Eight Exciting Escapades from July 21
Learning interesting historical facts and trivia is a fun pastime of mine. Courtesy of Wikipedia, here are eight exciting escapades fom this date in history, July 21.
356 BC – The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the original Seven Wonders of the World, is sadly destroyed by arson.
1865 – Famous gunslinger Wild Bill Hickok shoots and kills Davis Tutt in what is considered as the first western showdown, Springfield, Missouri. Hickok was later killed after being shot from behind while playing poker in a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory (now South Dakota) by an unsuccessful gambler. The hand he held at the time of his death (aces and eights) has come to be known as "Dead Man's Hand".
1873 –The first successful train robbery in the American Old West is pulled off by outlaws Jesse James and the James-Younger Gang in Adair, Iowa.
1902 – Willis Carrier creates the first air conditioner in Buffalo, New York. The use of air conditioning in commercial buildings enabled the US to increase manufacturing productivity and motivated more Americans to move to the sunbelt states. (Carrier should get a holiday named after him for this one!)
1925 – In Dayton, Tennessee, high school biology teacher John T. Scopes is found guilty of teaching evolution in class and fined $100.
1959 – Elijah Jerry "Pumpsie" Green becomes the first African-American to play for the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox was the last team to integrate.
1983 – The world's lowest recorded temperature in an inhabited location is noted at Vostok Station, Antarctica at −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F).
2007 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the fastest-selling novel ever, is published. The climactic last book in the Harry Potter series sold 15 million copies in the first 24 hours of its release.
Photographs used are in the public domain.
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