This day in history - May 24

[seamusTX]

1830 - The first passenger railroad in the United States began operating between Baltimore and Elliott's Mills, Maryland.

1844 - Samuel F.B. Morse dedicated the first telegraph line between Washington and Baltimore, transmitting the phrase, "What hath God wrought!"

The phrase is from the Bible, Numbers 23:23. It is often misquoted as a question.

For the first time, information could travel over long distances faster than a horse or sailing ship.

1883 - The Brooklyn Bridge opened.

Brooklyn Bridge

The longest suspension bridge at the time it was built, the story of its construction is fascinating.
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1962 - Scott Carpenter became the second American to orbit the Earth in Aurora 7, a mission in the Mercury program.

- Jim

[Skiprr]

1626 - Per tradition, this is the date Peter Minuit, Director-General of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, bought the island of Manhattan from Native Americans (probably the Lenape) for trade goods valued at 60 guilders (an amount equivalent to about $700 Euros in 2006 money). Minuit was from what today would be Westphalia, but was then called Wesel. So technically, Minuit was a Walloon from Wesel...and you thought you'd been called some unusual things.

1941 - Bob Dylan (originally Robert Allen Zimmerman) was born in Duluth, Minnesota.

1958 - United Press International (UPI) was formed when United Press and the International News Service merged.

1974 - Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, one of the most influential figures in jazz, died in New York at the age of 75.

2002 - The treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions (SORT; better known simply as the Moscow Treaty) was signed by the United States and the Russian Federation.

[Liberty]

How many projects being built today will still be around 125 years later?

[seamusTX]

In the 19th century, and maybe up to the 1930s, things were built to last forever. Look at the Strand.

Now they are designed to become obsolete. Maybe some big projects like dams and canals in China will still be in service in 2030.

- Jim

[Liberty]

In the 19th century, and maybe up to the 1930s, things were built to last forever. Look at the Strand.

Now they are designed to become obsolete. Maybe some big projects like dams and canals in China will still be in service in 2030.

- Jim

There are 2 baseball parks I really loved to go to the Astrodome and Fenway Park. I never understood how a 40 year old baseball park could be considered old and obsolete, and abandoned.

[Skiprr]

How many projects being built today will still be around 125 years later?

Don't forget any new-production Twinkies. So long as the wrapper isn't damaged, that should be just about the normal shelf life...

[tacticool]

1844 - Samuel F.B. Morse dedicated the first telegraph line between Washington and Baltimore, transmitting the phrase, "What hath God wrought!"

The phrase is from the Bible, Numbers 23:23. It is often misquoted as a question.

For the first time, information could travel over long distances faster than a horse or sailing ship.

What about smoke signals and drums?

[seamusTX]

That's why I said long distances. Since ancient times there have been methods that work over maybe two miles with limited bandwidth; but with the telegraph, a network quickly developed that could transmit substantial amounts of information throughout a country that was already 3,000 miles wide.

- Jim