July 23rd
Today in America's Present Past
1579 | Francis Drake departs Nova Albion (San Francisco) to cross the Pacific Ocean.
1664 | The British land four ships in Boston, Massachusetts, to drive the Dutch out of New York.
1764 | Founder James Otis publishes "The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved," in which he argues against taxation without representation.
1777 | War of Independence: French King Louis XVI and his Foreign Minister clandestinely agree to supply the United States with munitions during the American Revolution.
1777 | War of Independence: Polish military leader Casimir Pulaski arrives in Marblehead, Massachusetts, to volunteer in the Continental Army cavalry.
1793 | Founding Father Roger Sherman died.
1800 | SCOTUS: Chief Justice John Rutledge died.
1822 | Entrepreneur Darius Nash Couch was born.
1827 | Francis Lieber opened the first US swimming school in Boston, Massachusetts.
1829 | William Austin Burt patented America's first typewriter, the typographer.
1844 | Entrepreneur Harriet Williams Russell Strong was born.
1851 | Indian Wars: Treaty of Traverse des Sioux signed by Sioux Indians and the U.S.
1862 | Civil War: President Lincoln names Army of the Potomac Gen. Henry Halleck as US Army General-in-Chief, replacing General George McClellan.
1872 | African American inventor Elijah McCoy is granted a patent for lubricators for steam engines.
1875 | Entrepreneur Isaac Singer died.
1877 | Civil Rights: Anti-Chinese riots start in San Francisco.
1885 | POTUS: President Ulysses Grant died.
1904 | The Ice cream cone is created by Charles E. Menches.
1913 | Civil Rights: Start of the “Copper County” strike in Michigan.
1919 | Civil Rights: “Red Summer race riots” in New Orleans, Louisiana & Darby, Pennsylvania.
1924 | Entrepreneur Mortimer Matz was born.
1928 | Athlete Cy Young was born.
1930 | Entrepreneur Glenn Curtiss died.
1936 | SCOTUS: Justice Anthony Kennedy was born.
1944 | The Bretton Woods Conference ends, establishing the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, later part of the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.
1951 | Director Robert Flaherty died.
1959 | Vice President Richard Nixon begins a visit to the USSR.
1961 | Actor Woody Harrelson was born.
1966 | Actor Montgomery Clift died.
1967 | Civil Rights: A Long, hot summer of riots continues in Birmingham, Alabama, and Detroit, Michigan.
1967 | Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was born.
1968 | Civil Rights: The Glenville Shootout starts in Cleveland, Ohio.
1973 | WWI Ace Eddie Rickenbacker died.
1973 | Monica Lewinsky was born.
1994 | Entertainer Gene Kelly died.
2001 | Author Eudora Welty died.
2012 | Astronaut Sally Ride died.