Today in History

173 years ago today in 1836 Texas won it's independence from Mexico at the
Battle of San Jacinto. Sam Houston's men were rounding up run-aways when they found one man hiding in a field. He was dressed like a peasant. But Houston's men were suspicious because something glittered from beneath his ragged clothes. He was brought back to camp and the captured Mexican soldiers started to cheer, "El Presidente, El Presidente!" They had caught Santa Anna. The glitter proved to be a gold button. Texas is the only state in the Union that has been an independent and separate nation. Because of this Texans tend to be proud and independent in thought. They also tend to be friendly and gregarious. I am proud to say that my great-great grandfather and grandmother were Texas pioneers.

James Thomas Miller and his wife, Sarah Haught Miller were the second couple to be issued a marriage licence in the county of Dallas on July 23, 1846.

Also on this day:
1789 - John Adams was sworn in as the first vice-president of the United States.

1828 - Noah Webster published the first American Dictionary.

1857 - The bustle was patented. Wouldn't you know it was invented by a man...Alexander Douglas.

1865 - Abraham Lincoln's funeral train left Washington, D. C.

1948 - The first Polaroid camera was sold in the U. S.

1989 - Thousands of Chinese protested in Tienanmen Square.

Born on this day:

1819 - Charlotte Bronte

1836 - John Muir

1926 - Queen Elizabeth II

Died on the day:

1910 - Mark Twain

On This Day in History

1611 - The word "telescope" was used for the first time by the Italian scientist/naturalist Prince Frederico Cesi.

1614 - Pocahontas married the English planter John Rolfe. They moved to England where she died three years later in 1617.

1814 - Napoleon was banished to Elba.

1847 - Edgar Allen Poe's, "Murders in the Rue Morgue," being the first of its kind and establishing the murder mystery genre, was published.

1853 - Harriet Tubman began the Underground Railroad and starting helping slaves escape to freedom.

1861 - Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities was published. Did you know he was only 58 years old when he died? Did you know that Oliver Twist, he second novel, was the first English novel to have a child as the main character?

1865 - Abraham Lincoln was shot. He died the next day, April 15.

1912 - The Titanic struck an iceberg.

1939 - The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck was published.