Author Archives: Kathy Padden

This Day in History: July 1st

This Day In History: July 1, 1874 On July 1, 1874, a little four-year-old boy from Germantown, PA had the tragic distinction of being the first known kidnapping victim held for ransom in United States history. Two strange men coaxed him and his eight-year-old brother into their wagon with promises of candy. (This is thought by some etymologists to be […]

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This Day in History: June 27th

This Day In History: June 27, 1829 On June 27, 1829, James Smithson died in Genoa, Italy at the age of 64 after a long illness. He wrote his will three years prior to his death, which contained a strange request. He left his sizable estate, totaling roughly half a million dollars (about $11 million today), to his nephew Henry […]

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This Day in History: June 25th

This Day In History: June 25, 1967 Already riding high after the release of the groundbreaking “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band” just weeks before, the biggest band in the world further solidified their status as larger-than-life pop culture icons on June 25, 1967. On that day, 300-400 million people around the globe watched and listened as the Beatles introduced […]

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This Day in History: June 24th

This Day In History: June 24, 1314 When the Scots met the English on the battlefield in 1314, they were heavily outnumbered, but after almost a decade of plundering and guerrilla warfare in Northern England, they were prepared to meet the enemy head-on. The Scots and the English had fought many, many times before, but this particular battle proved pivotal […]

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This Day in History: June 19th

This Day In History: June 19, 1905 The first baby step toward red carpet galas and Brangelina was the introduction of the first nickelodeon theater on June 19, 1905 in Pittsburgh, PA. The nickelodeon, whose odd name was a combination of the five cent admission price and “odeon,” the Greek word for theater, became an instant smash. The idea began […]

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This Day in History: June 18th

This Day In History: June 18, 1967 The Summer of Love was ushered in by the Monterey International Pop Music Festival, a three-day event held June 16 through June 18 in Monterey, California at the Monterey County Fairgrounds. Monterey was the venue where The Who, Ravi Shankar and Jimi Hendrix all made their first major American appearances. The Festival was […]

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This Day in History: June 16th

This Day In History: June 16, 1884 Much to the delight of thrill-seekers everywhere, the first rollercoaster made its debut at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York on June 16, 1884. Known as a switchback railway, the rollercoaster that customers paid a nickel to ride on that day bore little resemblance to the coasters we’re familiar with now. The brainchild […]

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This Day in History: June 13th

This Day In History: June 13, 1777 Inspired by the struggles of the American colonists to free themselves from the tyranny of English rule, a 19-year-old French aristocrat set sail from his homeland to volunteer his aid. He paid for his own ship and travel expenses since the colonists could not afford to finance his voyage, and passed the time […]

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This Day in History: June 12th

This Day In History: June 12, 1381 The Peasants’ Revolt in England started suddenly, but the seeds were sown many years beforehand. The Black Death during the earlier part of the 14th century caused a serious shortage of workers, which gave the peasant class the option to choose where they worked – a freedom that was unheard of in feudal […]

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