deaths
January 17, 1891
George Bancroft, American historian and politician, 17th United States Secretary of the Navy (born 1800)
George Bancroft
George Bancroft was an American historian, statesman and Democratic politician who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state of Massachusetts and at the national and international levels.
United States Secretary of the Navy
The secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer and the head of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirmed as Secretary of the Navy.