When the Medal was orginally authorized by Congress, the Navy was specifically granted permission to award it for peacetime actions in recognition of the special perils inherent in the Naval Service in it's day-to-day operations. Today, those kinds of actions would be awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, but back in the day, they were Medals of Honor. We start the six Medals awarded for actions on this day in history with two of those Naval Medals.Interim Awards 1871-1898 FLANNAGAN, JOHNRank...