This Day In History

On April 18, 1923, the Yankees played their first game in “The House that Ruth Built.”

On April 17, 1524, Giovanni da Verrazzano became the first European to see New York harbor.

On April 16, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act. The act freed over 3,100 people enslaved in the US capital nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation would free all enslaved people in the US.

On April 15, 1865, President Lincoln died less than 12 hours after being shot by John Wilkes Booth. He was the first US president to be assassinated, just as the Civil War was drawing to a close.

On August 3, 1859, twenty-six dentists met in Niagara Falls, New York at the first meeting of the American Dental Association (ADA).

Performer and philanthropist Danny Thomas was born Amos Muzyad Yaqoob Kairouz on January 6, 1912, in Deerfield, Michigan.  In addition to his successful performing career, Thomas was the founder of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Civil War surgeon Mary Edwards Walker was born on November 26, 1832, in Oswego, New York, about 40 miles from Mystic’s home in Camden. She was the Army’s first female surgeon and earned the Medal of Honor for her work during the Civil War.

On October 29, 1863, representatives from around the world joined together to establish the International Red Cross. It’s the oldest and one of the most well-recognized humanitarian organizations in the world.

On April 19, 1930, three special airmail stamps, the Graf Zeppelins, were made available for sale to be used exclusively on mail carried via the Graf Zeppelin on its European-Pan American flights the following month.

On April 19, 1782, John Adams secured recognition from the Dutch Republic of the United States as an independent government. This marked the start of one of America’s longest unbroken peaceful relationships with another nation.

The first battles of the American Revolutionary War were fought on April 19, 1775 at Lexington and Concord.  The American colonists’s brave stand showed the British, and the world, how dedicated they were to the cause of independence.

The first-ever Boson Marathon was run on April 19, 1897. It’s the world’s oldest annual marathon and is one of the six World Marathon Majors. While the first race included 15 runners, recent races have seen over 30,000 participants.