1885 – $100,000 raised in US for pedestal for Statue of Liberty. 1896 – Harvey Hubbell patents electric light bulb socket with a pull chain.…
Posts published in “History”
1776 – American Revolutionary War: word of the United States Declaration of Independence reaches London. 1889 – Dan Rylands patents screw cap. 1911 – The…
1859 – Otis Tufts patents the first passenger elevator in the US. 1904 – Livanus McLouth Todd of Rochester, New York patents his check-writing machine,…
1854 – Smith & Wesson patents metal bullet cartridges. 1898 – W.K. Kellogg invents corn flakes cereal. 1910 – The US Army installs the first…
1782 – George Washington creates the Purple Heart medal (original name Badge of Military Merit) as commander of the Continental Army. 1882 – Hatfields of…
• Bladen County received $23,306.95 from the local one percent sales and use tax for the month of June. • Congressman David Henderson announced that…
1861 – US Army abolishes flogging. 1891 – World’s 1st traveler’s cheques issued by American Express. 1914 – 1st electric traffic light installed in the…
1882 – US Congress passes 1st law restricting immigration. 1900 – Firestone Tire and Rubber Company founded. 1914 – NY Yankees catcher Les Nunamaker throws…
1776 – Formal signing of the US Declaration of Independence by 56 people (date most accepted by modern historians) 1858 – 1st mailboxes installed in…
1812 – Rare tornado hits Westchester County, NY. 1881 – US Quarantine Station authorized for Angel Island, San Francisco Bay. 1911 – Omar Bradley, aged…
1864 – Ulysses S. Grant is named General of Volunteers. 1876 – US Coast Guard officers training school established (New Bedford, Massachusetts) 1930 – NY…
1869 – The Charles, considered the world’s first “oil tanker”, departs from the United States headed for Europe with a bulk capacity of 7,000 barrels…
• Gene Helms, formerly of Elizabethtown, was named VP of Cape Fear Bank and Trust Co. of Fayetteville. • Rev. Carl Barbee to preach at…
1899 – 1st motorcycle race, Manhattan Beach, NY. 1907 – Sir Robert Baden-Powell forms Boy Scouts in England. 1924 – Paul Runyan wins PGA golf…
1866 – Metric system becomes a legal measurement system in US. 1900 – Hamburger created by Louis Lassing in Connecticut. 1915 – Because of virtual…
1837 – Fire destroys US mint at Charlotte, North Carolina. 1909 – Orville Wright tests 1st US Army airplane, flying 1 hour, 12 minutes, 40…
1775 – US Continental Congress creates United States Post Office in Philadelphia under Benjamin Franklin. 1847 – Moses Gerrish Farmer builds 1st miniature train for…
1866 – Ulysses S. Grant named 1st General of Army. 1898 – 1st US troops land & occupy Puerto Rico, at Guanica Bay. 1933 –…
1880 – 1st commercial hydroelectric power plant in the world begins generating electricity in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1901 – Writer O. Henry is released from…
1829 – William Austin Burt patents America’s first “typographer” (typewriter) 1872 – African American inventor Elijah McCoy is granted a patent for lubricators for steam-engines.…
1893 – Catharine Lee Bates writes “America the Beautiful” in Colorado. 1916 – A bomb explodes during a Preparedness Day parade in San Francisco, killing…
1853 – Central Park in New York created when New York State Legislature puts aside more than 750 cares of land on Manhattan Island. 1865…
1868 – 1st use of tax stamps on cigarettes. 1881 – Sioux Indian Chief Sitting Bull surrenders to US federal troops. 1911 – Boston Red…
1848 – 1st US women’s rights convention held in Seneca Falls, NY, organized by Elizabeth Dody Staton and Lucretia Mott. 1880 – San Francisco Public…
1864 – US President Abraham Lincoln asks for 500,000 volunteers for military service. 1912 – Chicago Cubs get 21 hits but lose to Philadelphia Phillies…
1856 – The Great Train Wreck of 1856 between Camp Hill and Fort Washington, Pennsylvania kills over 60 people. 1897 – Spanish-American War: Spaniards surrender…
1867 – D.R. Averill of Ohio patents ready-mixed paint. 1920 – General Amos Fries appointed 1st US army chemical warfare chief. 1926 – National Geographic…
• Henry L. Kendall was named Chairman of the Bladen County Board of Elections. • Tickets for the East Bladen Cougar Rally at East Bladen…
1878 – Baseball’s first no-hitter: George Bradley of the St Louis Brown Stockings no-hits the Hartford Dark Blues, 2-0. 1912 – American athlete Jim Thorpe…
1798 – 1st direct US federal tax on states on dwellings, land and slaves. 1861 – Naval Engagement at Wilmington, NC – USS Daylight establishes…
1882 – Battle of Murfreesboro, fought in Rutherford County, Tennessee, begins (Forest’s Raid), Confederate victory (US Civil War) 1898 – San Francisco Ferry Building at…
1630 – New Amsterdam’s governor buys Gull Island from Indians for cargo, renames it Oyster Island, later known as Ellis Island. 1804 – Former United…
1892 – US Patent Office says Joseph Swan rather than Thomas Edison, invented the electric light carbon for the incandescent lamp. 1916 – US Congress…
1890 – Wyoming becomes 44th state of US (1st with female suffrage) 1911 – 105 degrees F … at North Bridgton, Maine (state record) 1928…
1872 – Doughnut cutter patent granted to John Blondel, Thomaston, Maine. 1878 – American inventor Henry Tibbe patents an improved corncob pipe design. 1914 –…
• Donnie Campbell, son of Mrs. Lonnie L. Campbell of Route 1, Elizabethtown, joined the Washington Bureau of The Gannet Newspaper chain. • Reverend Roy…
1796 – US State Department issues 1st US passport. 1797 – 1st US senator (William Blount of Tennessee) expelled by impeachment. 1835 – Liberty Bell…
1863 – 1st military draft by US (exemptions cost $100) 1875 – Jesse James robs train in Otterville, Missouri. 1908 – Great White Fleet leaves…
1776 – American Declaration of Independence announced on front page of “PA Evening Gazette” 1885 – Louis Pasteur successfully gave an anti-rabies vaccine to 9-year-old…
1865 – US Secret Service begins operating under the Treasury Department. 1891 – Hail kills 16 horses in Rapid City, South Dakota. 1914 – MLB…
1776 – US Congress proclaims the Declaration of Independence and independence from Great Britain. 1796 – 1st Independence Day celebration is held. 1931 – “America…
1861 – Pony Express arrives in San Francisco with overland letters from NY. 1884 – Dow Jones publishes its 1st stock index, The Dow Jones…
1776 – Continental Congress resolves “these United Colonies are and of right ought to be Free and Independent states.” 1843 – An alligator falls from…
• Bladen County had total sales tax of $21,685.05 for the month of May 1972. • The average yearly family income in Bladen County for…
1847 – 1st US postage stamps go on sale, 5 cents Franklin and 10 cent Washington, NYC. 1962 – US Internal Revenue Law imposes 1st…
By Leyton Ezzell Fourth of July, also known as Independence Day, is an icon of all types of grilling, pools, parties, and fireworks. Other festivities…
1864 – Yosemite Grant Act signed by President Abraham Lincoln bestowing 200,000 acres to the state of California, establishes America’s first state-controlled park. 1898 –…
1863 – George Armstrong Custer, aged 23, appointed Union Brigadier General. 1891 – US National Forest Service organized. 1906 – US Congress passes the Hepburn…
1776 – Final draft of Declaration of Independence submitted to Continental Congress. 1870 – U.S. Congress creates federal holidays (New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving…
1893 – Great Stock crash on NY stock exchange. 1914 – Defending champion Jack Johnson beats fellow American Frank Moran on points in 20 rounds…
1911 – US Open Men’s Golf, Chicago GC: 19-year-old John McDermott becomes first American born champion wins in a playoff with Mike Brady and George…
1798 – US passes Alien Act allowing president to deport dangerous aliens. 1867 – 1st barbed wire patented by Lucien B. Smith of Ohio. 1910…
• A ground breaking was held at the site of the new Elizabethtown Rescue Building. • The Elizabethtown Board of Commissioners were making plans to…
1853 – US President Franklin Pierce signs the Gadsden Purchase, buying 29,670 square miles from Mexico for $10 million (now southern Arizona and New Mexico)…
1870 – US Congress creates Department of Justice. 1918 – Circus train rammed by troop train, kills 68 (Ivanhoe, Illinois) 1932 – Congress approves “Lindbergh…
By: Jair McElveen On June eighteenth and nineteenth 2022, Bladen County residents held a two-day, Juneteenth Celebration at Elizabethtown Middle School. At the first event…
1864 – Battle of Kinston, North Carolina and Battle of Abingdon, Virginia. 1909 – 1st balloon honeymoon (Roger Burham & Eleanor Waring) 1921 – 11.5″…
1897 – Wee Willie Keeler’s 44 game hitting streak ends. 1910 – Father’s Day celebrated for 1st time (Spokane, Washington) 1923 – Comic Strip “Moon…
1898 – Steel Pier, 1st amusement pier opens in Atlantic City, New Jersey. 1912 – The Chicago National Republican Conventions splits between President Taft and…
*The Bladen County budget for 1972-73 was set at $1,695,393.78, which was $300,000.00 higher than the previous year. *Hilda Sutton of Elizabethtown was named the…
1863 – Travelers Insurance Co of Hartford chartered (1st accident insurer) 1885 – Statue of Liberty arrives in NYC aboard French ship “Isere”. 1901 –…
1882 – 17″ hailstones weighing 1.75 lbs falls in Dubuque, Iowa. 1902 – “The Wizard of Oz” musical first opens in Chicago, Illinois. 1903 –…
1844 – Charles Goodyear patents the vulcanization of rubber. 1898 – US House of Representatives passes resolution to annex Hawaii. 1907 – Researcher George Soper…
1834 – Sandpaper patented by Isaac Fischer, Jr., Springfield, Vermont. 1881 – Player piano patented by John McTammany Jr. (Cambridge, Massachusetts) 1916 – Democratic Convention…
1888 – US Congress creates Department of Labor. 1907 – Lowest temperature ever in 48 US states for June, 2 degrees F in Tamarack, California.…
1899 – New Richmond Tornado: one of the deadliest tornado in U.S. history kills 117 people and injures around 200. 1909 – “Shine On, Harvest…
*Pro Ray Scott was conducting a Scotch Foursome Golf Tournament at White Lake Golf Course. *Businessman D.M. (Mac) Campbell, Sr. was elected Chairman of The…
1878 – DC (District of Columbia) is given a new government by Congress, 3 commissioners appointed by president (changed in 1974) 1898 – 1st US…
• Bladen County graduates at Peace College were Mary Lynn Simmons, Nancy Susan Gooden, Daphne Ann Hardee, Carolyn Dianne Ludlum and Sherry Ruth Nye. •…
1822 – Charles Graham of New York patents porcelain false teeth. 1870 – US President Ulysses S. Grant meets with Sioux Chief Red Cloud at…
1824 – Washing machine patented by Noah Cushing of Quebec. 1872 – US Congress endorses penny post card. 1905 – US President Theodore Roosevelt sends…
1776 – Richard Lee (Virginia) moves Declaration of Independence in Continental Congress. 1864 – Abraham Lincoln renominated for US President by the Republican Party. 1900…
1882 – Electric iron patented by Henry W Seely, NYC. 1904 – National Tuberculosis Association, Atlantic City, New Jersey. 1923 – Gangster Albert Anastasia is…
Here are three things to know for Sunday, June 5: 1. Vacation Bible School: Today-Wednesday, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Trinity United Methodist Church, 901 W. Broad Street,…
1833 – Ada Lovelace (future 1st computer programmer) meets Charles Babbage. 1861 – Federal marshals seize arms and gunpowder at DuPont works, DE. 1884 –…
• Catherine Blue Calhoun of Elizabethtown received the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. • Dr.…
1896 – Henry Ford takes his 1st Ford through the streets of Detroit. 1912 – Massachusetts passes 1st US minimum wage law. 1917 – American…
1888 – Baseball poem “Casey at the Bat” 1st published by the San Francisco Examiner. 1916 – US National Defense Act establishes Reserve Officers Training…
1835 – P.T. Barnum & his circus begin 1st tour of US. 1857 – James Gibbs of Virginia patents the chain-stitch single-thread sewing machine. 1901…
1638 – 1st earthquake recorded in US, at Plymouth, Massachusetts. 1843 – It snows in Buffalo and Rochester, NY, & Cleveland, Ohio. 1880 – The…
1879 – Madison Square Garden opens in New York, named after 4th President, James Madison. 1884 – Dr. John Harvey Kellogg patents “flaked cereal” 1907…
1848 – William G Young patents ice cream freezer. 1896 – First car accident occurs: Henry Wells hits a cyclist in NYC. 1904 – Frank…
1849 – Abraham Lincoln says “You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time,…
1892 – Sierra Club formed by John Muir and others in San Francisco, for conservation of nature. 1900 – Total solar eclipse occurs. 1923 –…
1796 – James S McLean patents his piano. 1896 – Tornado hit St Louis, killing 255, leaving thousands homeless. 1904 – NY Giants first baseman…
1861 – US Postmaster General Blair announces end of postal service with South. 1896 – Dow Jones Index begins with an average of 12 industrial…
1919 – Casey Stengel releases a sparrow from under his baseball cap. 1927 – Henry Ford announces that is is ending production of the Model…
1830 – “Mary Had A Little Lamb” by Sarah Josepha Hale is first published by Boston firm Marsh, Capen & Lyon. 1883 – Brooklyn Bridge…
1865 – Flag flown at full mast over White House for the first time since Lincoln was shot. 1882 – 6″ of snow falls in…
1803 – 1st US public library in Connecticut. 1843 – 1st wagon train with 700 – 1,000 migrants, departs Independence, Missouri for Oregon. 1892 –…
1861 – Richmond, Virginia, is designated the Confederate Capital. 1881 – American Red Cross founded by Clara Barton. 1906 – The US and Mexico sign…
1861 – North Carolina becomes 11th and last state to secede from the Union. 1873 – Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patent the first blue…
1884 – Ringling Brothers circus premieres. 1921 – Congress sharply curbs immigration, setting a national quota system. 1928 – “Firedamp” explodes in Mather coal mine,…
1860 – US Republican Party nominates Abraham Lincoln for president. 1896 – US Supreme Court affirms legitimacy of racial separation (Plessy v Ferguson), a doctrine…
1875 – 1st Kentucky Derby: Oliver Lewis aboard Aristides wins in 2:37.75. 1900 – “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” is first published by L. Frank…
1866 – US Congress authorizes the nickel 5 cent piece (replaces silver half-dime) 1891 – George A. Hormel & Co establishes Geo.A.Hormel & Co (Hormel…
1817 – First private mental health hospital opens in the US, Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason (now…
The Bladenboro Class of 1957 held it’s 65 anniversary reunion at noon Saturday May 7 in the Bladenboro Historical Building. Fourteen of the 21 survivors…
• A banquet featuring the presentation of the Governor’s Award to the Town of Elizabethtown was to be held. • The Bladenboro Rotary Club was…
• L.D. Ricks, Jr. was appointed a director of the Automobile Dealers of America. • Due to the dry windy weather burning permits were cancelled…