History, News and Stories of Manhattan, New York, USA

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• 1524 - Giovanni de Verrazano enters New York harbor
  
  The World Almanac of the U.S.A, by Allan Carpenter and Carl Provorse, 1996
  
• 1609 - September - Navigator Henry Hudson discovers island of Manhattan
  
  historyorb.com
  
•   1610 - June 10 - 1st Dutch settlers arrive (from NJ), to colonize Manhattan Island
  
  historyorb.com
  June 10, 1610
  
• 1625 - New Amsterdam founded by Dutch colonists
  Now New York City. Was settled 1624 on Governor's Island, moved to Manhattan 1625.
  www.wikipedia.org
  
• 1626 - May 6 - Dutch colonist Peter Minuit buys Manhattan Island from local Indians for 60 guilders worth of trinkets
  
  historyorb.com
  
• 1664 - British conquer New Netherland (New York)
  
  The World Almanac of the U.S.A, by Allan Carpenter and Carl Provorse, 1996
  
• 1704 - February 28 - Frenchman Elias Neau opens a school for blacks in NYC
  
  www.onthisday.com
  
•   1712 - April 7 - Slave revolt in New York kills 6 white men, 21 African Americans executed
  
  www.onthisday.com
  April 7, 1712
  
• 1725 - First Newspaper in New York
  The first [newspaper] in New York was "The New York Gazette," [published] in 1725.
  
  colonialwarsct.org/ 1755.htm
  
•   1728 - December 17 - Congregation Shearith Israel of New York purchases a lot on Mill Street in lower Manhattan to build the city's first synagogue
  
  onthisday.com
  December 17, 1728
  
•   1736 - March 31 - Belleuve Hospital founded in a New York City almshouse - 1st public hospital in the US
  
  onthisday.com
  March 31, 1736
  
• 1765 - New York City hosts a colony conference dealing with the King of England's Stamp Act
  
  www.e-referencedesk.com/ resources/ state-history-timeline/ new-york.html
  
• 1770 - January 19 - Battle of Golden Hill (Lower Manhattan)
  
  historyorb.com
  
• 1777 - New York City, long occupied by British troops, was evacuated.
  
  www.e-referencedesk.com/ resources/state-history-timeline/ new-york.html
  
•   January 23, 1780 - The coldest day of the coldest month of record in the northeastern U.S.
  A British Army thermometer in New York City registered a reading of 16 degrees below zero. During that infamous hard winter the harbor was frozen... Read MORE...
  
  
• 1785 - New York City named nation's capitol
  
  www.worldatlas.com/ webimage/ countrys/ namerica/ usstates/ nytimeln.htm
  
• 1789 - George Washington inaugurated as first U. S. president in New York City
  
  www.worldatlas.com/ webimage/ countrys/ namerica/ usstates/ nytimeln.htm
  
• 1792 - July 1 - A tremendous storm (a tornado or hurricane) hit Philadelphia and New York City. Many young people were drowned while out boating on that Sunday.
  
  WeatherForYou.com
  
• 1799 - September 1 - Bank of Manhattan Company opens in NYC (forerunner to Chase Manhattan)
  
  historyorb.com
  
• 1801 - The popular tabloid New York Post was originally established in 1801 as a Federalist newspaper called the New York Evening Post by Alexander Hamilton, an author of the Federalist papers and the nation’s first secretary of the treasury.
  
  www.ereferencedesk.com/ resources/ state-facts/ new-york.html
  
•   January 25, 1821 - The Hudson River was frozen solid during the midst of the coldest winter in forty-one years.
  Thousands of persons crossed the ice from New York City to New Jersey, and refreshment taverns were set up in the middle of the river to warm... Read MORE...
  
  
•   June 28, 1832: Cholera epidemic began in N.Y.C.
  
  The Old Farmer's Almanac www.almanac.com
  June 28, 1832
  
•   1835 - AWFUL CONFLAGRATION !!
  Our city has just been the theatre and the victim of the most disastrous visitation ever known to this Continent !! The heart of her business, her... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1837 - May 10 – The Panic of 1837 begins in New York City.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  May 10, 1837
  
• 1853 - Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations
  Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations was a World's Fair held in 1853 in what is now Bryant Park in New York City, in the wake of the highly... Read MORE...
  
  
• 1854 - Manhattan
  Manhattan Island, sometimes called New York Island, in the S. E. part of New York, separated from the mainland by Harlem river. Length 15 miles,... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1855 - We Wish You a Happy New Year.
  We know how busy you are this morning - you can't stop to take a third cup, nor to eat half a breakfast; you are in a pet about your boots - in a... Read MORE...
  
  
• 1855 - August 1 - Castle Clinton in New York City opens as the first U.S. receiving station for immigrants.
  
  http://www.independentsentinel.com/
  
•   1856 - St. Valentine's Day.
  This is St. Valentine's Day, and if there has not been a wonderful reform in the general mind, since February last, a great many foolish lines will... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1857 - March 23 – Elisha Otis' first elevator is installed (at 488 Broadway, New York City).
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  March 23, 1857
  
•   1857 - October 13 – Panic of 1857: New York banks close and do not reopen until December 12.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  October 13, 1857
  
•   1858 - October 28 – Macy's department store, founded by R.H. Macy, opens for business in New York.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  October 28, 1858
  
•   1863 - July 13 – American Civil War – New York Draft Riots: In New York City, opponents of conscription begin 3 days of violent rioting, which will be regarded as the worst in the history of the United States.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  July 13, 1863
  
•   1864 - May 18 - The Civil War Gold Hoax was an 1864 hoax perpetrated by two US journalists to exploit the financial situation during the American Civil War.
  On May 18, 1864, two New York City newspapers, the New York World and the New York Journal of Commerce, published a story that President Abraham... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1865 - January 4 – The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at 10-12 Broad near Wall Street in New York City.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  January 4, 1865
  
•   1867 - FIREWORK EXPLOSION - THREE MEN SERIOUSLY INJURED.
  Yesterday afternoon at 5:30 o'clock, as EDWARD KENNY, a porter in the employ of Messrs. Purdy & Co., dealers in fireworks, at No. 34 Maiden Lane, ... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1873 - September 18 – The New York stock market crash triggers the Panic of 1873, part of the Long Depression.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  September 18, 1873
  
• 1873 - October 20 - P. T. Barnum’s Hippodrome opens in New York City featuring “The Greatest Show on Earth.” It is destroyed in a fire on December 23, 1873.
  
  http://www.independentsentinel.com/
  
•   1874 - November 9 - A famous hoax at the zoo, called the New York Zoo hoax, is also known as The Central Park Zoo Escape and the Central Park Menagerie Scare of 1874.
  It was a hoax perpetrated by the New York Herald about a supposed breakout of animals from the Central Park Zoo on November 9, 1874.
  The article... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1875 - December 4 – Notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison and flees to Cuba, then to Spain.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  December 4, 1875
  
•   1879 - May 30 – New York City's Gilmore's Garden is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt, and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  May 30, 1879
  
•   1880 - DESTRUCTION AND DEATH - A FRESH HORROR FURNISHED IN NEW YORK CITY.
  FALL OF THE MADISON SQUARE GARDEN - THE BUILDING FILLED WITH PEOPLE IN AID OF A CHARITY - SEVERAL PERSONS KILLED AND MANY MORE INJURED.
  
  New York,... Read MORE...
  
  
• 1882 - March 3 - NY Steam Corp begins distributing steam to Manhattan buildings
  
  historyorb.com
  
•   1882 - September 4 - Thomas Edison flips the switch to the first commercial electrical power plant in history, lighting one square mile of lower Manhattan. This is considered by many as the day that began the electrical age.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  September 4, 1882
  
•   1883 - January 4 – Life magazine is founded in New York City.
  "Life was founded January 4, 1883, in a New York City artist’s studio at 1155 Broadway. The founding publisher was John Ames Mitchell, a 37-year old... Read MORE...
  
  
• 1883 - November 27 - Fire engines were called out in New York City and New Haven, CT, as a result of the afterglow of the sunset due to vivid red ash from the Krakatoa Volcano explosion in August.
  
  The Weather Channel
  
•   1885 - March 3 – A subsidiary of the American Bell Telephone Company, American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T), is incorporated in New York.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  March 3, 1885
  
• 1885 - The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor.
  The formal reception of Bartholdi's great statue of "Liberty Enlightening the World" took place at yesterday at New York with impressive ceremonies.... Read MORE...
  
  
• 1888 - "The Great White Hurricane"
  March 11-14, 1888
  More than 120 winters have come and gone since the so-called “Great White Hurricane,” but this whopper of a storm still lives in... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1889 - July 8 – The Wall Street Journal is established.
  "...The first issue of The Wall Street Journal appeared on July 8, 1889. It cost two cents per issue or five dollars for a one-year subscription. Dow ... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1891 - May 5 – The Music Hall in New York (now known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with maestro Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  May 5, 1891
  
• 1892 - NO MORE BARGE OFFICE. Immigrants Will Hereafter Land at Ellis Island.
  New York, Jan. 1. - Without any ceremony or formal opening the immigration officials of this city today settled down on Ellis Island in the harbor... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1893 - May 5 – Panic of 1893: A crash on the New York Stock Exchange starts a depression.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  May 5, 1893
  
•   1894 - September 4 – In New York City, 12,000 tailors strike against sweatshop working conditions.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  September 4, 1894
  
• 1895 - Manhattan Island
  Manhattan Island, New York, is at the mouth of the Hudson River, which forms its western boundary. It is bounded on the E. by Harlem River and East... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1895 - BUILDING UNDER CONSTRUCTION COLLAPSES.
  New York, March 2. - The accident occurred about 3:55 o'clock in the afternoon. Without the slightest sound that might have warned the 50 men that... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1895 - November 25 - Oscar Hammerstein opens the Olympia Theatre, the first theatre to be built in New York City's Times Square district.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  November 25, 1895
  
• 1896 - Nine-day heatwave in NYC killed 420
  
  www.worldatlas.com/ webimage/ countrys/ namerica/ usstates/ nytimeln.htm
  
•   1896 - May 26 – Charles Dow's Dow Jones Industrial Average first appears in the Wall Street Journal.
  "Charles Henry Dow, born in Sterling, Connecticut on November 5, 1851, was the son of a farmer who died when his son was six years old....
  
  Dow did ... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1897 - September 21 – Francis P. Church responds to a letter to the editor that is known as the famous "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" letter. (wikipedia)
  "DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
  "Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
  "Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
  "Please ... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1897 - While Preparing a Christmas Tree for Her Children Mrs. Rice Fell Dead - A CLOCK'S SUPPOSED WARNING
  Father Had Saved His Earnings for Six Months to Give His Children the First Tree They Had Ever Had.
  
  "Mamma, the clock has stopped between 12 and 1 ... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1898 - January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  January 1, 1898
  
•   1898 - Open Air Courtship
  With the coming of summer in New York the open air courtships begin. There is hardly the shadow of a friendly tree without a pair of lovers under it, ... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1899 - CANDELEMAS DAY AT HAND.
  Something About That Day and the Practices and Beliefs Popularly Associated with It.
  
  The careless, everyday reader, who is too busy to trouble... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1899 - July 19 – The Newsboys Strike takes place when the Newsies of New York go on strike (until August 2).
  Only a Partial Concession.
  
  The newsboys strike against the New York Journal and World has been settled. The newsies wanted the daily editions of... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1899 - SWALLOWED PIN; DEATH MAY RESULT - Lena Reilly Held Pin in Her Mouth and One Slipped Down Her Throat - WAS LAUGHING AT A JOKE
  Convulsed by Porter's Funny Story She Suddenly Cried Out and Fell to the Floor.
  
  VICTIM IN GREAT AGONY
  
  Surgeons Will Try to Locate Pin by Means ... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1900 - March 24 - New York City Mayor Robert Anderson Van Wyck breaks ground for a new underground "Rapid Transit Railroad" that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn.
  
  historyorb.com
  March 24, 1900
  
•   1901 - May 17 – The U.S. stock market crashes.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  May 17, 1901
  
•   1902 - January 8 – A train collision in the New York Central Railroad's Park Avenue Tunnel kills 17, injures 38, and leads to increased demand for electric trains and led to the banning of Steam locomotives in the state.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  January 8, 1902
  
•   1902 - June 15 – The New York Central railroad inaugurates the 20th Century Limited passenger train between Chicago and New York City.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  June 15 1902
  
• 1903 - NYC - Crayons were invented by Edwin Binney and Harold Smith, who owned a paint company in New York City, NY, USA. Binney and Smith invented the modern-day crayon by combining paraffin wax with pigments (colorants).
  These inexpensive art supplies were an instant success since they were first marketed as Crayola crayons in 1903.
  www.enchantedlearning.com/ inventors/ us.shtml
  
•   1903 - March 2 – In New York City, the Martha Washington Hotel, the first hotel exclusively for women, opens.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  March 2, 1903
  
•   1903 - ACROSS THE CONTINENT IN AN AUTOMOBILE
  Two Men Travel from San Francisco to New York - Have Reached Syracuse.
  
  Special to the New York Times.
  
  SYRACUSE. July 23. - Dr H. Nelson Jackson ... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1903 - October 9 - New York City was deluged with 11.17 inches of rain in 24 hours to establish a state record.
  
  WeatherForYou.com
  October 9, 1903
  
• 1903 - December 19 - Williamsburg suspension bridge opens between Brooklyn & Manhattan
  
  historyorb.com
  
•   1904 - June 15 – A fire aboard the steamboat General Slocum in New York City's East River kills 1,021.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  June 15, 1904
  
•   1904 - October 27 – The first underground line of the New York City Subway opens.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  October 27, 1904
  
•   1904 - December 31 – In New York City, the first New Year's Eve celebration is held in Times Square.
  "In 1904, the New York Times moved from the City Hall are to the triangular piece of land at the intersection of 7th Avenue, Broadway, and 42nd Street. People thought they were crazy for moving so far uptown, but this was the same year the first subway line opened, passing through what was then... Read MORE...
  
  
• 1906
  Manhattan, a borough of the city of New York. It comprises Manhattan, Governor's, Bedloe's, Ellis, Oyster, Blackwell's, Randall's, and Ward's... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1909 - FIRE WIPES OUT A LANDMARK.
  Parkinson's in Whitehall Street Destroyed and Several Persons Burned.
  
  An aged scrubwoman was seriously burned and three men, one a fireman, were... Read MORE...
  
  
• 1909 - March 30 - Queensboro Bridge opens, linking Manhattan & Queens
  
  historyorb.com
  
•   1910 - Saved by a Strong Clothesline
  Five-Story Fall Didn’t Feaze [sic] Him
  Seven-Year-Old, Emulating Feats of Firemen, Drops Through Tenement Clothes Lines. Four Broke Under Him
  Fifth ... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1911 - March 25 – A fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City kills 146.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  March 25, 1911
  
•   1913 - February 1 – New York City's Grand Central Terminal, having been rebuilt, reopens as the world's largest railroad station.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  February 1, 1913
  
•   1913 - April 24 – The Woolworth Building opens in New York City. Designed by Cass Gilbert, it is the tallest building in the world at this date and for more than a decade after.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  April 24, 1913
  
•   1914 - August 1 - New York Stock Exchange closed due to war in Europe, where nearly all stock exchanges are already closed.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  August 1, 1914
  
• 1914 - Carrier Pigeon is Bridal Messenger
  NEW YORK, Nov. 3 - Ever since a Belgian rabbit escaped from one of the rooms on the fifth floor of the Prince George hotel, A. M. Gutterson, the... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1914 - December 12 – The New York Stock Exchange re-opens, having been closed since August 1 except for bond trading.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  December 12, 1914
  
•   1920 - January 9 – Thousands of onlookers watch as "The Human Fly" George Polley climbs the Woolworth Building in New York City. He reaches the 30th floor before being arrested.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  January 9, 1920
  
•   1924 - November 27 – In New York City the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  November 27, 1924
  
•   1926 - February 1 – Land on Broadway and Wall Street in New York City is sold at a record $7 per sq inch.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  February 1, 1926
  
•   1928 - LOST BELLBOY FOUND
  Youngster Wind Gold Medal for Refusing to Sell Liquor
  
  NEW YORK. March 25 - Satisfaction of the existence of a non-bootlegging bellboy was the... Read MORE...
  
  
• 1929 - October 24–29 – Wall Street Crash of 1929: Three multi-digit percentage drops wipe out more than $30 billion from the New York Stock Exchange (10 times greater than the annual budget of the federal government).
  In the 1920s, the stock market was rapidly growing. Many investors hoped to quickly get rich.
  
  The Great Crash affected everyone, even those who had not bought stocks. People ran to their banks to get their savings, fearing the banks would run out of money.
  
  Many banks had also invested in the ... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1930 - February 26 - 1st red & green traffic lights installed (Manhattan NYC)
  
  historyorb.com
  February 26, 1930
  
• 1931 - May 1 - The Empire State Building Opens
  President Herbert Hoover pressed a button in Washington, D.C., and on came the lights in the world's tallest skyscraper. Before that, the Chrysler... Read MORE...
  
  
•   1931 - October 24 – The George Washington Bridge across the Hudson River in the United States is dedicated; it opens to traffic the following day. At 3,500 feet (1,100 m), it nearly doubles the previous record for the longest main span in the world.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  October 24, 1931
  
•   1932 - November 16 – New York City's Palace Theatre fully converts to a cinema, which is considered the final death knell of vaudeville as a popular entertainment in the United States.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  November 16, 1932
  
•   1932 - December 27 - Radio City Music Hall opens in New York City.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  December 27, 1932
  
•   1933 - March 15 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average rises from 53.84 to 62.10. The day's gain of 15.34%, achieved during the depths of the Great Depression, remains to date as the largest 1-day percentage gain for the index.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  March 15, 1933
  
• 1934 - Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade established in New York City
  
  history.com
  
•   1935 - March 19 – Harlem Riot of 1935: A race riot breaks out in Harlem (New York City) after a rumor circulates that a teenage Puerto Rican shoplifter in the S. H. Kress & Co. department store has been brutally beaten.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  March 19, 1935
  
•   1936 - July 11 - Triborough Bridge linking Manhattan, Bronx & Queens opens
  
  historyorb.com
  July 11, 1936
  
• 1938 - "Long Island Express" - HURRICANE, FLOODS SWEEP NEW ENGLAND. 296 WERE KILLED IN STORM ALONG ATLANTIC COAST; PROPERTY DAMAGE ENORMOUS.
  ...New York City Drenched.
  New York city's 7,000,000 inhabitants, who barely escaped the worst of the storm, were drenched with a 4 1/ 2 inch rain.... Read MORE...
  
  
• 1939 - April 30 - World's Fair opens in New York City
  April 30, 1939
  
• 1940 - November 18 - George Matesky, New York City's Mad Bomber places his first bomb at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison.
  
  historyorb.com
  
•   1943 - March 31 – Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! opens on Broadway
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  March 31, 1943
  
• 1944 - HURRICANE HITS NEW YORK AND NEW ENGLAND COASTS. HIGH WINDS LASH JERSEY, LONG ISLAND.
  ...In New York City, sidewalks were virtually deserted. Wind whipping sheets of rain around the corners of tall buildings smashed plate glass... Read MORE...
  
  
•   July 28, 1945: A U.S. bomber flying through thick fog at about 200 mph crashed into the 79th floor of New York's Empire State Building, killing 14 people
  
  The Old Farmer's Almanac www.almanac.com
  July 28, 1945
  
•   1945 - October 29 - At Gimbels Department Store in New York City, the first ballpoint pens go on sale at $12.50 each.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  October 29, 1945
  
• 1946 - New York City is chosen as the site of the United Nations
  
•   1946 - December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, featuring James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Henry Travers, and Thomas Mitchell, is released in New York.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  December 20, 1946
  
•   1947 - December 26-27 - New York City received a record 26.4 inches of snow in 24 hours, with as much as 32 inches reported in the suburbs.
  The heavy snow brought traffic to a standstill, and snow removal cost eight million dollars. Thirty thousand persons were called upon to remove the... Read MORE...
  
  
• 1951 - January 10 - UN headquarters opens in Manhattan NY
  
  historyorb.com
  
•   1952 - February 5 - The first “Don’t Walk” sign was installed in New York City. The installation of this sign was inspired by the growing number of deaths resulting from pedestrian accidents.
  
  http://thisdayintechhistory.com
  February 5, 1952
  
• 1953 - November - Residents of New York City suffered through ten days of smog resulting in 200 deaths.
  
  The Weather Channel
  
• 1964 - April 22 - World's Fair opens in New York City
  April 22, 1964
  
• 1972 - Hurricane Agnes
  June 22
  1:00 p.m. EDT (18:00 UTC) – Tropical Storm Agnes makes landfall near New York City, New York with winds of 65 mph (105 km/ h).
  www.wikipedia.org
  
•   1973 - April 4 – The World Trade Center officially opens in New York City with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
  April 4, 1973
  
•   1977 - July 13 - Lightning struck a key electrical transmission line in Westchester County of southeastern New York State plunging New York City into darkness.
  
  WeatherForYou.com
  July 13, 1977
  
• 1993 - World Trade Center bombing