Today in New York City History
New York Topics: Buffalo - Rochester - Yonkers
Historical Events
Results 1 - 100 of 840
1652-06-27 - New Amsterdam (now NYC) passes 1st speed limit law in US
1653-02-02 - New Amsterdam becomes a city (later NYC)
1660-11-15 - 1st kosher butcher (Asser Levy) licensed in NYC (New Amsterdam)
1664-06-06 - New Amsterdam renamed NYC
1665-06-12 - England installs a municipal government in New York City (the former Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam).
1673-08-08 - Dutch battle fleet of 23 ships demands surrender of NYC
1674-02-19 - Netherlands & England sign Peace of Westminster (NYC becomes English)
1693-07-08 - NYC authorizes 1st police uniforms in American colonies
1704-02-28 - Elias Neau, a Frenchman, opens a school for blacks in NYC
1712-04-07 - Slave revolt (NYC)
1730-04-08 - 1st Jewish congregation in US forms synagogue, "Shearith Israel, NYC"
1732-12-06 - 1st play in American colonies acted by professional players, NYC
1750-03-05 - 1st American Shakespearean production-"altered" Richard III, NYC
1751-02-25 - 1st performing monkey exhibited in America, NYC (admission 1 cent)
1754-01-04 - Columbia University founded, as Kings College (NYC)
1754-07-07 - Kings College in NYC opens (renamed Columbia College)
1756-03-17 - St Patrick's Day 1st celebrated in NYC at Crown & Thistle Tavern
1762-01-15 - Fraunces Tavern opens in NYC
1762-03-17 - 1st St Patrick's Day parade in NYC
1768-04-05 - 1st US Chamber of Commerce forms (NYC)
1768-10-30 - 1st Methodist church in US initiated (Wesley Chapel, NYC)
1776-08-30 - US army evacuates Long Island/falls back to Manhattan, NYC
1783-11-25 - Britain evacuates NYC, their last military position in US
1783-12-04 - Gen Washington bids officers farewell at Fraunce's Tavern, NYC
1785-01-11 - Continental Congress convenes in NYC
1786-06-08 - Commercially made ice cream 1st advertised (Mr Hall, NYC)
1786-10-15 - Earliest 32°F (0°C) recorded temp in NYC
1787-04-16 - 1st American comedy, "The Contrast," made its debut in NYC
1787-11-01 - 1st free school in NYC (African Free School) opens
1789-04-01 - House of Reps 1st full meeting, NYC, F Muhlenberg 1st speaker
1789-04-06 - 1st US Congress begins regular sessions, Federal Hall, NYC
1789-05-07 - 1st inaugurational ball (for George Washington in NYC)
1789-05-12 - Society of St Tammany is formed by Revolutionary War soldiers. It later becomes an infamous group of NYC political bosses
1789-09-13 - 1st loan to US Govt (from NYC banks)
1790-02-01 - Supreme Court convenes for 1st time (NYC)
1790-12-06 - The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1791-12-17 - NYC traffic regulation creates 1st 1-way street
1794-04-21 - NYC formally declares coast of Ellis Island publically owned, so they can build forts to protect NYC from British
1797-01-01 - Albany replaces NYC as capital of NY
1799-09-01 - Bank of Manhattan Company opens in NYC (forerunner to Chase Manhattan)
1800-09-07 - Zion AME Church dedicated (NYC)
1814-01-22 - 1st Knights Templar grand encampment in US held, NYC
1817-11-25 - 1st sword swallower in US performs (NYC)
1818-02-07 - 1st successful US educational magazine "Academician," begins (NYC)
1819-05-21 - 1st bicycles (swift walkers) in US introduced in NYC
1819-07-03 - 1st savings bank in US (Bank of Savings in NYC) opens its doors
1820-08-14 - 1st US eye hospital, the NY Eye Infirmary, opens in NYC
1821-06-21 - African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AMEZ) Church organizes (NYC)
1825-03-02 - 1st grand opera in US sung in English, NYC
1825-06-04 - Unseasonable hurricane hits NYC
1825-06-11 - The first cornerstone is laid for Fort Hamilton in New York City.
1827-03-16 - 1st US black newspaper, "Freedom's Journal" (NYC), begins publishing
1830-09-09 - Charles Durant, 1st US aeronaut, flies a balloon from Castle Garden, NYC to Perth Amboy, NJ
1831-12-31 - Gramercy Park is deeded to New York City.
1832-11-14 - 1st streetcar (horse-drawn) (John Mason) debuts in NYC; fare 12 cents rode on 4th Avenue between Prince and 14th Sts
1832-11-26 - 1st streetcar railway in America starts operating (NYC) (12 cent fare)
1834-02-18 - 1st US labor newspaper, "The Man," published, NYC
1834-06-02 - 5th national black convention meet (NYC)
1835-12-16 - Fire consumes over 600 buildings in NYC
1837-05-10 - Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels.
1837-05-31 - Astor Hotel opens in NYC, it later becomes the Waldorf-Astoria
1838-04-08 - Steamship "Great Western" maiden voyage (Bristol England to NYC)
1838-04-22 - English steamship "Sirius" docks in NYC after Atlantic crossing
1838-04-23 - English steamship "Great Western" crossing Atlantic docks in NYC
1839-12-18 - 1st celestial photograph (of Moon) made in US, John Draper, NYC
1840-01-01 - 1st recorded bowling match in US, Knickerbocker Alleys, NYC
1841-03-27 - 1st US steam fire engine tested, NYC
1841-11-16 - Life preservers made of cork are patented by Napoleon Guerin (NYC)
1842-01-01 - 1st illustrated weekly magazine in US publishes 1st issue, NYC
1842-02-15 - 1st adhesive postage stamps in US (private delivery company), NYC
1843-02-06 - The first minstrel show in the United States The Virginia Minstrels opens (Bowery Amphitheatre in New York City).
1843-12-25 - 1st theatre matinee (Olympic Theatre, NYC)
1844-06-26 - US pres John Tyler marries Julia Gardiner in NYC
1845-01-29 - Edgar Allen Poe's "Raven" 1st published (NYC)
1845-03-26 - Joseph Francis, NYC, patents a corrugated sheet-iron lifeboat
1845-07-14 - 1st postmasters' provisional stamps issued, NYC
1845-07-14 - Fire in NYC destroys 1,000 homes & kills many
1847-01-15 - 1st Swedish magazine in US, Skandinavia, published in NYC
1847-07-01 - 1st US postage stamps go on sale, 5 cent Franklin & 10 cent Washington, NYC
1847-07-24 - Rotary-type printing press patents by Richard March Hoe, NYC
1848-06-10 - 1st telegraph link between NYC & Chicago
1849-02-14 - In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken.
1849-04-10 - Safety pin patented by Walter Hunt (NYC); sold rights for $100
1849-05-10 - Pack destroys Astor Place opera house in NYC (22 killed)
1850-01-26 - 1st German-language daily newspaper in US published, NYC
1852-01-01 - 1st US public bath opens, in NYC
1853-03-03 - US Assay Office in NYC authorized
1853-05-02 - Franconi's Hippodrome opens (NYC)
1853-09-06 - Women's Right's Convention met (NYC)
1854-01-09 - Astor Library opens in NYC
1854-12-30 - Pennsylvania Rock Oil Co, 1st in US, incorporated in NYC
1855-05-05 - NYC regains Castle Clinton, to be used for immigration
1855-08-01 - Castle Clinton in NYC opens as 1st US receiving station for immigrants
1855-09-27 - George F Bristow's "Rip Van Winkle," 2nd American opera, opens in NYC
1857-03-23 - Elisha Otis' 1st elevator installed (488 Broadway, NYC)
1857-10-06 - American Chess Assn organized; 1st major US chess tournament (NYC)
1857-10-10 - American Chess Association formed (NYC)
1858-08-02 - 1st mailboxes installed in Boston & NYC streets
1858-10-27 - RH Macy & Co opens 1st store, (6th Ave-NYC) Gross receipts $1106
1858-10-28 - Macy's Dept store opens in NYC
Famous Birthdays
Results 1 - 100 of 951
1720-09-12 - Frederick Philipse III, NYC, land owner (Bronx, Westchester & Putnam)
1812-06-14 - Fernando Wood, New York City mayor (d. 1881)
1815-11-15 - John Banvard, NYC, painted worlds largest painting (3 mile canvas)
1821-07-24 - William Poole, American gang member (New York City's Bowery Boys) (d. 1855)
1823-04-03 - William Macy "Boss" Tweed, corrupt political boss (NYC)
1831-01-26 - Mary Mapes Dodge, NYC, writer (Hans Brinker & the Silver Skates)
1849-07-20 - Robert Anderson Van Wyck, Mayor of New York City (d. 1918)
1858-10-27 - Theodore Roosevelt, NYC, (R) 26th Pres (1901-09; Nobel 1906)
1859-11-23 - Billy the Kid, [William H Bonney], NYC, criminal
1860-03-11 - Thomas Hastings, NYC, architect (NY Public Library)
1861-02-02 - Solomon R Guggenheim, philanthropist (Guggenheim Museum NYC)
1861-09-28 - Pedro De Cordoba, NYC, actor (Club Havana, Swamp Fire, Saboteur)
1863-12-16 - Ralph Adams Cram, US, gothic architect (Cathedral of St Joan NYC)
1866-01-19 - Harry Davenport, NYC, actor/director (Her Unborn Child, My Sin)
1867-02-12 - Joe Howard, NYC, vocalist (Gay Nineties Revue)
1874-11-18 - Clarence Shepard Day, NYC, author (Life with Father)
1877-11-02 - Claire McDowell, NYC, actress (Big Parade)
1880-03-10 - Michael Jacobs, NYC, boxing promoter
1880-07-26 - Volodymyr Vynnychenko, Ukrainian statesman (d. 1951)
1881-09-06 - Charlie Dell, NYC, actor (Pickle in the Middle)
1881-09-28 - Pedro De Cordoba, NYC, actor (Mexican Hayride, Before I Hang)
1882-05-23 - James Gleason, NYC, writer/actor (Bishop's Wife, Flying Fool)
1882-07-06 - Ralph Morgan, [Wupperman], NYC, actor (Creeper, Imposter, Jack London)
1882-11-13 - John Lowry, Mount Vernon NY, NYC builder (Radio City Music Hall)
1882-12-11 - Fiorello La Guardia, (Mayor-R-NYC, 1933-45)
1884-10-20 - Thomas Chalmers, NYC, actor (Blind Alleys, Outrage)
1885-01-27 - Jerome Kern, NYC, Broadway composer (Showboat, Roberta)
1885-02-24 - Bert Lytell, NYC, actor (Henry-One Man's Family)
1885-10-01 - Louis Untermeyer, NYC, poet/critic (Immortal Poems, Story Poems)
1885-12-22 - Joseph Deems Taylor, NYC, composer (Peter Ibbetson)
1886-06-11 - David Steinman, NYC, bridge designer (Hudson, Triborough)
1887-03-22 - Chico Marx, [Leonard Martin], NYC, comedian (Marx Brothers)
1887-05-21 - Mabel Taliaferro, NYC, actress (Sentimental Tommy, My Love Come Back)
1887-05-28 - Hank Mann, NYC, actor (City Lights, Smoky, Dawn Trail, Fugitive Road)
1887-12-25 - John Davidson, NYC, actor (Charlie Chan-Chinese Cat)
1888-08-17 - Monty Wooley, NYC, actor (Pied Piper, Man Who Came to Dinner)
1888-10-09 - Irving Cummings Sr, NYC, silent screen star/director (Curly Top)
1888-10-16 - Eugene O'Neill, NYC, dramatist (Desire Under the Elms-Nobel 1936)
1888-11-16 - Burnet Corwin Tuthill, NYC, composer (Laurentia)
1888-11-23 - Harpo Marx, [Adolph] NYC, actor/comedian (Marx brothers)
1888-12-18 - Robert Moses, power broker (built Long Island & NYC parks & roads)
1889-07-10 - Robert [Harriot] Barrat, NYC, actor (Go West, Distant Drums)
1889-09-23 - Walter Lippmann, NYC, journalist/political writer (Men of Dystany)
1890-02-18 - Edward Arnold, NYC, actor (Mr Smith Goes to Washington)
1890-06-01 - Frank Morgan, [Francis P Wupperman], NYC, actor (Annie Get Your Gun)
1890-06-06 - Dorothy Heyward, NYC, playwright (Porgy)
1890-10-02 - Groucho Marx, [Julius], NYC, comedian (Marx Bros, You Bet Your Life)
1890-10-16 - Paul Strand, NYC, photographer (Native Land-1942)
1890-12-18 - Edwin Howard Armstrong, NYC, radio pioneer inventor (FM)
1891-02-22 - "Chico" Marx, NYC, actor/comedian (Marx Brothers, Animal Crackers)
1891-03-08 - Sam Jaffe, NYC, actor (Gunga Din, Dr Zorba-Ben Casey)
1891-07-18 - Gene Lockhart, NYC, actor (Going My Way, Christmas Carol)
1891-10-29 - Fanny Brice, NYC, singing comedienne (Ziegeld Follies, Baby Snooks)
1892-04-28 - Joseph Dunninger, NYC, mentalist (Amazing Dunninger)
1892-08-02 - John Kieran, NYC, columnist/author (Natural History of NYC)
1892-08-09 - Charles Delaney, NYC, actor (Air Police, Lonesome Trail)
1892-09-28 - Elmer Rice, NYC, playwright/director/novelist (Pulitzer-Street Scene)
1892-11-02 - Alice Brady, NYC, actress (My Man Godfrey, Gay Divorcee, Zenobia)
1893-02-04 - Bernard Rogers, NYC, composer (Warrior, Marriage of Aude, Passion)
1893-02-10 - Jimmy Durante, NYC, long-nosed comedian (and goodnight Mrs Calabash)
1893-02-28 - Ben Hecht, NYC, novelist/playwright/screenwriter (Front Page)
1893-04-24 - Robert Harron, NYC, actor (Birth of a Nation, Intolerance)
1894-01-02 - Robert Nathan, NYC, poet, novelist (Portrait of Jennie)
1894-03-27 - William Harrigan, NYC
1894-06-20 - George Delacorte, NYC, philanthropist/publisher (Dell Books)
1894-08-16 - George Meany, NYC, labor leader (headed AFL-CIO)
1895-01-01 - Nathaniel Shilkret, NYC, conductor
1895-02-03 - Nick Kenny, Astoria NYC, columnist/songwriter (Nick Kenny Show)
1895-02-19 - Louis Calhern, NYC, actor (Julius Caesar, Blackboard Jungle)
1895-04-04 - Arthur Murray, NYC, dancer (Arthur Murray Dance Party)
1895-05-09 - Richard Barthelmess, NYC, actor (Broken Blossoms, Noose)
1895-07-12 - Oscar Hammerstein II, NYC, lyricist who worked with Richard Rodgers
1895-09-27 - George Raft, NYC, actor (Each Dawn I Die, Scarface, Some Like It Hot)
1895-09-28 - Dave Franklin, NYC, composer (Hop-a-long Cassidy)
1896-01-20 - George Burns, [Nathan Birnbaum], NYC, actor/comedian (Oh God)
1896-01-20 - Rolfe Sedan, NYC, actor (Mailman-George Burns Show)
1896-11-11 - Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Sicily, NYC Mafia gangster
1897-01-21 - J Carrol Naish, NYC, actor (Charlie Chan-Adv of Charlie Chan)
1897-04-07 - Walter Winchell, Harlem NYC, newscaster/columnist (Untouchables)
1897-09-05 - Luella Gear, NYC, actress (Joe & Mabel)
1897-09-25 - Teddy Hart, NYC, actor (3 Men on a Horse)
1897-10-06 - Jerome Cowan, NYC, actor (Mr Dithers-Blondie, Tab Hunter Show)
1898-01-07 - Art Baker, NYC, TV host (You Asked For It)
1898-04-01 - Nita Naldi [Anita Donna Dooley], NYC, actress (Blood & Sand)
1898-05-21 - Armand Hammer, NYC, millionaire industrialist (Occidental Petroleum)
1898-06-01 - Edgar "Cookie" Fairchild, NYC, bandleader (Jerry Colonna Show)
1898-06-01 - Molly Picon, NYC, Yiddish actress (Milk & Honey)
1898-09-08 - Queenie Smith, NYC, actress/dancer (Funny Side)
1898-09-09 - Frank "Fordham Flash" Frisch, NYC, baseball player (NL MVP 1931)
1899-04-21 - Randall Thompson, NYC, composer (Trip to Nahant)
1899-06-01 - Werner Janssen, NYC, conductor/composer (New Years Eve in NY)
1899-07-05 - Anna Arnold Hedgeman, social activist (NYC cabinet)
1899-10-03 - Gertrude Berg, Harlem NYC, actress (Molly Goldberg-Goldbergs)
1899-11-16 - Mary Margaret McBride, Paris Mo, radio personality (WOR-AM, NYC)
1899-12-25 - Humphrey Bogart, NYC, actor, Here's looking at you, kid (Casablanca)
1899-12-25 - Raphael Soyer, artist (Depression Scenes in NYC)
1900-05-14 - Billie Dove, [Lilian Bohny], NYC, actress (Black Pirate, Stolen Bride)
1900-06-19 - Laura Hobson, NYC, TV writer/panelist (I've Got a Secret)
1900-08-15 - Estelle Brody, NYC, actress (Safari, Kitty, Plaything)
1900-10-03 - Jay Irving, NYC, cartoonist (Draw Me a Laugh)
Famous Deaths
Results 1 - 49 of 49
1826-12-15 - William Browser, revolting slave, executed in NYC
1829-04-30 - George Washington Adams, son of John Q Adams, dies on City Is NYC
1855-03-08 - William Poole, Infamous member of New York City's Bowery Boys gang (b. 1821)
1862-03-08 - Nat Gordon, last pirate, hanged in NYC for stealing 1,000 slaves
1881-02-14 - Fernando Wood, New York City mayor (b. 1812)
1899-09-14 - Henry Bliss, 1st auto death (NYC)
1915-09-21 - Anthony Comstock, anti-vice crusader, dies at 71 in NYC
1922-03-04 - Bert Williams, famous black, dies at 46, in NYC
1927-11-01 - Florence Mills, dancer/singer, dies in NYC at 32
1947-09-20 - Fiorello H La Guardia, (Mayor-R-NYC, 1933-45), dies
1951-03-06 - Volodymyr Vynnychenko, Ukrainian politician and statesman (b. 1880)
1952-05-09 - Canada Lee, black actor (Lost Boundaries), dies in NYC at 45
1953-06-19 - Julius Rosenberg, NYC, 1st US civilian executed for espionage at 37
1955-03-12 - Charlie "Bird" Parker, US jazz saxophonist, dies at 34 in NYC
1957-01-16 - Arturo Toscanini, Italian US conductor (NBC), dies in NYC at 89
1957-03-31 - Gene Lockhart, NYC actor (Going My Way), dies at 65
1962-01-26 - Charles "Lucky" Luciano, NYC Mafia gangster, dies at 65
1962-10-04 - John Lowry, Mount Vernon NY, NYC builder, dies at 79
1962-11-07 - Eleanor Roosevelt, 1st Lady (1933-1945), dies at 78 in NYC
1965-01-12 - Lorraine Hansberry, US playwright, dies in NYC, dies at 34
1965-02-21 - Malcolm X, [Little], black Moslem leader, assassinated in NYC at 39
1967-12-11 - Howard Freeman, actor (Double Dynamite), dies after illness in NYC
1968-10-15 - Bea Benaderet, NYC, actress (Kate-Petticoat Junction), dies at 62
1971-12-09 - Ralph J Bunche, UN delegate/Nobel Prize winner, dies at 67 in NYC
1973-07-24 - Mary Frasca, singer/actress, dies in NYC
1975-03-09 - Joseph Dunninger, NYC, mentalist (Amazing Dunninger), dies at 82
1977-08-19 - Groucho Martin, NYC, comedian (Marx Bros), dies in LA at 86
1978-10-11 - Nancy Spungen, killed by boyfriend Six Vicious in NYC
1979-12-09 - Fulton J Sheen, archbishop/religious broadcaster, dies in NYC at 84
1979-12-11 - Claire Carleton, NYC, actress (Alice-Cimarron City), dies at 66
1980-01-28 - Jimmy Durante, NYC, comedian (Jimmy Durante Show), dies at 86
1980-11-25 - George Raft, NYC, actor (Scarface), dies at 85
1982-02-22 - Murray "the K" Kaufman, NYC DJ (5th Beatle), dies at 60
1982-11-17 - Ruth Donnelly, comedienne, dies at 86 in NYC
1982-11-25 - Robert Coote, actor (MacBeth), dies in NYC of a heart attack at 73
1985-02-28 - Charita Bauer, actress (Mary-Aldrich Family), dies at 62 in NYC
1985-05-13 - Leatrice Joy, silent screen star, dies in Riverdale (Bronx) NYC at 91
1985-12-16 - Paul Castellano, Organized-crime chief, shot dead at a NYC restaurant
1986-10-22 - Jane Dornnacker, WNBC-AM NYC helicopter traffic reporter, dies doing a live traffic report as her copter crashes
1987-11-04 - Raphael Soyer, artist (Depression scenes in NYC), dies at 87
1987-11-06 - William C Pahlmann, interior decorator (4 Seasons NYC), dies at 80
1990-03-29 - Germaine Montenesdro, 2nd victim of NYC's Zodiac killer, shot dead
1991-02-12 - Robert Wagner, mayor (NYC-D-1954-65), dies
1992-12-18 - Mother Clare Hale, cared for NYC AIDS babies (Hale House), dies at 87
1994-04-03 - Pat Harper, NYC news anchor (WPIX, WNBC), dies
1995-11-02 - Ivan Metropolitan Ioann Snychev, russion Orthodox Priest, dies at 68
1996-04-09 - Sandy Becker, NYC Kiddie TV Show host (Sandy Becker Show), dies at 74
2001-02-10 - Abraham Beame, Mayor of New York City (b. 1906)
2003-07-23 - James E. Davis, New York City councilman (murdered) (b. 1962)
