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1869

1869

1869 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar).

Events

- March 1 - North German Confederation issues 10gr and 30gr value stamps, printed on goldbeater's skin
- May 4 - Naval Battle of Hakodate in Japan.
- May 6 - Purdue University founded in West Lafayette, Indiana.
- May 10 - Transcontinental Railroad completed at Promontory, Utah.
- May 15 - Woman's suffrage: In New York, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman's Suffrage Association.
- May 26 - Last public hanging in Britain - Fenian bomber Michael Barrett
- May 29 - British parliament passes the Capital Punishment within Prisons Bill ending public hanging
- August 4/12 - Emperor Norton I of the United States abolished both the Democratic and Republican parties.
- August 9 - August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht founded the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany (SDAP)
- August 20 - Abergele Train Disaster - Irish Mail passenger train collides with cargo trucks loaded with paraffin - 33 dead; First major train disaster in Britain
- August 31 - Mary Ward is killed in a car accident, possibly the first person ever to suffer this fate
- September 11 - Work completed on the Wallace Monument
- October 16 - England's first residential college for women, Girton College, is founded.
- November 4 - The first issue of scientific journal Nature is published.
- November 6 - The first intercollegiate American football game is played. Rutgers defeats Princeton, 6 to 4.
- November 17 - In Egypt, the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, is inaugurated in an elaborate ceremony.
- November 23 - In Dumbarton, Scotland the clipper ship Cutty Sark is launched (it was one of the last clipper ships to be built, and the only one surviving to the present day).
- December 10 - First American chapter of Kappa Sigma founded at the University of Virginia.
- December 31 - Triple Alliance forces take Asuncion
- Basutoland becomes British protectorate
- British parliament ends transportation to Australia as punishment
- Venancio Flores murdered in Montevideo
- Ulysses S. Grant succeeds Andrew Johnson as President of the United States of America.
- Fire burns down about 75% of Hancock, Michigan
- Mahbub Ali Pasha begins a 42 year reign as Nizam of Hyderabad
- James Gordon Bennett, Jr. of the New York Herald, asks Henry Morton Stanley to go and find Dr Livingstone, despite him not being lost or in difficulty.
- The Meiji Emperor of Japan accepts the surrender of the four most powerful clans (Choshu, Tosa, Hizen and Satsuma) and reappoints the clan chiefs as Provincial Governors, on reduced revenues.
- Invention of barbed wire, see ranching.
- H. J. Heinz Company established.
- Abdur Rahman Khan is exiled from Afghanistan.
- The Roman Catholic Church prohibits abortion under any circumstance.
- "Michigan relics" appear Goldman Sachs and Co. was founded

Births

- January 4 - Tommy Corcoran, baseball player (d. 1960)
- January 10 - Grigori Rasputin, Russian mystic (d. 1916)
- January 15 - Stanisław Wyspiański, Polish dramatist, poet, painter, and architect (d. 1907)
- February 11 - Helene Kroller-Muller, Dutch museum founder and patron of the arts (d. 1939)
- February 14 - Charles Wilson, Scottish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959)
- March 5 - Michael von Faulhaber, German cardinal and archbishop (d. 1952)
- March 14 - Algernon Blackwood, English writer (d. 1951)
- March 18 - Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1940)
- March 21 - Florenz Ziegfeld, theatrical producer (d. 1932)
- April 2 - Hughie Jennings, baseball player (d. 1928)
- April 4 - Mary Colter, American architect (d. 1958)
- April 8 - Harvey Cushing, American neurosurgeon (d. 1939)
- April 11 - Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor (d. 1943)
- May 5 - Hans Pfitzner, German Composer (d. 1949)
- May 20 - John Stone Stone, American physicist and inventor (d. 1943)
- June 17 - Flora Finch, English-born comedienne (d. 1940)
- June 27 - Hans Spemann, German embryologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1941)
- August 10 - Lawrence Binyon, English poet and scholar (d. 1943)
- September 3 - Fritz Pregl, Austrian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1930)
- September 17 - Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1938)
- September 23 - Mary Mallon, "Typhoid Mary" (d. 1938)
- October 2 - Mohandas Gandhi, founder of the modern Indian state and proponent of nonviolence (d. 1948)
- October 25 - John Heisman, American football coach (d. 1936)
- November 10 - Wayne Wheeler, American temperance movement leader.
- November 22 - André Gide, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1951)
- November 25 - Herbert Greenfield, Premier of Alberta (d. 1949)
- November 30 - Gustaf Dalén, Swedish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1937)
- December 30 - Stephen Leacock, British-Canadian author and economist (d. 1944)
- December 31 - Henri Matisse, French painter (d. 1954)

Deaths

- March 8 - Hector Berlioz, French composer (b. 1803)
- March 24 - Antoine-Henri Jomini, French general (b. 1779)
- April 20 - Carl Loewe, German composer (b. 1796)
- May 11 - Hijikata Toshizou, 2nd commander of the Shinsengumi (b. 1835)
- October 13 - Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, French literary critic (b. 1804)
- December 18 - Louis Moreau Gottschalk American composer and pianist (b. 1829) Category:1869 ko:1869년 simple:1869

Common year starting on Friday

This is the calendar for any common year starting on Friday (dominical letter C), for example, 2010. (A common year is a year with 365 days—in other words, not a leap year.)

Millennium	Century	Year
2nd Millennium:	19th century:	1802	1813	1819	1830	1841	1847	1858	1869	1875	1886	1897
2nd Millennium:	20th century:	1909	1915	1926	1937	1943	1954	1965	1971	1982	1993	1999
3rd Millennium:	21st century:	2010	2021	2027	2038	2049	2055	2066	2077	2083	2094
3rd Millennium:	22nd century:	2100	2106	2117	2123	2134	2145	2151	2162	2173	2179	2190

Category:Friday Category:Weeks ko:금요일로 시작하는 평년 th:ปีปกติสุรทินที่วันแรกเป็นวันศุกร์

North German Confederation

The North German Confederation (in German, Norddeutscher Bund), came into existence in 1867, following the dissolution of the German Confederation. Formed by 22 states of northern Germany, it was effectively a transitional grouping, lasting only until the founding of the German Empire in 1871. However, it cemented Prussian control over northern Germany, and emanated that same control via the Zollverein (Customs Union) into southern Germany. Notably, the Confederation excluded both Austria and Bavaria. The Confederation came into being after Prussia defeated Austria in the Austro-Prussian War. Otto von Bismarck created the constitution, which came into force on 1 July, 1867, with the King of Prussia, Wilhelm I, as its President, and Bismarck as Chancellor. The states were represented in the Bundesrat (Federal Council) with 43 seats (of which Prussia held 17), while the people elected the Norddeutscher Reichstag (North German Diet). Following Prussia's defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871, Bavaria, Württemberg, and Baden (together with parts of the Grand Duchy of Hesse which had not originally joined the Confederation), now grouped together with the various states of the Confederation to form the German Empire, with Wilhelm I taking the new title of German Emperor.

Postage stamps

One of the functions of the Confederation was to handle the mail and issue postage stamps, which it began doing on 1 January 1868. To accommodate the different monetary systems in use by the various states, it issued a series valued in groschen for the Northern District, and another using kreuzer for the Southern District, distinguishing them by framing the value number in a circle for the groschen stamps, and in an oval for the kreuzers. All of these stamps were inscribed "NORDDEUTSCHER POSTBEZIRK". In addition, there was a special quarter-schilling stamp for Hamburg, with the additional inscription "STADTPOSTBRIEF HAMBURG". Early in 1869 the stamps were issued with perforations, the previous issues having been rouletted. On 1 March, 10gr and 30gr values were issued, notable for being printed on goldbeater's skin, a scheme to prevent reuse of these high-value stamps. Confederation stamps were superseded on 1 January 1872 by the first issues of the German Empire.

List of member states

- Prussia (incl. Lauenburg)
- Saxony
- Mecklenburg-Schwerin
- Saxe-Weimar
- Mecklenburg-Strelitz
- Oldenburg
- Brunswick
- Saxe-Meiningen
- Saxe-Altenburg
- Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
- Anhalt
- Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
- Waldeck
- Reuss (Elder Line)
- Reuss (Younger Line)
- Schaumburg-Lippe
- Lippe
- Lübeck
- Bremen
- Hamburg
- the parts of the Grand Duchy of Hesse that were north of the River Main

Naval Battle of Hakodate

The naval Battle of Hakodate was fought from 4-10 May 1869, at the beginning of the Meiji Restoration, near the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, between the remnants of the Shogun's navy, consolidated into the armed forces of the rebel Ezo Republic, and the newly formed Imperial Japanese Navy. The naval forces of the Ezo Republic were grouped around the warship Kaiten. The fleet originally consisted of eight steamships: Kaiten, Banryo, Chiyodagata, Chogei, Kaiyō Maru, Kanrin Maru, Mikaho and Shinsoku. However Kaiyō Maru had been lost in a previous engagement in front of Esashi, and Kanrin Maru had been captured by Imperial forces after suffering damage in bad weather. For the operation, an Imperial Japanese Navy fleet had been rapidly constituted around the French-built ironclad Kotetsu, which had been purchased from the United States. Other Imperial ships were Kasuga, Hiryu, Teibo and Yoharu. The Imperial fleet supported the deployment of troops on the island of Hokkaido, destroyed onshore fortifications and attacked the rebel ships. On May 4th, Chiyodagata was captured by Imperial forces after having been abandoned in a grounding, and on the 7th, Kaiten was heavily hit and put out of action. The rebel's Banryo managed to sink the Imperial forces' Choyo, but she later sank in turn because of heavy damage. The Imperial Japanese Navy won the engagement, ultimately leading to the surrender of the Shogun forces at the end of May 1869. Choyo Ships of foreign navies — the British HMS Pearl and the French Coetlogon — were standing by neutrally during the conflict. The French captain Jules Brunet who had trained the rebels and helped organize their defenses, surrendered on Coetlogon on June 8 1869. The future Admiral of the fleet Heihachiro Togo participated in the battle on the Imperial side as a young third-class officer, onboard Kasuga. Hakodate 1869 Hakodate 1869 Category:1869

May 6

May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (127th in leap years). There are 239 days remaining.

Events

- 1527 - Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance.
- 1536 - King Henry VIII orders Bibles be placed in every church.
- 1682 - Louis XIV of France moves his court to Versailles.
- 1757 - Battle of Prague - A Prussian army fought an Austrian army in Prague during the Seven Years' War.
- 1816 - The American Bible Society is founded in New York City.
- 1835 - James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union.
- 1863 - American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends, with a defeat of the Army of the Potomac under General Joseph Hooker by Confederate troops under Stonewall Jackson.
- 1877 - Realizing that his people were weakened by cold and hunger, Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Sioux surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska.
- 1889 - The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris.
- 1910 - George V becomes King of the United Kingdom upon the death of his father, Edward VII.
- 1935 - New Deal: Executive Order 7034 creates the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
- 1937 - Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelinHindenburg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed.
- 1940 - John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.
- 1941 - At California's March Field Bob Hope performs his first USO show.
- 1942 - World War II: On Corregidor, the last American forces in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese.
- 1945 - World War II: Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops (first was on December 11, 1941).
- 1945 - World War II: The Prague Offensive, the last major battle of the Eastern Front, begins.
- 1954 - Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.
- 1960 - Princess Margaret's wedding day.
- 1966 - Myra Hindley and Ian Brady are sentenced to life imprisonment for the Moors Murders in England.
- 1981 - A jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selects Maya Ying Lin's design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from 1,421 other entries.
- 1988 - An airplane going from Namsos to Brønnøysund in Norway crashes into the side of the Torghatten mountain, killing all 36 passengers and crew.
- 1994 - Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President François Mitterrand inaugurate the opening of the Channel Tunnel – a tunnel under the English Channel linking England and France for the first time since the end of the Great Ice Age.
- 1998 - The body of former CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared.
- 1999 - In New York, a parole board votes to release Amy Fisher, in prison for the last 7 years for shooting her lover's wife.
- 2002 - Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is assassinated during the 2002 Dutch national election campaign by Volkert van der Graaf.
- 2002 - Jean-Pierre Raffarin becomes Prime Minister of France.
- 2002 - The World Wrestling Federation announces that they have changed their name to World Wrestling Entertainment after losing a court battle with the World Wildlife Fund.
- 2004 - The last episode of the popular television sitcomFriends airs.

Births

- 1397 - Sejong the Great of Joseon, ruler of Korea (d. 1450)
- 1501 - Pope Marcellus II (d. 1555)
- 1574 - Pope Innocent X (d. 1655)
- 1638 - Henry Capell, 1st Baron Capell, First Lord of the British Admiralty (d. 1696)
- 1713 - Charles Batteux, French philosopher (d. 1780)
- 1758 - André Masséna, French marshal (d. 1817)
- 1758 - Maximilien Robespierre, French Revolutionary (d. 1794)
- 1769 - Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1824)
- 1797 - Joseph Brackett, American religious leader and composer (d. 1882)
- 1856 - Sigmund Freud, Austrian psychiatrist (d. 1939)
- 1856 - Robert Peary, American explorer (d. 1920)
- 1861 - Rabindranath Tagore, Indian author (d. 1941)
- 1861 - Motilal Nehru, Indian freedom fighter (d. 1931)
- 1868 - Gaston Leroux, French writer (d. 1927)
- 1868 - Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (d. 1918)
- 1871 - Victor Grignard, French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1935)
- 1871 - Christian Morgenstern, German author (d. 1914)
- 1879 - Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist and linguist (d. 1952)
- 1880 - Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German painter (d. 1938)
- 1882 - Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany (d. 1951)
- 1895 - Rudolph Valentino, Italian actor (d. 1926)
- 1902 - Harry Golden, American journalist (d. 1981)
- 1902 - Max Ophüls, German-born director (d. 1957)
- 1904 - Moshe Feldenkrais, Ukrainian-born founder of the Feldenkrais method (d. 1984)
- 1904 - Harry Martinson, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1978)
- 1906 - Enrique Laguerre, Puerto Rican writer (d. 2005)
- 1915 - Orson Welles, American director (d. 1985)
- 1915 - Theodore H. White, American writer (d. 1986)
- 1920 - Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, first Prime Minister of Fiji and President of Fiji (d. 2004)
- 1921 - Erich Fried, German author (d. 1988)
- 1929 - Paul Lauterbur, American chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1931 - Willie Mays, baseball player
- 1937 - Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, American boxer
- 1945 - Jimmie Dale Gilmore, American musician
- 1945 - Bob Seger, American singer
- 1947 - Martha Nussbaum, American philosopher
- 1948 - Mary MacGregor, American singer
- 1952 - Michael O'Hare, American actor
- 1953 - Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1955 - Tom Bergeron, American game show host
- 1960 - John Flansburgh, American musician (They Might Be Giants)
- 1961 - George Clooney, American actor
- 1964 - Dana Hill, American actress (d. 1996)
- 1972 - Martin Brodeur, Canadian hockey player

Deaths

- 680 - Muawiyah I, caliph (b. 602)
- 1502 - James Tyrrell, alleged murderer of the Princes in the Tower (executed)
- 1555 - Pope Marcellus II (b. 1501)
- 1596 - Giaches de Wert, Flemish composer (b. 1535)
- 1620 - Hayyim ben Joseph Vital, Palestinian-born Kabbalist (b. 1543)
- 1631 - Robert Bruce Cotton, English poltician
- 1638 - Cornelius Jansen, French bishop and religious reformer (b. 1585)
- 1708 - François de Laval, first bishop of New France (b. 1623)
- 1757 - Maximilian Ulysses Reichsgraf von Browne, Austrian field marshal (b. 1705)
- 1757 - Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, British politician (b. 1683)
- 1757 - Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin, Prussian field marshal (b. 1684)
- 1859 - Alexander von Humboldt, German naturalist and explorer (b. 1769)
- 1862 - Henry David Thoreau, American author and philosopher (b. 1817)
- 1877 - Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Finnish poet (b. 1804)
- 1902 - Bret Harte, American author (b. 1836)
- 1910 - King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (b. 1841)
- 1919 - L. Frank Baum, American writer (b. 1856)
- 1939 - Konstantin Somov, Russian writer (b. 1869)
- 1949 - Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
- 1952 - Maria Montessori, Italian educator (b. 1870)
- 1961 - Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (b. 1895)
- 1987 - William Casey, American Central Intelligence Agency director (b. [[1913]])
- [[1992 - Marlene Dietrich, German actress (b. 1901)
- 1995 - Maria Pia de Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Braganca (b. 1907)
- 2002 - Pim Fortuyn, Dutch politician (b. 1948)
- 2004 - Philip Kapleau, American Zen teacher

Holidays and observances

- Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel (2005)
- Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:
- Evodius test change (d. 69)
- Saint Justus (d. 168)
- Maurelius (d. 542)
- Bonizella Piccolomini Cacciaconti
- Saint Prudence (d. 1492)
- Edward Jones and Anthony Middleton, martyrs of England and Wales.
- No Pants Day in 2005

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/6 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050506.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- May 5 – May 7 – April 6 – June 6 – listing of all days ko:5월 6일 ms:6 Mei ja:5月6日 simple:May 6 th:6 พฤษภาคม

West Lafayette, Indiana

West Lafayette is a city located in Tippecanoe County, Indiana. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 28,778. Despite its name and location (across the Wabash River from Lafayette, Indiana) it was an independently founded city and is not a suburb of Lafayette. West Lafayette was formed in 1888 from the merger of the towns of Chauncey and Kingston.

Geography

West Lafayette is located at 40°26'31" North, 86°54'45" West (40.441935, -86.912409). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 14.3 km² (5.5 mi²). 14.3 km² (5.5 mi²) of it is land and 0.18% is water.

Education

West Lafayette is the home of the main campus of Purdue University. The West Lafayette Community School Corporation is the main public school district for the city. The district consists of three schools. Students in grades k-3 attend Cumberland Elementary school, while students in grades 4-6 attend Happy Hollow Elementary School. Students 7 grade and on are located in the West Lafayette Jr./Sr. High School. :
- Cumberland Elementary School :
- Happy Hollow Elementary School :
- West Lafayette Junior/Senior High School

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 28,778 people, 10,462 households, and 3,588 families residing in the city. The population density is 2,016.6/km² (5,219.6/mi²). There are 10,819 housing units at an average density of 758.1/km² (1,962.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 83.34% White, 2.38% African American, 0.16% Native American, 11.34% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.17% from other races, and 1.58% from two or more races. 3.20% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 10,462 households out of which 14.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 27.6% are married couples living together, 4.4% have a female householder with no husband present, and 65.7% are non-families. 32.7% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.26 and the average family size is 2.89. The age distribution is spread out with 10.4% under the age of 18, 54.6% from 18 to 24, 16.9% from 25 to 44, 10.3% from 45 to 64, and 7.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 22 years. This age distribution reflects the high percentage of Purdue college studnets living in the town. For every 100 females there are 133.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 137.2 males. The unusual sex distribution can also be explained by Purdue's presence; the school has large programs in several male-dominated academic fields such as engineering. The median income for a household in the city is $24,869, and the median income for a family is $71,510. Males have a median income of $46,787 versus $30,218 for females. The per capita income for the city is $18,337. 38.3% of the population and 9.5% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 9.5% of those under the age of 18 and 3.6% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line. However, traditional measures of poverty can be highly misleading when applied to communities with a large proportion of students, such as West Lafayette.

Points of interest

- Purdue University
- Purdue University Horticulture Gardens

External links

- [http://www.city.west-lafayette.in.us/ West Lafayette Official City Website]
- [http://www.wl.k12.in.us/ West Lafayette Community School Corporation Website] Category:Cities in Indiana Category:Tippecanoe County, Indiana Category:University towns

May 10

May 10 is the 130th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (131st in leap years). There are 235 days remaining.

Events

- 1291 - Scottish nobles recognize the authority of King Edward I of England.
- 1497 - Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves Cádiz for his first voyage to the New World.
- 1503 - Christopher Columbus visits the Cayman Islands and names them Las Tortugas after the numerous sea turtles there.
- 1534 - Jacques Cartier visits Newfoundland.
- 1768 - John Wilkes is imprisoned for writing an article for the North Briton severely criticizing King George III. This action provokes rioting in London.
- 1774 - Louis XVI becomes King of France.
- 1775 - American Revolutionary War: Fort Ticonderoga is taken by a small force led by Colonel Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen.
- 1775 - American Revolutionary War: Representatives from the 13 colonies of the United States meet in Philadelphia and raise the Continental Army to defend the new republic. They place it under command of Cavalier George Washington of Virginia.
- 1796 - First Coalition: Napoleon I of France wins a decisive victory against Austrian forces at Lodi bridge over the River Adda in Italy. The Austrians lose some 2,000 men.
- 1801 - First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States.
- 1837 - Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels.
- 1857 - Indian Mutiny: In India, the Sepoys revolt against the British Army.
- 1865 - American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is captured by Union troops near Irwinville, Georgia.
- 1865 - American Civil War: Union soldiers ambush and mortally wound Confederate raider William Quantrill in Kentucky, who lingers until his death on June 6.
- 1869 - The First Transcontinental Railroad, linking the eastern and western United States, is completed at Promontory Summit, Utah (not Promontory Point, Utah).
- 1872 - Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States.
- 1877 - Romania declares itself independent from Turkey, recognized on March 26, 1881 after the end of the Romanian independence war.
- 1908 - Mother's Day is observed for the first time (Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, USA).
- 1924 - J. Edgar Hoover is appointed the Director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, and remains so until his death in 1972.
- 1933 - Censorship: In Germany, the Nazis stage massive public book burnings.
- 1940 - World War II: The first German bombs of the war fall on England at Chilham and Petham, in Kent.
- 1940 - World War II: Germany invades Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
- 1940 - World War II: Winston Churchill is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1941 - World War II: The House of Commons in London is destroyed by the Luftwaffe in an air raid.
- 1941 - World War II: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland in order to try and negotiate a peace deal between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany.
- 1954 - Bill Haley and the Comets release "Rock Around the Clock", the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the charts.
- 1960 - The nuclear submarine USS Triton completes the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth.
- 1969 - The first "Zip to Zap" rural outdoor rock concert at Zap, North Dakota, is ended prematurely as North Dakota National Guard is ordered to disperse the unruly crowd.
- 1979 - The Federated States of Micronesia becomes self-governing.
- 1981 - François Mitterrand takes office as the first Socialist President of France.
- 1988 - Michel Rocard becomes Prime Minister of France.
- 1993 - In Thailand, a fire at the Kader Toy Factory kills 188 workers, mostly young women.
- 1994 - The U.S. state of Illinois executes serial killer John Wayne Gacy for the murder of 33 young men and boys.
- 1994 - An annular eclipse of the sun is visible across much of North America.
- 1996 - A "rogue storm" near the summit of Mount Everest kills eight climbers, making this the deadliest day in the mountain's history. Among the dead are experienced climbers Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, both of whom were leading paid expeditions to the summit.
- 1997 - An earthquake near Ardekul in northeastern Iran kills at least 2,400 people.
- 1998 - National elections are held in Hungary.
- 2001 - In Ghana, a stampede at a football game kills over 120 spectators.
- 2002 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is given a life sentence without the possibility of parole for selling American secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.
- 2002 - Lynda Lyon Block is executed in Yellow Mama, the electric chair of Alabama.
- 2003 - Record shattering tornado activity during the May 2003 Tornado Outbreaks.
- 2005 - A live hand grenade lands about 100 feet from United States President George W. Bush while he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but malfunctions and does not detonate. Vladimir Arutinian later admits throwing the grenade.

Births

- 1265 - Emperor Fushimi of Japan (d. 1317)
- 1604 - Jean Mairet, French dramatist (d. 1686)
- 1641 - Dudley North, English economist (d. 1691)
- 1727 - Anne Robert Turgot, French statesman (d. 1781)
- 1760 - Johann Peter Hebel, German poet (d. 1826)
- 1770 - Louis Nicolas Davout, French marshal (d. 1823)
- 1838 - John Wilkes Booth, American actor and assassin of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1865)
- 1841 - James Gordon Bennett Jr., American publisher (d. 1918)
- 1866 - Léon Bakst, Russian artist (d. 1924)
- 1872 - Marcel Mauss, French sociologist (d. 1950)
- 1878 - Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor of Germany, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1929)
- 1886 - Karl Barth, Swiss Protestant theologian (d. 1968)
- 1886 - Felix Manalo, first Executive Minister of the Iglesia ni Cristo (d. 1963)
- 1888 - Max Steiner, Austrian composer (d. 1971)
- 1889 - Mae Murray, American actress (d. 1965)
- 1890 - Alfred Jodl, German general (d. 1946)
- 1897 - Einar Gerhardsen, Prime minister of Norway (d. 1987)
- 1899 - Fred Astaire, American singer, dancer, and actor (d. 1987)
- 1899 - Dimitri Tiomkin, Ukrainian-born composer (d. 1979)
- 1902 - Anatole Litvak, Ukrainian-born film director (d. 1974)
- 1902 - David O. Selznick, American film producer (d. 1965)
- 1909 - Maybelle Carter, American musician
- 1916 - Milton Babbitt, American composer
- 1927 - Nayantara Sahgal, Indian author
- 1928 - Arnold Rüütel, Estonian president
- 1930 - Pat Summerall, American football player and broadcaster
- 1933 - Barbara Taylor Bradford, English writer
- 1934 - Cliff Wilson, Welsh snooker player (d. 1994)
- 1936 - Gary Owens, American actor and announcer
- 1944 - Jim Abrahams, American film director
- 1946 - Donovan, Scottish musician
- 1946 - Dave Mason, English musician (Traffic)
- 1953 - John Diamond, British journalist (d. 2001)
- 1955 - Chris Berman, American sportscaster
- 1955 - Mark David Chapman, American assassin of John Lennon
- 1955 - Ashoka Jahnavi-Prasad, scientist
- 1956 - Vladislav Listyev, Russian television anchor and journalist
- 1957 - Sid Vicious, English bassist (The Sex Pistols) (d. 1979)
- 1958 - Rick Santorum, U.S. Senator
- 1960 - Bono, Irish singer ( U2)
- 1965 - Linda Evangelista, Canadian model
- 1966 - Jonathan Edwards, British athlete
- 1969 - Dennis Bergkamp, Dutch footballer
- 1970 - David Weir, Scottish footballer
- 1971 - Ådne Søndrål, Norwegian speed skater
- 1972 - Radosław Majdan, Polish footballer
- 1975 - Hélio Castroneves, Brazilian race car driver
- 1977 - Nick Heidfeld, German Formula 1 driver
- 1980 - Jørgen Scharling Rasmussen, Danish singer and cartoonist

Deaths

- 1290 - Duke Rudolph II of Austria (b. 1271)
- 1424 - Go-Kameyama, Emperor of Japan
- 1482 - Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli, Italian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1397)
- 1493 - Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll, Scottish politician
- 1521 - Sebastian Brant, Alsatian humanist (b. 1457)
- 1566 - Leonhart Fuchs, German botanist (b. 1501)
- 1641 - Johan Banér, Swedish soldier (b. 1596)
- 1657 - Gustaf Horn, Swedish soldier and politician (b. 1592)
- 1691 - Colonel John Birch, English soldier (b. 1615)
- 1696 - Jean de La Bruyère, French writer (b. 1645)
- 1717 - John Hathorne, American magistrate (b. 1641)
- 1726 - Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, English soldier (b. 1670)
- 1733 - Barton Booth, English actor (b. 1681)
- 1737 - Nakamikado Emperor of Japan (b. 1702)
- 1774 - King Louis XV of France (b. 1710)
- 1787 - William Watson, English physician and scientist (b. 1715)
- 1792 - John Stevens, American delegate to the Continental Congress
- 1807 - Comte de Rochambeau, French soldier (b. 1725)
- 1818 - Paul Revere, American patriot (b. 1735)
- 1829 - Thomas Young, English physician and linguist (b. 1773)
- 1850 - Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French chemist and physicist (b. 1778)
- 1863 - Stonewall Jackson, American Confederate general (b. 1824)
- 1889 - Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Russian satirist (b. 1826)
- 1897 - Andrés Bonifacio, Filipino revolutionary leader (b. 1863)
- 1950 - Belle da Costa Greene, librarian, bibliographer, archivist (b. 1883)
- 1955 - Tommy Burns, Canadian boxer (b. 1881)
- 1960 - Yury Olesha, Russian novelist (b. 1899)
- 1977 - Joan Crawford, American actress (b. 1905)
- 1990 - Walker Percy, American author (b. 1916)
- 1994 - John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer (executed) (b. 1942)
- 1999 - Shel Silverstein, American poet and composer (b. 1930)
- 2003 - Milan Vukcevich, Yugoslavian chemist and chess problem composer (b. 1937)
- 2005 - David Wayne, American singer (Metal Church) (b. 1958)

Holidays and Observances

- Feast Day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:
- Solange
- Saint Alphius
- Saint Aurelian
- Saint William of Pontoise
- Saint Calepodius
- Saint Cataldus
- Saint Comgall
- Saint Dioscorides
- Saint Epimachus
- Gordianus
- Isidore the Laborer
- Saint John of Avila
- Saint Quaratus and Quintus
- Saint Peter Van
- Memorial Day of Blessed Damien of Moloka'i in Christianity
- Celebration of the Clandestine Retreat of Ma'at and Re in Ancient Egypt
- Confederate Memorial Day in North Carolina and South Carolina
- Constitution Day in the Federated States of Micronesia
- Inauguration Day in South Africa
- Sita Pujan in Hinduism
- Tin Han's Day in China
- Start of Tori no Mawari/Bird Week in Japan
- Mania (mythology) in Ancient Rome
- Dia de la Madre in Mexico
- Mother's Day - 1987, 1998, 2009
- Yom Ha'atzma'ut in Judaism - 2000
- Lag Ba'omer in Judaism - 2012

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/10 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050720.html The New York Times: On This Day]
- [http://www.thisdaythatyear.com/may/people10.htm ThisDayThatYear.com on May 10] ---- May 9 - May 11 - April 10 - June 10 – listing of all days ko:5월 10일 ja:5月10日 simple:May 10 th:10 พฤษภาคม

First Transcontinental Railroad (North America)

The First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States was built across North America in the 1860s, linking the railway network of the eastern U.S. with California on the Pacific coast. Finished on May 10, 1869 at the famous Golden spike event at Promontory Summit, Utah, it created a nationwide mechanized transportation network that revolutionized the population and economy of the American West, catalyzing the transition from the wagon trains of previous decades to a modern transportation system. Authorized by the Pacific Railway Act of 1862 and heavily backed by the federal government, it was the culmination of a decades-long movement to build such a line and was one of the crowning achievements of the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, completed four years after his death. The building of the railway required enormous feats of engineering and labor in the crossing of plains and high mountains by the Union Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad, the two federally chartered enterprises that built the line westward and eastward respectively. The building of the railroad was motivated in part to bind the Union together during the strife of the American Civil War. It substantially accelerated the populating of the West by white homesteaders, led to rapid cultivation of new farm lands, while contributing to the decline of the Native Americans in these regions. Much of the original right-of-way is still in use today and owned by the modern Union Pacific, which is descended from both of the original railroads. The Central Pacific and the Southern Pacific Railroad combined operations in 1870 and formally merged in 1885; the Union Pacific originally bought the Southern Pacific in 1901 and was forced to divest it in 1913, but finally took it over for good in 1996.

Description

In 1859 the railway network of the eastern United States reached as far west as Council Bluffs, Iowa, across the Missouri River from Omaha, Nebraska. To connect the rail network with the Pacific coast, the Central Pacific Railroad was built from Sacramento, California eastward and the Union Pacific Railroad from Omaha westward, until they met. It was considered by many to be the greatest technological feat of the 19th century. It served as a vital link for trade, commerce and travel that joined the eastern and western halves of the late-19th century United States. The establishment of this transcontinental railroad would quickly end the romantic, yet far slower and more dangerous Pony Express and stagecoach lines. In addition, the march of "Manifest Destiny" and the establishment of the so-called "Iron Horse" across Native American land would greatly accelerate the demise of Great Plains Indian culture. This line was not the first railroad to connect the Atlantic with the Pacific; that honor goes to the Panama Railway, a 48 mile (77 km) long line across Panama, completed in 1855. Other transcontinental railroads followed: The Canadian Pacific Railway was completed in 1885; the Trans-Siberian Railroad was completed 1905; the first trans-Australian rail line was completed in 1917; the first north-south trans-Australia line was completed in 2003.

Route

north-south trans-Australia north-south trans-Australia 1869. Photograph by Charles Roscoe Savage.]] The Central Pacific laid 690 miles (1110 km) of track, starting in Sacramento, California, and continuing through California (Newcastle and Truckee), Nevada (Reno, Wadsworth, Winnemucca, Battle Mountain, Elko, Humboldt-Wells), and connecting with the Union Pacific line at Promontory Summit in the Utah Territory. Later, the route was extended to the Alameda Terminal in Alameda, California. The Union Pacific laid 1087 miles (1749 km) of track, starting in Omaha, Nebraska, and continuing through Nebraska (Elkhorn, Grand Island, North Platte, Ogallala), Julesburg in the Colorado Territory, Sidney, Nebraska, the Wyoming Territory (Cheyenne, Laramie, Green River, Evanston), the Utah Territory (Ogden, Brigham City, Corinne), and connecting with the Central Pacific at Promontory Summit.

Laborers

Promontory Summit The majority of the Union Pacific track was built by Irish laborers, veterans of both the Union and Confederate armies, and Mormons who wished to see the railroad pass through Ogden and Salt Lake City, Utah. Mostly Chinese (coolies) worked for the Central Pacific even though at first they were thought to be too weak or fragile to do this type of work. The men worked for an average of between one and three dollars a day.

History

Although Theodore Judah is considered to be the "father" of the First Transcontinental Railroad, Asa Whitney made what some consider the first concerted attempt to get the government to seriously consider such a project. He was not the first or only man of his time to conceive of a railroad running across the frontier from the Great Lakes to the Pacific coast, but he was the first to lead a team of eight men in June 1845 along the proposed route. Whitney's team assessed available resources, such as stone and wood, attempted to determine how many bridges, cuts and tunnels that would be necessary, and to find out how much arable land there was. Additionally, Whitney traveled widely to solicit support from businessmen and politicians, printed maps and pamphlets, and submitted several carefully considered proposals to Congress, all at his own expense. Unfortunately for Whitney, the Mexican-American War obstructed his efforts over a period of six years. Theodore Judah was perhaps no more committed than Whitney, but he had advantages and opportunities that Whitney never got. He became the chief engineer for the newly-formed Sacramento Valley Railroad in 1852, surveyed the route for the road, and oversaw its construction. The job was an especially juicy plum to Judah, because he was convinced that, from Sacramento, a rail line could be laid over the Sierra Nevada mountains, and he wanted to be the engineer to do it. Interest payments bankrupted the Sacramento Valley Railroad, though, so Judah had to find another way to build his road. He traveled to Washington, D.C. in 1856, hoping to learn how to lobby Congress for his project. He wrote a 13,000-word proposal in support of a Pacific railroad, had it printed, and distributed it to Cabinent secretaries, congressmen, and other influential people. Judah was chosen to be the accredited lobbyist for the Pacific Railroad Convention, first assembled in San Francisco in September 1859. Although factional bickering threatened to derail the Convention proceedings, Judah rallied them to adopt his plan to survey, finance, and engineer the road. Judah returned to Washington in December 1859, where he was given an office in the Capitol building, an audience with President James Buchanan, and represented the Convention before Congress. Iowa Representative Samuel Curtis introduced a bill in February 1860, which called for finances and land grants to support the Pacific road, but it was not passed by the House until December that year, and came to nothing when it could not be reconciled with rival bills. Judah returned to California in 1860, and split his time between raising enough money to live, and crossing and re-crossing the Sierra Nevada mountains in search of a pass suitable for a railroad, convinced that if he found it, no one could deny the worth of his project. That summer, a local miner, Daniel Strong, had surveyed a route over the Sierras for a wagon road, a route he realized would also suit a railroad. He described his discovery in a letter to Judah, and together they formed an association to solicit subscriptions from local merchants and businessmen to support their paper railroad. Collis Huntington, a prosperous Sacramento hardware merchant, heard Theodore Judah lecture at the St. Charles Hotel in November 1860, and invited Judah to his office to hear his proposal in detail. Huntington was savvy enough to realize the importance of a transcontinental railroad to business. He also knew that selling subscriptions door to door was no way to raise money for such a grand enterprise, so he found four partners to invest $1500 each and form a board of directors: Mark Hopkins, his business partner; James Bailey, a jeweler; Leland Stanford, a grocer and the future governor of California; and Charles Crocker, a dry-goods merchant. From January or February 1861 until July, the party of ten led by Judah and Strong surveyed the route for the railroad over the Sierra Nevada, through Clipper Gap, Emigrant Gap, Donner Pass, and south to Truckee. While he charted the road's line, Leland Stanford met with President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, and a special congressional session was convened, where the Pacific Railway bill was reintroduced by Curtis. Congress was more concerned with issues surround the Civil War, however, and the bill was not passed until the next session. Judah traveled to Washington in October 1861 to lobby for the Pacific Railroad Act with Aaron Sargent, once a newspaper editor and one of Judah's strongest supporters, now a freshman Congressman assigned to the House Pacific Railroad Committee. Judah was named the committee's clerk. While they helped push the Pacific Railroad bill through committee, Stanford and Crocker traveled to Nevada to secure a franchise from the Nevada legislature to build the Central Pacific through the territory. The Pacific Railroad bill passed the House of Representatives on May 6, 1862, and the Senate on June 20. Lincoln signed it into law on July 1. The act called for several companies to build the railroad: from the west, the Central Pacific and the Nevada Central; and from the east, the newly-chartered Union Pacific. Each was required to build only 50 miles (80 km) in the first year; after that, only 50 miles (80 km) more were required each year. Besides land grants along the right-of-way, each railroad was subsidized $16,000 per mile ($9.94/m) built over an easy grade, $32,000/mile ($19.88/m) in the high plains, and $48,000 /mile ($29.83/m) in the mountains. The race was on to see which railroad company could build the longest section of track. Union Pacific Six months later, on January 8, 1863, Governor Leland Stanford ceremoniously broke ground in Sacramento, California to begin construction of the Central Pacific Railroad. The Central Pacific made great progress along the Sacramento Valley, however construction was later slowed; first by the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, then by the mountains themselves and most importantly by winter snow storms. As a result, the Central Pacific expanded its efforts to hire immigrant laborers (many of whom were Chinese). The immigrants seemed to be more willing to tolerate the horrible conditions, and progress continued. Unfortunately, the increasing necessity for tunneling then began to slow progess of the line yet again. To combat this, Central Pacific began to use the newly-invented and very unstable nitroglycerin explosives—which accelerated both the rate of construction and the mortality of the laborers. Appalled by the losses, the Central Pacific began to use less volatile explosives. Construction began again in earnest. In the east, the progress started in Omaha, Nebraska by the Union Pacific Railroad, proceeded very quickly due to the open terrain of the Great Plains. However, they too would soon become subject to slowdowns as they entered Indian-held lands. The Native Americans living there saw the addition of the railroad as a violation of their treaties with the United States. War parties began to raid the moving labor camps that followed the progress of the line. Union Pacific responded by increasing security and by hiring marksmen to kill American Bison—which were both a physical threat to trains, and the primary food source for many of the Plains Indians. The Native Americans then began killing laborers when they realized that the so-called "Iron Horse" threatened their existence. Security measures were further strengthened, and progress on the railroad continued. American Bison Because of the nature of the way money was given to the companies building the railroad, they were sometimes known to sabotage each other's railroads, to claim that land as their own. As well, when they first came close to meeting, they changed paths to be nearly parallel, so that each company could claim subsidies from the government over the same plot of land. Fed up with the fighting, Congress eventually declared where and when the railways should meet. Six years after the groundbreaking, laborers of the Central Pacific Railroad from the west and the Union Pacific Railroad from the east, met at Promontory Summit, Utah. It was here on May 10, 1869, that Stanford drove the golden spike (which is now located at the Stanford University Museum [http://www.stanford.edu/dept/SUMA/spike.html]) that symbolized the completion of the transcontinental railroad. As soon as the ceremonial spike had been replaced by an ordinary iron spike, a telegraph message was transmitted to both the East Coast and West Coast that simply read, "Done." The country erupted in celebration upon receipt of this message (which was the first coast-to-coast broadcast of a media event in the United States). Complete travel from coast to coast was reduced from six or more months to just one week. Between 1865 and 1869, the Union Pacific laid 1,087 miles (1749 km) and the Central Pacific 690 miles (1110 km) of track. The years immediately following the construction of the railway were years of astounding growth for the United States, largely due to the speed and ease of travel this railroad provided. For example, on June 4, 1876 an express train called the Transcontinental Express arrived in San Francisco, California via the First Transcontinental Railroad only 83 hours and 39 minutes after it left from New York City. Only ten years before the same journey would have taken months overland and weeks on ship.

Current passenger service

Amtrak runs a daily service from Emeryville, California to Chicago, Illinois, the California Zephyr, along this railroad. The trip takes more than 2 days. In the north of the U.S.A., Amtrak runs a service, the Empire Builder, on another transcontinental railroad, in the south on two more.

Sources

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-

External links

- [http://CPRR.org Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum]
- [http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/history/ Union Pacific Railroad History]
- [http://bushong.net/dawn/about/college/ids100/ The Transcontinental Railroad]
- [http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/PacificRail.html Pacific Railway Act and related resources at the Library of Congress]
- [http://cprr.org/Museum/Chinese.html Chinese-American Contribution to transcontinental railroad] Category:History of United States expansionism Category:Rail transport in the United States Category:Historic civil engineering landmarks Category:History of the American West

Susan B. Anthony

Susan Brownell Anthony, (February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was an American civil rights leader who, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, led the effort to secure Women's suffrage in the United States. She was born in Adams, Massachusetts, the daughter of Quakers. Soon after her birth, the Anthony family moved to the state of New York, and after 1845 she lived in Rochester, New York. While in Rochester, she attended the Unitarian Church. She received her early education in a school her father ran for his and neighbors' children, and from the age of 17 to 32 she herself taught in various schools. In the decade preceding the outbreak of the American Civil War, she took a prominent part in the anti-slavery and temperance movements in New York, organizing in 1852 the first woman's state temperance society in America. In addition, she attended her first women's rights convention in Syracuse in 1852. In 1856 she became the agent for New York state of the American Anti-Slavery Society. After 1854, she devoted herself almost exclusively to the agitation for women's rights, and became recognized as one of the ablest and most zealous advocates of the complete legal equality of the two sexes, and as a public speaker and writer. She was also active in zealously opposing abortion, then seen as an imposition of men onto women. From 1868 to

1869

Events

Births

Deaths

Common year starting on Friday

North German Confederation

Postage stamps

List of member states

See also

Naval Battle of Hakodate

May 6

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

West Lafayette, Indiana

Geography

Education

Demographics

Points of interest

External links

May 10

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and Observances

External links

First Transcontinental Railroad (North America)

Description

Route

Laborers

History

Current passenger service

See also

Sources

External links

Susan B. Anthony