This Day…

1875 – Harriet Quimby, American pilot and screenwriter, first woman granted a U.S. pilot’s license, first woman to fly across the English Channel (d. 1912)

1869 – The Golden Spike is driven at Promontory Point, Utah signifying the completion of the transcontinental railroad even though there are no bridges spanning the Missouri River.

1885 – During an attempted arrest bootlegger Ned Christie killed U. S. Marshal Dan Maples near Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

1851 – San Francisco’s fifth fire since the discovery of gold destroys 70 percent of the city.

1852 – Martha “Calamity” Jane Canary is born in Princeton, Missouri.

1881 – Billy the Kid escapes from his cell in Lincoln, New Mexico.

1858 – Chinese are prohibited from landing at any port in California under the terms of a bill passed by Congress.

1851 – Morgan Earp is born in Pella, Iowa.

1875 – Wyatt Earp is hired as a policeman in Wichita, Kansas.

1849 – Captain G. W. Paul leads the first party of 49ers along the Oregon Trail to the California gold rush.