THE GREAT BOSTON FIRE OF 1872 – NOV. 9, 1872 Photograph by Joshua Smith The Great Boston Fire of 1872 was Boston’s largest urban fire, and still ranks as one of the most costly fire-related property losses in American history. The conflagration began at 7:20 p.m. on November 9, 1872, in…
OFFICIAL BIRTH DATE OF ORGANIZED CHEERLEADING – NOV. 2, 1898 World’s first cheerleader Johnny Campbell – University of Minnesota Organized cheerleading started out as an all-male activity. In 1898, University of Minnesota student Johnny Campbell directed a crowd in cheering “Rah, Rah, Rah! Ski-u-mah, Hoo-Rah! Hoo-Rah! Varsity! Varsity! Varsity, Minn-e-So-Tah!”, making…
Photograph by LAMBORGHINI In production from 1974 to 1990, the Lamborghini Countach is one of the most iconic sports cars of all time. It pioneered countless design aesthetics such as: the wedge-shaped, sharply angled look seen in countless sports cars of today (including most of Lamborghini’s models since); the ‘cabin forward’ concept which…
THE ERIE CANAL OFFICIALLY OPENS – OCTOBER 26, 1825 Photograph by Clifton Park Collection The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about 363 miles (584 km) from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from…
DAGUERREOTYPE: FIRST COMMERCIALLY SUCCESSFUL PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESS RELEASED ‘FREE TO THE WORLD’ – OCTOBER 19, 1839 An 1837 daguerreotype | Photograph by LOUIS DAGUERRE The daguerreotype was the first commercially successful photographic process. The image is a direct positive made in the camera on a silver plated copper plate. The raw material…
COLUMBUS ARRIVES IN AMERICAS. ‘COLUMBUS DAY’ BECOMES OFFICIAL HOLIDAY – OCTOBER 12, 1492 Artwork by Dioscoro Teofilo Puebla Tolin Many countries in the New World and elsewhere celebrate the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas, which occurred on October 12, 1492, as an official holiday. The event is celebrated…
6TH DEADLIEST EARTHQUAKE IN HISTORY – OCTOBER 5, 1948 Ashgabat Earthquake Memorial The 1948 Ashgabat earthquake, at a magnitude 7.3 Mw, occurred on October 5/6, 1948, near Ashgabat, in the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic. The earthquake is considered to be the 6th deadliest earthquake in the history of humankind. Due to…
FRANCE WORLD’S 1ST COUNTRY TO EMANCIPATE JEWS – SEPT. 28, 1791 Jewish emancipation was the external and internal process of freeing the Jewish people of Europe, including recognition of their rights as equal citizens, and the formal granting of citizenship as individuals; it occurred gradually between the late 18th century and…
MOST REPRINTED EDITORIAL EVER IS PUBLISHED – SEPT. 21, 1897 Is There a Santa Claus? was the title of an editorial appearing in the September 21, 1897 edition of The Sun of New York. The editorial, which included the famous reply, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus”, has become an…
U.S. PRESIDENT WILLIAM MCKINLEY ASSASSINATED – SEPT. 14, 1901 Photograph of drawing by T. DART WALKER The assassination of William McKinley occurred on September 6, 1901, inside the Temple of Music located on the grounds of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. United States President William McKinley was visiting…