On this day, November 10th, 1958, The Hope Diamond is donated to the Smithsonian Institution by New York diamond merchant Harry Winston. The Hope Diamond has made it back to New York however, currently on display at the Museum of Natural History. The Hope Diamond is 45 carats and considered the most famous diamond in the world.
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On this day, November 9th, 1906, New Yorker Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first sitting president to make an official trip out of the country. He did so to inspect the progress of the Panama Canal. On this day, November 8th, 1897, Dorothy Day is born in Staten Island, New York. She was a prominent journalist, social activist and devout Catholic convert. She was also considered to be an anarchist and did not shy away from the term
On this day, November 5th, 1991, Ian Robert Maxwell is found in Atlantic Ocean after falling from his yacht. Maxwell rose from poverty after building an extensive publishing empire. Among his holdings were The New York Daily News, which was ailing when he purchased the paper. His financial difficulties led to speculation that he may have committed suicide, although rumors were never confirmed. On this day, November 6, in 1816, Gouverneur (alternatively Governeer) Morris died in the Bronx. Morris was born in southern Weschester County, (now the Bronx) on January 31, 1752. At the age of 12, Morris enrolled in King's College, (now Columbia) and graduated four years later, and received a Masters degree from the institution in 1771. The Morris family was a well established landowning family, who in 1775, sent Gouverneur to represent their estate in the New York Provincinal congress, starting him on what would become his life's work. He split with his family on the issue of American Independence. His own mother, a loyalist offered the British Military, use of the family estate. However, his family later, was well represented on both sides of the Revolution, and in Government and Public life in the US. In 1778, Morris was appointed a delage to the Continental Congress, working with George Washington to reform the Military. In the same year, he was one of the signors of the Articles of Confederation. He subsequently lost re-election to Congress, due in large part to his advocacy for a strong central government, in opposition to the view more prevalant in New York of decentralism. This lead him to a nine year hiatus in Pennsylvania, representing that state at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. During the Constitutional Convention, he was one of five, who worked to draft the final language of the Constitution, and he is often credited with much, if not all of the Preamble. He advocated during the convention against Slavery, though he beleived that "there never was, nor ever will be a civilized Society without an Aristocracy." In 1789, Morris went to France on business, and served as Minister Plenipotentiary to France from 1792 to 1794. His diaries from this time are considered a valuable record of the French Revolution, of which he was critical. In 1798, Morris returned to the US, and in 1800, was elected to the US Senate to fill out the remainder of the term of James Watson (who owned the house that is now the Elizabeth Ann Seton Shrine) . In 1803, he was defeated in his bid for re-election. His last significant position was as Chairman of the Erie Canal Comission from 1810 to 1813. Morris, in addition to the various public roles he held, owned sizable tracts of land, including areas that contain a Town and a Village that bear his name in St. Lawrence County, NY. In 1816, Morris died, of unseemly causes, and was interred in St. Ann's Church, the Bronx. On this day, November 2, in 1913, Burton Stephen Lancaster was born in Manhattan, New York. He grew up at 209 East 106th Street. Upon graduating high school he was accepted into New York University on an athletic Scholarship, but dropped out. Burt Lancaster, was a four time Academy Award nominated actor for: Atlantic City (1980), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), From Here to Eternity (1953), and Elmer Gantry, which he won for Best Actor in 1960. Among his other notable movie appearances were: Judgement at Nuremberg (1961), Field of Dreams (1989), Apache (1954), and Sorry, Wrong Number (1948). Burt lancaster was married three times. After long suffering from atherosclerosis, he died on October 20, 1994 in his Los Angeles Apartment. He was subsequently buried in Westwood Memorial Park, in LA. As he requested, no funeral or memorial service was held. On this day, November 1, in 1683, the Province of New York, at the time still an English Crown Colony, was divided into 12 counties by Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick, and Royal Governor of the Province. The 12 Counties were as follows:
It is worth noting that in 1692, Cornwall County, and Dukes county were ceded to the Province of Massachusetts Bay. |
On this day in Old New York
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