Aug. 16
Today in history
Today is Aug. 16. On this date in:
1829: Conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker arrived in Boston, having contracted with a British businessman to tour the world as a curiosity act. Their upbringing in Siam (now Thailand) gave rise to the term “Siamese twins.” The brothers later went into business for themselves, became U.S. citizens, married, had children and settled in North Carolina.
1841: President John Tyler vetoed Congress’ second attempt to reestablish the Fiscal Bank of the United States. Two days later, an angry mob gathered at the lightly guarded White House and threatened the president, firing guns and hanging Tyler in effigy.
1858: The first telegraph message crossed the Atlantic via transatlantic cable, with Queen
Victoria and President James Buchanan exchanging congratulatory messages. The cable worked for about a month before going dead.
1896: Skookum Jim Mason and Dawson Charlie of the Tagish tribe found gold near Klondike River in the Yukon with George Carmack of Seattle. During the first year of the resulting gold rush, an estimated 100,000 people raced to the remote region. Less than one-third made it, and they were beaten to the pass by locals.
1939: The Hippodrome, New York City’s most famous vaudeville theater, closed after 34 years. The lavish, 5,200-seat venue featured Harry Houdini, elephants, diving water acts and 500-singer choruses.
1958: Madonna Louise Ciccone was born into a large Italian American family in Bay City, Michigan. A straight-A student, she went to the University of Michigan on a dance scholarship before dropping out to pursue dance in New York.
1962: At the band’s request, Beatles manager Brian Epstein fired drummer Pete Best, saying, “The boys want you out and Ringo in.” The band and label didn’t think Best was good enough, Epstein said.
1963: Graphic artist Georg Olden became the first Black person to design a U.S. postage stamp. His design – a striking image of broken chains – commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.
1974: About 4½ months after playing their first gig, the Ramones performed for the first time at the East Village dive bar CBGB’s, which would become the center of punk in New York. “It was just this wall of noise,” music journalist Legs McNeil said of the show. The CBGB’s corner would later be ceremonially named Joey Ramone Place.
1977: Elvis Presley died at 42 in his Graceland home of a heart attack likely brought on by drug use. He was scheduled to begin a tour the next day. The icon had been living nocturnally and was in poor health.
1988: IBM introduced a suite of software for artificial intelligence. “By answering a series of questions about a particular situation, even the most novice computer user can gain access to advice normally only available from an expert,” UPI reported.
1991: New Jersey Gov. James Florio issued an executive order prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in state government employment, writing, “The time has come to correct this inequity and bridge this gap in our system of comprehensive civil rights protection.”
– USA TODAY Network
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Today in history, August 16
