This Day…

1883 – The ship Marco Polo, once the fastest clipper in the world, runs aground on Prince Edward Island. Spectators of the event include Lucy Maud Montgomery.

1865 – In market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots and kills Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first true western showdown

1933 – Wiley Post begins the first solo flight around the world, completing the journey in 7 days and 19 hours

1850 – First public demonstration of ice made via refrigeration by Florida physician John Gorrie

1938 – Howard Hughes flies around the world in 91 hours

1875 – Jesse James gang robs train in Otterville, Missouri

1865 – US Secret Service begins operating under the Treasury Department

1864 – Yosemite Grant Act signed by President Abraham Lincoln bestowing 200,000 acres to the state of California, establishes America’s first state-controlled park [1]

1924 – Theatrical revue “Ziegfeld Follies of 1924”, featuring Billie Burke and W.C. Fields, opens at the New Amsterdam Theatre, NYC

1876 – Battle of the Little Bighorn: US 7th Cavalry under Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer wiped out by Sioux and Cheyenne warriors led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull in what has become famously known as “Custer’s Last Stand“