissioner (not "Secretary") was named Isaac Newton. A native of Burlington, South Jersey (1800-1867), he appears not to have been related to the 17th Century British scientist of the same name, who never married or had children.
Norman Jay Coleman (1827-1911), a former Lieutenant Governor of Missouri, who was the last Commissioner, became the 1st Secretary of Agriculture. Norm Coleman, who would serve a term as U.S. Senator from Minnesota in the 2000s, is not related to him.
The Department of Agriculture is headquartered at the Jamie L. Whitten Building, at 1400 Independence Avenue SW on the National Mall in Washington. It is named for a Congressman from Mississippi, once the longest-serving member in the history of the House of Representatives, and Chairman of its Committee Appropriations from 1979 to 1993.
The USDA spends about 71 percent of its annual budget on various nutrition programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as "Food Stamps"). It also runs the United States Forest Service (USFS). It does not, however, run the Food and Drug Administration (FDA): That agency is run by the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).
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February 15, 1889 was a Friday. Baseball and football were out of season, hockey barely existed, and basketball wouldn't be invented for nearly 3 more years. So there were no scores on this historic day.
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