On this day 148 years ago, Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address at the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Pennsylvania. Only a few months had passed since the horrible battle that claimed 53,000 lives.
Lincoln was invited to speak after Edward Everett, who talked for 2 hours. Historians agree that it was merely an afterthought to include him on the panel of guests. Lincoln's speech lasted barely two minutes, and as a result, only one photograph was taken, which shows the President stepping off of the stage.
Everett shook Lincoln's hand and said, "I should be glad, if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes."
The Address became Lincoln's most famous speech and proved to be powerful rhetoric for the Union cause.
