Tidbits
Because History Matters
July 19, 1799 – Napoleon’s Army Finds the Rosetta Stone in Egypt
A black, basalt stone, the Rosetta Stone, had the same inscription in three different languages: Greek, Egyptian Hieroglyphics and Egyptian Demotic.
The stone turned out to be the means as to how scholars were able to read the ancient Greek Hieroglyphics, a “dead” language for more than 2,000 years.
July 19, 1848 – Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton Organize the Seneca Convention. The two women were ardent abolitionists, but were barred from the World Anti-Slavery Convention, in 1840. The Seneca Convention
demanded equal rights for women, and the right to vote, and founded the women’s rights movement in the United States.
July 20, 1969 – Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins Lunar Landing
Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon. In addition to the American flag the
astronauts Armstrong & Aldrin planted on the surface of the moon, they left a plaque that read: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon–July 1969 A.D–We came in peace for all mankind.” Four days later, Apollo 11 with all 3 astronauts safely returned to Earth.
Neil Armstrong passed away in 2012. Buzz Aldrin is 94 years old. Both men were born in
1930.
July 21, 1861 – The First Battle of Bull Run
The battle took place near Manassas, Virginia. This was the first major land battle of the Civil War. The Union Commander was General Irvin McDowell, and the Confederate commander was General Pierre G.T. Beauregard. Washingtonians came
out to watch the Union Troops rout the Confederate soldiers, but it didn’t turn out that way. The Washingtonians fled for their life back to the city. Everyone thought the Southern insurrection would be over quickly, but after this battle everyone realized it would be a long and bloody war. Just for the record: A run is a creek.
July 21, 1899 – Famous American
Author
Ernest Hemingway is born in Oak Park Illinois.
July 22, 1933 – First American Solo Flight Around the World.
Famed American pilot Wiley Post completes the flight around the world in 7 days, 18 hours and 49
minutes. He was the first pilot to do this. In 1935, Wiley Post was killed along with Will Rogers in a plane crash while trying to fly across the North Pole. The crash site was near Point Barrow, Alaska.
July 22, 1934 – America’s Public Enemy Number One
John Dillinger is gunned down in front of
Chicago’s Biograph Theater. Dillinger had killed seven police officers and three federal agents.
July 24, 1915 – Steamer Capsizes in Chicago River
The lake steamer Eastland, capsizes in the Chicago River, killing more than 800 people and entirely wiping out 22 families. The
steamer was originally designed to carry 650 people, went through a series of upgrades and was supposed to be able to carry 2500 people. Engineers warned the steamship company that there might be a serious accident.
On this day in 1915, the Western Electric Company was taking all its employees out for its annual company picnic. Several lifts were required for carrying the 7300
employees out to the site of five steamers. About 2500 employees boarded the Eastland. A photograph was supposed to be taken of all the happy employees on the ship. When the employees rushed to one side of the ship to pose, the Eastland rolled over trapping hundreds of people.
After the tragedy, the Eastland was rebuilt and renamed the Willimette and converted into a naval vessel. It
was scrapped after World War II.
