Monday, May 20, 2013

On This Day in History - May 20

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/levi-strauss-and-jacob-davis-receive-patent-for-blue-jeans

May 20, 1873: Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive patent for blue jeans 

On this day in 1873, San Francisco businessman Levi Strauss and Reno, Nevada, tailor Jacob Davis are given a patent to create work pants reinforced with metal rivets, marking the birth of one of the world's most famous garments: blue jeans.  

Born Loeb Strauss in Buttenheim, Bavaria, in 1829, the young Strauss immigrated to New York with his family in 1847 after the death of his father. By 1850, Loeb had changed his name to Levi and was working in the family dry goods business, J. Strauss Brother & Co. In early 1853, Levi Strauss went west to seek his fortune during the heady days of the Gold Rush.  

In San Francisco, Strauss established a wholesale dry goods business under his own name and worked as the West Coast representative of his family's firm. His new business imported clothing, fabric and other dry goods to sell in the small stores opening all over California and other Western states to supply the rapidly expanding communities of gold miners and other settlers. By 1866, Strauss had moved his company to expanded headquarters and was a well-known businessman and supporter of the Jewish community in San Francisco. 

Jacob Davis, a tailor in Reno, Nevada, was one of Levi Strauss' regular customers. In 1872, he wrote a letter to Strauss about his method of making work pants with metal rivets on the stress points--at the corners of the pockets and the base of the button fly--to make them stronger. As Davis didn't have the money for the necessary paperwork, he suggested that Strauss provide the funds and that the two men get the patent together. Strauss agreed enthusiastically, and the patent for "Improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings"--the innovation that would produce blue jeans as we know them--was granted to both men on May 20, 1873.  

Strauss brought Davis to San Francisco to oversee the first manufacturing facility for "waist overalls," as the original jeans were known. At first they employed seamstresses working out of their homes, but by the 1880s, Strauss had opened his own factory. The famous 501 brand jean--known until 1890 as "XX"--was soon a bestseller, and the company grew quickly. By the 1920s, Levi's denim waist overalls were the top-selling men's work pant in the United States. As decades passed, the craze only grew, and now blue jeans are worn by men and women, young and old, around the world.  

325 - The first Christian Ecumenical Council was inaugurated by Emperor Constantine in Nicea, Asia Minor.  

1217 - The Second Battle of Lincoln is fought near Lincoln, England, resulting in the defeat of Prince Louis of France by William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke.

1293 - Earthquake strikes Kamakura Japan, 30,000 killed

1293 - King Sancho IV of Castile creates the Study of General Schools of Alcalá.

1303 - Treaty of Paris restored Gascony to British in Hundred Years War

1310 - Shoes were made for both right & left feet

1347 - Cola di Rienzo took the title of tribune in Rome.

1495 - French King Charles VIII leaves Naples

1498 - Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives at Calcutta India

1501 - Joao da Nova Castell discovers Ascension Islands

1506 - Christopher Columbus died in poverty in Spain.

1520 - Hernando Cortez defeated Spanish troops that had been sent to punish him in Mexico.  

1521 - Ignatius Loyola seriously wounded by a cannon ball

1524 - Duke of Albany leaves Scotland

1570 - Egidius Coppens publishes Abraham Ortelius' "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum"

1571 - Venice, Spain & Pope Pius form anti-Turkish Saint League

1591 - Spanish troops in Zutphen surrenders to Willem Louis/Mauritius

1609 - Shakespeare's Sonnets are first published in London, perhaps illicitly, by the publisher Thomas Thorpe.

1631 - Magdeburg in Germany seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire under earl Johann Tilly, most inhabitants massacred, one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years' War.

1639 - Dorchester Mass, forms 1st school funded by local taxes

1674 - John Sobieski became Poland’s first King.

1690 - England passed the Act of Grace, forgiving followers of James II

1704 - Elias Neau forms school for slaves in NY

1734 - \First Jockey Club forms in SC

1774 - Britain gives Quebec, Labrador and territory north of Ohio  

1774 - Britain's Parliament passed the Coercive Acts to punish the American colonists for their increasingly anti-British behavior  

1775 - Citizens of Mecklenburg County, and North Carolina declared independence from Great Britain, thus making North Carolina  the first colony to declare its independence. This is the date that is on the George state flag even though the date of this event has been questioned.  

1784 - A peace treaty was signed at the Peace of Versailles (Treaty of Paris) which ended a war between France, England, and Holland.

1825 - Charles X became King of France

1830 - First railroad timetable published in newspaper (Baltimore American)

1830 - The fountain pen was patented by H.D. Hyde.  

1835 - Otto is named the first modern king of Greece.

1840 - York Minster was badly damaged by fire

1845 - First legislative assembly convenes in Hawaii

1845 - HMS Erebus and HMS Terror with 134 men under John Franklin sail from the River Thames in England, beginning a disastrous expedition to find the Northwest Passage. All hands are lost.

1861 - During the American Civil War, the capital of the Confederacy was moved from Montgomery, AL, to Richmond, VA.

1861 - Cornerstone of University of Washington laid in Seattle

1861 - Kentucky proclaims its neutrality in Civil War

1861 - North Carolina became the eleventh and; final, state to secede from Union

1861 - US marshals appropriate previous year's telegraph dispatches, to reveal prosecessionist evidence

1862 - Homestead Act provides cheap land for settlement of West

1864 - Battle at Ware Bottom Church, Virginia, 1,400 killed or injured

1864 - Spotsylvania-campaign ends after 10,920 killed/injured

1867 - Brit parliament rejects John Stuart Mills law on women's suffrage

1867 - Royal Albert Hall foundation laid by Queen Victoria

1868 - Republican National Convention, meets in Chicago, nominates Grant

1870 - Second Chamber abolishes capital punishment

1873 - Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patent first blue jeans with copper rivets

1875 - The International Bureau of Weights and Measures was established by treaty.

1879 - 5th Kentucky Derby: Charlie Shauer aboard Lord Murphy wins in 2:37

1882 - Germany/Austria-Hungary/France sign Triple Alliance

1882 - Henrik Ibsen's "Ghosts" (Gengangere) premieres in Chicago

1882 - St Gotthard-railroad tunnel between Switzerland & Italy opens

1891 - History of cinema: The first public display of Thomas Edison's prototype kinetoscope.

1892 - George Sampson patents clothes dryer

1892 - Triple Alliance between Germany, Italy & Austria forms

1895 - 1st commercial movie performance (153 Broadway, NYC)

1896 - The six ton chandelier of the Palais Garnier falls on the crowd resulting in the death of one and the injury of many others.

1899 - Jacob German of New York City became the first driver to be arrested for speeding. The posted speed limit was 12 miles per hour.

1900 - Second modern Olympic games opens in Paris (lasted 5 months)

1902 - Cuba gained its independence from Spain.

1902 - US military occupation of Cuba (since Jan 1, 1899) ends

1910 - Funeral for Britain's King Edward VII

1911 - Edwin Boaler Alletson hits 189 in 90 mins Notts v Sussex

1913 - 38th Preakness: James Butwell aboard Buskin wins in 1:53.4

1915 - Bataafsche Petroleum Me begins oil extraction of Maracaibo

1916 - Codell, Kansas hit by tornado (also on same date in 1917 & 1918)

1916 - Norman Rockwell’s first cover on "The Saturday Evening Post" appeared.

1917 - Turkish government authorizes Jews to return to Tel Aviv & Jaffa

1918 - First electrically propelled warship (New Mexico)

1919 - Volcano Keluit on Java, erupts killing 550

1920 - Policemen raid the Cubs' bleachers and arrest 24 fans for gambling

1922 - "Egypt" sinks off Ushant after colliding with "Seine," killing 90

1922 - Babe Ruth & Bob Meusel, suspended on October 16, 1921, by Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis, return to the NY lineup & go hitless

1923 - Stanley Baldwin, becomes PM of UK

1926 - Belgian government of Jaspar takes power

1926 - The U.S. Congress passed the Air Commerce Act. The act gave the Department of Commerce the right to license pilots and planes.

1926 - Railway Labor Act became law

1926 - Thomas Edison says Americans prefer silent movies over talkies

1927 - At 7:40 AM, Charles Lindbergh took off from Long Island, New York to cross the Atlantic for Paris aboard his airplane the "Spirit of St. Louis." The trip took 33 1/2 hours, and was the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight.

1927 - Saudi Arabia becomes independent of Great Britain (Treaty of Jedda)

1930 - The first airplane was catapulted from a dirigible, Charles Nicholson, pilot

1930 - University of California dedicates $1,500 to research on prevention and cure of athlete's foot

1932 - Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She became the first woman to achieve the feat.

1932 - Engelbert Dollfuss becomes chancellor of Austria

1933 - "Charlie Chan" was heard for the final time on the NBC Blue radio network, after only six months on the air.

1939 - "3 Little Fishies," by Kay Kyser hits #1

1939 - The first telecast over telephone wires was sent from Madison Square Garden to the NBC-TV studios at 30 Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. The event was a bicycle race.  

1939 - The first regular air-passenger service across the Atlantic Ocean began with the take-off of the "Yankee Clipper" from Port Washington, New York.  (Pan Am: NY to Marseille, France)

1940 - Gen Guderians tanks reach The Channel (British expeditionary army)

1940 - Soccer team HZVV forms in Hoogeveen

1940 - Trailing 7-1 in 9th to Pitts, Phils win 8-7

1941 - Archer's "Christian Calendar and Gregorian Reform" published

1941 - Former Dutch PM Colijn says Neth Indies not ready for independence

1941 - Germany invaded Crete by air.  

1941 - White Sox Taft Wright sets AL record of RBIs in 13 consecutive games

1942 - Japan completed the conquest of Burma.

1942 - US Navy 1st permitted black recruits to serve

1943 - French, British and US victory parade in Tunis Tunisia

1944 - US Communist Party dissolves

1945 - Keith Miller scores 105 in the 1st Victory Test Cricket at Lord's

1946 - Cubs Claude Passeau makes his 1st error since September 21, 1941, ending pitcher's fielding record of 273 consecutive errorless chances

1948 - First use of Israeli Air Force and first war victory, defeating Syrian army

1948 - Cleveland Indians tie AL record of 18 walks (beat Red Sox 13-4)

1950 - 76th Preakness: Eddie Arcaro aboard Hill Prince wins in 1:59.2

1954 - Chiang Kai-shek becomes president of Nationalist China

1955 - Argentine parliament accepts separation of church & state

1956 - Atomic fusion (thermonuclear) bomb dropped from plane-Bikini Atoll

1956 - Jordan government of Samir resigns

1958 - US performs nuclear test at Enwetak (atmospheric tests)

1959 - Ford wins battle with Chrysler to call its new car "Falcon"

1959 - Japanese-Americans regain their citizenship

1959 - Shah of Persia visits Netherlands

1959 - Yanks sink to last place, first time since May 25, 1940

1961 - A white mob attacked the Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Alabama, setting the bus on fire. The event prompted the federal government to send U.S. marshals.  

1961 - 87th Preakness: Johnny Sellers aboard Carry Back wins in 1:57.6

1961 - Henzes opera "Elegy for Young Lovers," premieres in Schwetzingen

1961 - Mauritania adopts constitution

1961 - White mob attacks "Freedom Riders" in Montgomery, Alabama

1963 - Sukarno appointed president of Indonesia

1964 - Buster Mathis defeats Joe Frazier to qualify for US Olympic team

1965 - Pakistani Boeing 720-B crashes at Cairo Egypt, killing 121

1965 - Yorkshire all out for 23 v Hampshire at Middlesbrough

1967 - 10,000 demonstrate against war in Vietnam

1967 - 93rd Preakness: Bill Shoemaker aboard Damascus wins in 1:55.2

1967 - BBC bans Beatle's "A Day in the Life" (drug references)

1969 - U.S. and South Vietnamese forces captured Apbia Mountain, which was referred to as Hill 937/Hamburger Hill.

1970 - 100,000 marched in New York supporting US policies in Vietnam

1970 - 2 die in a NYC subway accident

1970 - Beatles' "Let it Be" movie premieres in UK

1971 - Pentagon reports blacks constitute 11% of US soldiers in SE Asia

1972 - "Different Times" closes at ANTA Theater NYC after 24 performances

1972 - "Hard Job Being God" closes at Edison Theater NYC after 6 performances

1972 - 5th ABA Championship: Indiana Pacers beat NY Nets, 4 games to 2

1972 - 98th Preakness: Eldon Nelson aboard Bee Bee Bee wins in 1:55.6

1972 - Cameroon adopts its constitution

1972 - Republic of Cameroon declared as constitution is ratified

1973 - "2 Gentlemen of Verona" closes at St James Theater NYC after 613 perfs

1973 - 25th Emmy Awards: Waltons, All in the Family and Mary Tyler Moore

1973 - Donna Caponi Young wins LPGA Bluegrass Golf Invitational

1974 - Soyuz 14 returns to Earth

1976 - USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR

1978 - Mavis Hutchinson, at age 53, became the first woman to run across America. The 3,000-mile trek took her 69 days. She ran an average of 45 miles each day.

1978 - 104th Preakness: Steve Cauthen aboard Affirmed wins in 1:54.4

1978 - 3 PFLP members kill a cop near El Al airlines in Orly Airport, Paris

1978 - US launches Pioneer Venus 1; produces 1st global radar map of Venus

1979 - "I Love My Wife" closes at Barrymore Theater NYC after 864 perfs

1979 - First western pop star to tour USSR-Elton John

1980 - The submarine Nautilus was designated as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.

1980 - 710 families in Love Canal area (Niagara Falls NY) are evacuated

1980 - Drummer Peter Criss quits Kiss

1980 - Fire in nursing home in Kingston Jamaica, kills 157

1980 - In a referendum, 59.5% of Quebec voters reject separatism

1981 - Ipswich Town wins 10th UEFA Cup at Amsterdam

1982 - TV’s "Barney Miller" was seen for the last time on ABC-TV.

1983 - Larry Holmes beats Tim Witherspoon in 12 for heavyweight boxing title

1983 - Michael Dokes & Mike Weaver fight to a draw in 15 for hw boxing title

1983 - Phillies Steve Carlton passes W Johnson with 2nd most strike outs

1984 - "On Your Toes" closes at Virginia Theater NYC after 505 performances

1984 - Boston's Roger Clemens beats Twins, 5-4, for his 1st victory

1985 - The Dow Jones industrial average broke the 1300 mark for the first time. The Dow closed at 1304.88.  

1985 - The FBI arrested U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer John Walker. Walker had begun spying for the Soviet Union in 1968.  

1985 - Radio Marti was launched.

1985 - 1150 Lebanese/Palestinian prisoners exchanged for 3 Israelis

1985 - Indians-Brewers game at Cleve Stadium is 1st rain-out of 1985, ends record string of 458 ML games since Opening Day without a rain-out

1985 - Israel exchanges 1,100+ Arab prisoners for 3 Israeli soldiers

1985 - Larry Holmes beats Carl Williams in 15 for heavyweight boxing title

1985 - US began broadcasts to Cuba on Radio Marti

1986 - Flintstones 25th Anniversary Celebration airs on CBS-tv

1987 - Gutenborg wins 16th UEFA Cup at Dundee

1987 - Wrestler Jerry Lawler sues WWF & Harley Race for trademark name "king"

1988 - Howard Stern fans disrupt WMMR's & John DeBella's "Louie Louie" parade

1988 - Mike Schmidt hits his 535th HR, moving into 8th place

1989 - 115th Preakness: Pat Valenzuela aboard Sunday Silence wins in 1:53.8

1989 - China declares martial law in Beijing

1989 - Toonces The Cat takes the wheel on Saturday Night Live

1989 - Walter McConnel, 57, is oldest to reach 27,000' Mt Everest top

1990 - "Truly Blessed" closes at Longacre Theater NYC after 33 performances

1990 - Cindy Rarick wins LPGA Planters Pat Bradley Golf International

1990 - The Hubble Space Telescope sends first photograph's from space

1991 - Chic Bull Michael Jordan, named NBA's MVP

1991 - Jeff Reardon gains his 300th career save

1991 - Soviet parliament approves law allowing citizens to travel abroad

1992 - FC Barcelona wins 373 Europe Cup 1 at London

1992 - India launches its 1st satellite independently

1992 - Rap singer raps 597 syllables in under 60 seconds

1993 - 10m meteor comes within 150,000 km of Earth (1993KA)

1993 - 274th and final "Cheers" on NBC

1993 - Ukraine Premier Leonid Koetsjma resigns

1994 - Bobcat Goldthwait charged with misdemeanors for fire on Tonight Show

1994 - Miss India (Sushmita Sen) selected Miss Universe

1994 - Sony Theaters & Cineplex (NYC) hike movie ticket prices to $8.00

1995 - 121st Preakness: Pat Day aboard Timber Coutry wins in 1:54.4

1995 - CBS News fires co-anchor Connie Chung

1995 - Twins Marty Cordova ties rookie record of HRs in 5 consecutive games

1996 - In a 6-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Colorado measure banning laws that would protect homosexuals from discrimination.

1997 - Cosmos Zenit-2 Launch (Russia), Failed

1997 - Thor-2A Delta 2 Launch (Norway/USA), Successful

1997 - White Sox Frank Thomas reaches base safely for 15th straight time

1999 - At Heritage High School in Conyers, GA, a 15-year-old student shot and injured six students. He then surrendered to an assistant principal at the school.

2002 - The independence of East Timor is recognized by Portugal, formally ending 23 years of Indonesian rule and 3 years of provisional UN administration (Portugal itself was the former colonizer of East Timor until 1976).

2010 - Scientists announced that they had created a funtional synthetic genome.  

2010 - Five paintings worth 100 million Euro were stolen from the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.

2012 - Tomislav Nikolić elected president of Serbia

2012 - 6.0 magnitude earthquake kills 6 and injures dozens in northern Italy


         

These are the web pages I used to complete this blog entry:

http://www.historyorb.com/day/may/20

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/may20.htm

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory/May-20

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

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