1825

Today in History 10/26 (Gunfight at the O.K. Corral)

Site of the 1881 'Gunfight at the O.K. Corral' in Tombstone, Arizona (© Education Images/UIG via Getty Images)(1881) Shots ring out near a corral in Tombstone
It’s three hours past high noon on the streets of Tombstone, Arizona Territory, when lawmen ‘Doc’ Holliday and the Earp Brothers meet the Clanton-McLaury gang and their feud erupts. Thirty seconds later three are dead, three are wounded, and the Gunfight at the OK Corral enters Wild West lore.
The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a 30-second shootout between lawmen and members of a loosely organized group of outlaws called the Cowboys that took place at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Arizona Territory. It is generally regarded as the most famous shootout in the history of the American Wild West. The gunfight was the result of a long-simmering feud, with Cowboys Billy Claiborne, Ike and Billy Clanton, and Tom and Frank McLaury on one side and town Marshal Virgil Earp, Special Policeman Morgan Earp, Special Policeman Wyatt Earp, and temporary policeman Doc Holliday on the other side. All three Earp brothers had been the target of repeated death threats made by the Cowboys, who objected to the Earps’ interference in their illegal activities. The four law men faced five Cowboys. Billy Clanton and both McLaury brothers were killed. Ike Clanton claimed that he was unarmed and ran from the fight, along with Billy Claiborne and Wes Fuller. Virgil, Morgan, and Doc Holliday were wounded, but Wyatt Earp was unharmed. The shootout has come to represent a period of the American Old West when the frontier was virtually an open range for outlaws, largely unopposed by law enforcement officers who were spread thin over vast territories.
Date: Oct 26, 1881

Tombstone, Arizona in 1881 photographed by C. S. Fly
Tombstone, Arizona in 1881 photographed by C. S. Fly. An ore wagon at the center of the image is pulled by 15 or 16 mules leaving town for one of the mines or on the way to a mill. The town had a population of about 4,000 that year with 600 dwellings and two church buildings. There were 650 men working in the nearby mines. The Tough Nut hoisting works are in the right foreground. The firehouse is behind the ore wagons, with the Russ House hotel just to the left of it. The dark, tall building above the Russ House is the Grand Hotel, and the top of Schieffelin Hall (1881) is visible to the right.
wiki/Gunfight_at_the_O.K._Corral
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(1881) Shots ring out near a corral in Tombstone.
Also on this day,

1825 | New York opens a manmade waterway to the west as Erie Canal opens
First proposed in 1804 as a navigable link between Manhattan’s harbor traffic and the Great Lakes, a grand engineering feat stretching 425 miles is ready for business. An opening day flotilla sails down the length of the Erie Canal, with celebratory cannon shots marking its progress.
1955 | A new ‘Voice’ as first issue of ‘Village Voice’ published
A new arts and culture newspaper is published from an apartment in New York’s Greenwich Village, pioneering the concept of an alternative weekly. It will win three Pulitzer Prizes and help launch the careers of many notable writers before publishing its final print edition on September 21, 2017.
1968 | Olympian George Foreman takes gold in Mexico City
Rising from a difficult childhood in Texas, George Foreman shows his mettle at the Mexico City Olympics, knocking out Soviet Ionas Chepulis to win the Heavyweight Boxing gold medal. The champ will go on to win professional titles and later find big success with a little grill.

Today in History 10/26/17

'The Village Voice' newspaper (© Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images)(1955) First issue of 'Village Voice' published
A new arts and culture newspaper is published from an apartment in New York's Greenwich Village, pioneering the concept of an alternative weekly. It will win three Pulitzer Prizes and help launch the careers of many notable writers before publishing its final print edition on September 21, 2017.
The Village Voice is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher and Norman Mailer, the Voice began as a platform for the creative community of New York City. Since its founding, The Village Voice has received three Pulitzer Prizes, the National Press Foundation Award and the George Polk Award. The Village Voice has hosted a variety of writers and artists, including writer Ezra Pound, cartoonist Lynda Barry, and art critics Robert Christgau, Andrew Sarris, and J. Hoberman. In addition to daily coverage through its website and a weekly print edition that circulates in New York City, the Voice issues a weekly digital edition of its magazine.
Website: www.villagevoice.com
Founded: Oct 26, 1955
Headquarter: Manhattan, NY
Owner: Village Voice Media
1955 October cover The Village Voice
1955 October cover The Village Voice

wiki/The_Village_Voice
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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

within 1821 Stockton and Darlington Railway report
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
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(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.


Warren commission cover
Final report cover

wiki/Warren_Commission
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