1914 – Marie Dressler, Charlie Chaplin, Mabel Normand and Mack Swain appeared in the first six-reel, feature-length comedy. The film was entitled “Tillie’s Punctured Romance”.

1843 – Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” was first published in England.

1895 – Anti-Saloon League of America formed, Washington, D.C.

1903 – The Wright brothers attempt to fly the Wright Flyer for the first time at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina

1879 – 1st automatic telephone switching system patented

1806 – Approaching the Colorado foothills of the Rocky Mountains during his second exploratory expedition, Lieutenant Zebulon Pike spots a distant mountain peak that looks “like a small blue cloud.” The mountain was later named Pike’s Peak in his honor.

1843 – Yellowstone photographer William Jackson is born.

1888 – Jack the Ripper’s infamous killing spree in the Whitechapel district of London’s East End came to an end.