Benjamin Banneker, Black inventor and scientist, born in Ellicott's Mills Maryland.
On this day in:
1801 Gail Borden born. Inventor of process for making condensed milk, and founder of New York Condensed Milk Co. (later renamed Borden Co).
1857 The first issue of the Atlantic Monthly was published. It contained the first installment of Oliver Wendell Holmes' 'The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table.'
1872 Fire nearly destroyed Boston's business district. Firefighters from dozens of surrounding towns helped to fight the blaze, but water pressure was too low to halt the spreading inferno. Officials resorted to blowing up buildings to keep the fire from spreading to residential areas. Almost 1,000 businesses were destroyed.
1891 George A. Hormel opened his packinghouse in Austin, Minnesota.
1911 Georges Claude of Paris, France applied for a patent for an electric neon sign. It was issued on January 19, 1915.
1916 California Packing Company (Calpak) was created with the merger of five major Canning enterprises, consolidating control over canning, drying, packing houses, brokers and farmers in California and the West.
1938 Edward Murray East died. An American botanist and chemist he helped with the development of hybrid corn. Specifically, he concentrated on controlling the protein and fat content of possible hybrids.
1948 'More Beer' is recorded by the Ames Brothers.
1953 Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet, died at the Chelsea Hotel in New York. He had consumed 18 straight martinis.
1961 During lunchtime, Brian Epstein heard the Beatles for the first time at The Cavern in Liverpool.
1963 The enigmatic 'Louie Louie' was released by the Kingsmen.
1965 At 5:15 pm a 13 hour blackout of the northeastern U.S. and parts of Canada began when the electric grid failed. The blackout affected some 80,000 square miles and 25 million people.
1983 Alfred Heineken, president of Heinken (the beer) was kidnapped. He was freed on November 30 after a ransom was paid (over $20 million). The kidnappers were eventually caught.
2019 A flock of up to 60 aggressive wild turkeys, weighing up to 24 pounds, are reported to be terrorizing residents at Holiday City in Toms River, New Jersey. The gobblers have chased residents, broken windows, and pecked away at roofs and cars. Wildlife and Animal Control officials are aware of the problem, but cannot do anything about the turkeys due to state regulations.