Major Mike | Today in History 09/27 (Stockton & Darlington Railway)

Opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825 in England (© Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

(1825) Northeast England’s coal boom leads to a railway first

Hauling coal from the mines to boats is the real motivation behind the creation of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, but passengers may find a seat inside one of the specially kitted-out coal wagons for the official opening of the world’s first public steam-locomotive railway.

The Stockton and Darlington Railway was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world’s first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected collieries near Shildon with Stockton-on-Tees and Darlington, and was officially opened on 27 September 1825. The movement of coal to ships rapidly became a lucrative business, and the line was soon extended to a new port and town at Middlesbrough. While coal waggons were hauled by steam locomotives from the start, passengers were carried in coaches drawn by horses until carriages hauled by steam locomotives were introduced in 1833.

Opened: 1825
Length: 24.90 miles

Map by unsigned cartographer within 1821 Stockton and Darlington Railway report. A short pamphlet plus fold-out maps. The original from which this has been scanned is in the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers. It is reference Tracts vol 57 p252. The scan and the upload to Wiki Commons have been made with the permission and direction of their librarian Jennifer Kelly.
wiki/Stockton_and_Darlington_Railway

4.15.A18

(1825) Northeast England’s coal boom leads to a railway first.
Also on this day,

1540 | Ignatius of Loyola and his ‘soldiers’ form the Jesuits

Ignatius of Loyola’s Society of Jesus becomes an official part of the Catholic Church. Known as the Jesuits, or ‘God’s Soldiers,’ the order will send missionaries throughout the world to evangelize their faith, and in 2013 Jorge Bergoglio will become the first Jesuit Pope, as Pope Francis.

1954 | ‘Tonight Show’ staring Steve Allen is king of late night

Comedian Steve Allen hosts the launch of TV’s first late-night talk show, ‘Tonight Starring Steve Allen.’ The innovative NBC program will go on to pioneer many late-night talk show traditions, and morph into the world’s longest-running talk fest, ‘The Tonight Show.’

1964 | The official word on JFK’s assassination is released as Warren Report published

The President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy release their final conclusions to the public. The Associated Press publishes the book containing the Warren Commission’s conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone when he killed President John F. Kennedy.

Today in History ^09/27/17

Chief Justice Earl Warren presenting the report of the Warren Commission to President Lyndon Johnson (© Jim McNamara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

(1964) The official word on JFK's assassination is released

The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy release their final conclusions to the public. The Associated Press publishes the book containing the Warren Commission's conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone when he killed President John F. Kennedy.

The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson through Executive Order 11130 on November 29, 1963 to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy that had taken place on November 22, 1963. The U.S. Congress passed Senate Joint Resolution 137 authorizing the Presidential appointed Commission to report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, mandating the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of evidence. Its 888-page final report was presented to President Johnson on September 24, 1964 and made public three days later. It concluded that President Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald and that Oswald acted entirely alone. It also concluded that Jack Ruby also acted alone when he killed Oswald two days later. The Commission's findings have proven controversial and have been both challenged and supported by later studies.

The Commission took its unofficial name—the Warren Commission—from its chairman, Chief Justice Earl Warren. According to published transcripts of Johnson's presidential phone conversations, some major officials were opposed to forming such a commission and several commission members took part only reluctantly. One of their chief reservations was that a commission would ultimately create more controversy than consensus.