Category Archives: 1890s

First successful American-made, gasoline-operated motorcar taken for test drive in Chicopee, Massachusetts 130 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 21 1893)


Video: 'America’s First Gasoline Powered Automobile: 1893, Duryea Brothers Motor Wagon, Oldest Photographs'

(Thursday, September 21, 1893) — A one-cylinder “Ladies Phaeton,” the first successful American-made, gasoline-operated motorcar, was taken for a short test drive today on the Howard Bemis farm in Chicopee, Massachusetts, near Springfield, by Frank Duryea, who had designed the vehicle with his brother, Charles. Continue reading First successful American-made, gasoline-operated motorcar taken for test drive in Chicopee, Massachusetts 130 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 21 1893)

Lizzie Borden, 32, found not guilty in ax murders of her father, stepmother 130 years ago this hour (Jun 20 1893)


Video: 'History's Mysteries The Strange Case Of Lizzie Borden (History Channel Documentary)'

(Tuesday, June 20, 1893, 4:40 p.m. EST) — A jury in New Bedford, Massachusetts, found Lizzie Borden, 32, not guilty today of the Aug. 4, 1892, ax murders of her father, Andrew, and stepmother, Abby, at their home in Fall River, Massachusetts. Continue reading Lizzie Borden, 32, found not guilty in ax murders of her father, stepmother 130 years ago this hour (Jun 20 1893)

Grover Cleveland sworn in as 24th president of the United States, Adlai Stevenson I as 23rd VP 130 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Mar 4 1893)

(Saturday, March 4, 1893, approximately 1:55 p.m. local time)Grover Cleveland of New York, the 22nd President of the United States (1885-1889), took the oath of office today as the 24th President of the United States at the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Continue reading Grover Cleveland sworn in as 24th president of the United States, Adlai Stevenson I as 23rd VP 130 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Mar 4 1893)

Former U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes, 70, dies in Fremont, Ohio 130 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 17 1893)


Video: 'Rutherford B. Hayes: His Fraudulency (1877 - 1881)'

(Tuesday, January 17, 1893, 11:00 p.m. local time)Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th President of the United States (1877-1881), died this evening of complications of a heart attack at his home at Spiegel Grove in Fremont, Ohio. He was 70. Continue reading Former U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes, 70, dies in Fremont, Ohio 130 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 17 1893)

Former President Grover Cleveland elected 24th president of the United States, defeating incumbent President Benjamin Harrison 130 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 8 1892)


Video: 'The American Presidential Election of 1892'

(Tuesday, November 8, 1892; during the 1892 United States presidential election) — In a rematch of the closely contested 1888 election, Democratic former President Grover Cleveland of New York was elected the 24th president of the United States today, defeating Republican incumbent President Benjamin Harrison of Indiana, and Populist James B. Weaver of Iowa. Continue reading Former President Grover Cleveland elected 24th president of the United States, defeating incumbent President Benjamin Harrison 130 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 8 1892)

Father and stepmother of Lizzie Borden are found axed to death in their Fall River, Massachusetts home 130 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Aug 4 1892)


Video: 'History's Mysteries The Strange Case Of Lizzie Borden (History Channel Documentary)'

(Thursday, August 4, 1892, approximately 9:00-11:00 a.m. EST) — Businessman Andrew Borden and his wife, Abby, the father and stepmother of Lizzie Borden, were axed to death today in their home in Fall River, Massachusetts. Continue reading Father and stepmother of Lizzie Borden are found axed to death in their Fall River, Massachusetts home 130 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Aug 4 1892)

Homer Plessy arrested for refusing to leave whites-only train car in challenge to Louisiana racial segregation laws 130 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 7 1892)


Video: 'Separate But Equal: Homer Plessy and the Case That Upheld the Color Line'

(Tuesday, June 7, 1892; during the Civil rights movement (1865–1896))Homer Plessy, a racially mixed shoemaker from New Orleans, was arrested today for refusing to leave a whites-only car of the East Louisiana Railroad, committing an act of civil disobedience to challenge one of Louisiana’s racial segregation laws and bring a test case to force the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of segregation laws.

Plessy, born a free person of color in a family of French-speaking Louisiana Creole people, had bought a first-class ticket on the East Louisiana Railroad running between the Press Street Depot in New Orleans and Covington, Louisiana, an approximately thirty-mile journey that would have taken two hours. He sat in the “whites only” passenger car.

When conductor J. J. Dowling came to collect Plessy’s ticket, he told Plessy to leave the “whites only” car. Plessy refused. The conductor stopped the train, walked back to the depot, and returned with private detective Chris C. Cain. Cain and other passengers forcibly removed Plessy from the train.


Video: 'Louisiana board pardons Homer Plessy ahead of the 125th anniversary of Plessy v. Ferguson'

Cain then arrested Plessy and took him to the Orleans Parish jail. The Comité des Citoyens arrived at the jail, arranged for him to be released, and paid his $500 bond the following day by offering up a committee member’s house as collateral.

Judge John Howard Ferguson ruled against Plessy in a state criminal district court, upholding the law on the grounds that Louisiana had the right to regulate railroads within its borders.

Plessy appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard the case four years later in 1896 and ruled 7–1 in favor of Louisiana, establishing the “separate but equal” doctrine as a legal basis for the Jim Crow laws that would remain in effect into the 1950s and 1960s.

James Naismith’s original rules of basketball published for the first time 130 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 15 1892)


Video: 'James Naismith & the Invention of Basketball'

(Friday, January 15, 1892) — The “Original 13 Rules of Basket Ball” — devised in December 1891 by James Naismith, a graduate instructor at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts — were published today in the school’s magazine, The Triangle. Continue reading James Naismith’s original rules of basketball published for the first time 130 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 15 1892)

Ellis Island Immigrant Station formally opens in New York Harbor 130 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 1 1892)


Video: 'Island of Hope, Island of Tears (DVD Print)'

(New Year’s Day, Friday, January 1, 1892, shortly after an 8:00 a.m. EST inspection)Ellis Island, a federally-owned island in New York Harbor that was the busiest immigrant inspection station in the United States, formally opened today. Continue reading Ellis Island Immigrant Station formally opens in New York Harbor 130 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 1 1892)

Former U.S. Vice President Hannibal Hamlin, 81, dies in Bangor, Maine 130 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jul 4 1891)


Video: 'Did You Know: Abraham Lincoln's First Vice President'

(Independence Day, Saturday, July 4, 1891, 8:15 p.m. local time)Hannibal Hamlin, the 15th vice president of the United States from 1861 to 1865 during the administration of President Abraham Lincoln, which included all but the last month of the American Civil War, died tonight in Bangor, Maine. He was 81. Continue reading Former U.S. Vice President Hannibal Hamlin, 81, dies in Bangor, Maine 130 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jul 4 1891)