http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Aug 16, 1896: Gold discovered in the Yukon
While salmon fishing near the Klondike River in Canada's Yukon Territory on this day in 1896, George Carmack reportedly spots nuggets of gold in a creek bed. His lucky discovery sparks the last great gold rush in the American West.
Hoping to cash in on reported gold strikes in Alaska, Carmack had traveled there from California in 1881. After running into a dead end, he headed north into the isolated Yukon Territory, just across the Canadian border. In 1896, another prospector, Robert Henderson, told Carmack of finding gold in a tributary of the Klondike River. Carmack headed to the region with two Native American companions, known as Skookum Jim and Tagish Charlie. On August 16, while camping near Rabbit Creek, Carmack reportedly spotted a nugget of gold jutting out from the creek bank. His two companions later agreed that Skookum Jim--Carmack's brother-in-law--actually made the discovery.
Regardless of who spotted the gold first, the three men soon found that the rock near the creek bed was thick with gold deposits. They staked their claim the following day. News of the gold strike spread fast across Canada and the United States, and over the next two years, as many as 50,000 would-be miners arrived in the region. Rabbit Creek was renamed Bonanza, and even more gold was discovered in another Klondike tributary, dubbed Eldorado.
"Klondike Fever" reached its height in the United States in mid-July 1897 when two steamships arrived from the Yukon in San Francisco and Seattle, bringing a total of more than two tons of gold. Thousands of eager young men bought elaborate "Yukon outfits" (kits assembled by clever marketers containing food, clothing, tools and other necessary equipment) and set out on their way north. Few of these would find what they were looking for, as most of the land in the region had already been claimed. One of the unsuccessful gold-seekers was 21-year-old Jack London, whose short stories based on his Klondike experience became his first book, The Son of the Wolf (1900).
For his part, Carmack became rich off his discovery, leaving the Yukon with $1 million worth of gold. Many individual gold miners in the Klondike eventually sold their stakes to mining companies, who had the resources and machinery to access more gold. Large-scale gold mining in the Yukon Territory didn't end until 1966, and by that time the region had yielded some $250 million in gold. Today, some 200 small gold mines still operate in the region.
Today
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
1384 - The Hongwu Emperor of Ming China, Emperor Dong, hears
a case of a couple who tore paper money bills while fighting over them—a case
considered equal to the act of destroying stamped government documents, which
by law necessitated one hundred floggings by a bamboo rod. However, the Hongwu
Emperor decided to pardon them, seeing as how their intention was not to tear
up the money.
1513 - Battle at Eguinegatte/Guinegate: Maximilian &
Henry VIII beat France
1570 - King Janos Sigismund Zapolyai signs secret treaty
with Maximilian II
1625 - Earnest Casimir of Nassau-Dietz appointed viceroy of
Drenthe
1691 - Yorktown Va founded
1717 - Prince Eugenius of Savoye occupies Belgrade
1743 - Earliest boxing code of rules formulated in England
(Jack Broughton)
1745 - Skirmish at Laggan: Glengarry beats Royal Scots
1748 - "Geldermalsen" sails to East-Indies
1777 - Americans defeat British in Battle of Bennington, Vt
1780 - British decisively defeat Americans in Battle of
Camden, SC
1794 - Hungarian revolutionary Ignác Martinovics arrested in
Vienna
1797 - Comet C/1797 P1 (Bouvard-Herschel) approaches 0.0879
AUs of Earth
1812 - Gen Hull surrenders Detroit & Michigan territory
to England
1819 - Manchester Massacre: English police charge unemployed
demonstrators
1829 - Siamese twins Chang & Eng Bunker arrive in Boston
to be exhibited
1834 - Charles Darwin climbs Mt Campana in Chile
1858 - Britain's Queen Victoria telegraphs President James
Buchanan
1861 - Pres Lincoln prohibits Union states from trading with
Confederacy
US President James Buchanan 1861 - Skirmishes at
Fredericktown/Kirkville, Missouri
1863 - Chickamauga campaign GA
1863 - Emancipation Proclamation signed
1864 - 4th day of battle at Deep Bottom Run Virginia,
Federal assault
1864 - Palace for People's industry official opens in
Amsterdam
1865 - Restoration Day in the Dominican Republic: The
Dominican Republic regains its independence after 4 years of fighting against
the Spanish Annexation.
1869 - Battle of Acosta Ñu: A Paraguay battalion made up of
children is massacred by the Brazilian Army during the War of the Triple
Alliance.
1870 - Fred Goldsmith demonstrates curve ball isn't an
optical illusion
1876 - Opera "Siegfried" premieres in Bayreuth
1882 - British under General Wolseley land in Alexandria
1890 - Alexander Clark, journalist/lawyer, named minister to
Liberia
1894 - Indian chiefs from the Sioux & Onondaga tribes
met to urge their people to renounce Christianity & return to their old
Indian faith
1896 - Gold discovered in Klondike, found at Bonanza Creek,
Ala
1898 - Edwin Prescott patents roller coaster
1903 - Tigers play a home game in Toledo Ohio, Yanks win
12-8
1904 - NYC begins building Grand Central Station
1905 - Mbunga-rebellion occupy German post Ifakara
East-Africa
1906 - -17] 8.6 earthquake destroys Valparaiso Chile, fire
kills 20,000
1907 - Abd al-Hafid proclaims himself sultan of Morocco
1913 - Tōhoku Imperial University of Japan (modern day
Tōhoku University) admits its first female students.
1914 - German army occupies last fort at Luik, Belgian
general Leman caught
1914 - Zapata & Pancho Villa over run Mexico
1914 - World War I: Battle of Cer begins.
1915 - KC's Alex Main no-hits Buffalo (Federal League), 5-0
1918 - US troops overthrows Archangelsk
1920 - Ray Chapman, of Indians is hit in head by Yanks' Carl
Mays pitch; he dies next day, only major league fatality
1922 - AT&T radio station WBAY becomes WEAF (NYC)
1924 - 38th US Womens Tennis: Helen Wills Moody beats Molla
B Mallory (61 63)
1924 - Conference about German recovery payments opens in
London
1924 - Dutch-Turkish peace treaty signed
Baseball Great Babe Ruth 1927 - 1st HR hit out of Comiskey
Park Chicago (NY Yankee Babe Ruth)
1930 - The first color sound cartoon, called Fiddlesticks,
is made by Ub Iwerks.
1934 - US ends occupation of Haiti (been there since 1915)
1934 - US explorer William Beebe descends 3,028' (923 m) in
Bathysphere
1936 - 11th Olympic games closes in Berlin
1940 - 45 German aircrafts shot down over England
1941 - HMS Mercury, Royal Navy Signals School and Combined
Signals School opens at Leydene, near Petersfield, Hampshire, England.
1942 - Premier Churchill travels back to Cairo from Moscow
1943 - 1st Long Tom bombs on Italian mainland (from Sicily)
1943 - Bulgarian czar Boris III visits Adolf Hitler
1944 - 2nd Canadian Division occupies Falaise Normandy
1944 - Chartres freed
1944 - Dutch begin diplomatic contact with Vatican in London
1944 - US 15th Army corp reaches Eure, surrounds Dreux
1944 - First flight of the Junkers Ju 287.
Dictator of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler 1945 - Puyi, the last
Chinese emperor and ruler of Manchukuo, was captured by Soviet troops.
1946 - Great Calcutta blood bath - Moslem/Hindu riot
(3-4,000 die)
1947 - Ralph Kiner becomes 1st Pirate to hit 3 consecutive
HRs
1948 - Arabs blow up Latrun pumping station in Jerusalem
1948 - Israeli pound becomes legal tender
1950 - West Indies complete historic 3-1 series win against
England
1953 - KTAL TV channel 6 in Shreveport-Texarkana, LA (NBC)
begins
1953 - Shah of Persia & princess Soraya flee to Baghdad
& Rome
1954 - "Sports Illustrated" magazine begins
publishing
1954 - 200 pilgrims drown in Farahzad Iran rain storm flood
1955 - Fiat Motors orders 1st private atomic reactor
1956 - Adlai E Stevenson nominated as Democratic
presidential candidate
1956 - Indians' Rocky Colavito hits his 1st grand slam,
Cleveland 5, Tigers 4
1959 - Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Seattle Golf Open
1959 - USSR introduces installment buying
1960 - Britain grants independence to crown colony of Cyprus
1960 - Joseph Kittinger parachutes from balloon at 31,330 m
(84,700')
1960 - Republic of Congo (Zaire, Dem Rep of Congo) forms
1961 - 250,000 West Berliners demonstrate against East
Berlin
1961 - Martin L King protests for black voting right in
Miami
Beatles Drummer Ringo Starr 1962 - Ringo Starr replaces Pete
Best as Beatle drummer
1963 - Independence is restored to Dominican Republic
1964 - Ruth Jessen wins LPGA Omaha Jaycee Golf Open
Invitational
1964 - St Louis Card Curt Flood gets 8 straight hits in a
doubleheader
1965 - AFL awards its 1st expansion franchise (Miami
Dolphins)
1967 - Cin Red Jim Maloney retires 19 Pirates, then gets
injured & leaves
1967 - WFIQ TV channel 36 in Florence, AL (PBS) begins
broadcasting
1969 - WATL TV channel 36 in Atlanta, GA begins broadcasting
1969 - Woodstock rock festival begins in NY
1970 - 52nd PGA Championship: Dave Stockton shoots 279 at
Southern Hills OK
1970 - Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Cincinnati Golf Open
1972 - 54th PGA Championship: Gary Player shoots a 281 at
Oakland Hills Mich
1972 - Morocco King Hassan II's B727 shot at
1972 - Philip Potter appointed sect-gen of World council of
Churches
1972 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern
Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1974 - Ramones concert debut (NY's CBGBs)
1975 - Peter Gabriel quits Genesis
1976 - 58th PGA Championship: Dave Stockton shoots a 281 at
Congressional MD
1976 - St Louis Cards beat San Diego Chargers 20-10 in Tokyo
(NFL expo)
1977 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1977 - Yanks blow 9-4 lead in 9th but beat Chicago 11-10 in
bottom of 9th
1980 - Bill Ward quits Black Sabbath
1980 - Cozy Powell quits Rainbow
1980 - Jools Holland quits Squeeze
1981 - Highest score in World Cup soccer match (New
Zealand-13, Fiji-0)
1981 - Jan Stephenson wins LPGA Mary Kay Golf Classic
1981 - Mary Terstegge Meagher swims world record 100m
butterfly (57.93)
1984 - Andrea Doria's safe opened
1984 - LA federal jury acquits auto maker John Z DeLorean on
cocaine charges
1984 - Largest harness racing purse ($2,161,000-Nihilator
wins $1,080,500)
1984 - NASA launches Ampte
1986 - Sudan rebels shoot a Fokker's F-27 down, 57 killed
1986 - "Papa Don't Preach," goes #1 for 2 weeks
1986 - Madonna's "True Blue," album goes #1 for 5
weeks & her single
Pop Star Madonna 1987 - Astrological Harmonic
Convergence-Dawn of New Age
1987 - NY Mets beat Chicago Cubs, 23-9
1987 - Northwest Airlines 255 plane crashes in Detroit, 156
die (1 lives)
1987 - Val Skinner wins LPGA MasterCard International Golf
Pro-Am
1988 - Butch Reynolds runs world record 400 m (43.29)
1988 - IBM introduces software for artificial intelligence
1988 - Jailed black nationalist Nelson Mandela struck with
tuberculosis
1988 - Mayor Koch says he plans to wipe out street-corner
windshield washers
1989 - Roger Kingdom of USA sets 110m hurdle record (12.92)
in Zurich
1989 - A solar flare from the Sun creates a geomagnetic
storm that affects micro chips, leading to a halt of all trading on Toronto's
stock market.
1990 - China PR performs nuclear test at Lop Nor PRC
1990 - Iraq orders 4000 Britons & 2500 Americans in
Kuwait to Iraq
1991 - Belgium census is 10,000,963 inhabitants
1991 - Pres Bush declares recession is near an end
1992 - 20th du Maurier Golf Classic: Sherri Steinhaur
Anti-apartheid activist/South African President Nelson
Mandela 1992 - 74th PGA Championship: Nick Price shoots a 278 at Bellerive St
Louis
1992 - Moses Kiptanui runs world record 3k (7:28.96)
1993 - The Debian distribution was first announced by Ian
Murdock, then a student at Purdue University. Murdock initially called his
system the "Debian Linux Release"
1994 - Chandrika Kumaratungo's party wins Sri Lanka
elections
1994 - Shauna Gambill, 17, of California, crowned 12th Miss
Teen USA
1997 - For only 2nd time Stanley Cup leaves North America
(heads to Russia)
1998 - 80th PGA Championship at Sahalee CC, Seattle WA
1998 - Weetabix Women's British Golf Open
2003 - U.S. Representative from South Dakota Bill Janklow
hits and kills a motorcyclist with his car at a rural intersection near Trent,
South Dakota; he will eventually be convicted of manslaughter and will resign
from Congress.
2005 - West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 crashes near
Machiques, Venezuela, killing the 160 aboard.
2008 - Usain Bolt sets a new 100 metres dash world record of
9.69 seconds at the Beijing 2008 summer olympics.
2011 - Beginning of World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid
2012 - Julian Assange, Wikileaks founder, is granted
political asylum by Ecuador
2012 - 113 people are killed and over 200 wounded in a
series of attacks across Iraq
2012 - South African police open fire on striking mine
workers and kill at least 34 people
1777 - During the American Revolutionary War, the Battle of Bennington took place. New England's minutemen routed the British regulars. 1812 - Detroit fell to Indian and British troops in the War of 1812. 1829 - The "Siamese twins," Chang and Eng Bunker, arrived in Boston, MA. They had come to the Western world to be exhibited. They were 18 years old and joined at the waist. 1858 - A telegraphed message from Britain's Queen Victoria to U.S. President Buchanan was transmitted over the recently laid trans-Atlantic cable. 1861 - U.S. President Lincoln prohibited the Union states from trading with the states of the Confederacy. 1923 - Carnegie Steel Corporation put into place the eight-hour workday for its employees. 1930 - The first British Empire Games were held at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The event is now called the British Commonwealth Games. 1937 - Harvard University became the first school to have graduate courses in traffic engineering and administration. 1954 - Sports Illustrated was published for the first time. It was claimed that 250,000 subscriptions had been sold before the first issue came off of the presses. 1954 - Jack Paar replaced Walter Cronkite as host of "The Morning Show" on CBS-TV. 1960 - Cyprus was granted independence by Britain. 1960 - The free-fall world record was set by Joseph Kittinger. He fell more than 16 miles (about 84,000 feet) before opening his parachute over New Mexico. 1978 - Xerox was fined for excluding Smith-Corona Mfg. from the copier market. The fine was $25.6 million. 1984 - The U.S. Jaycees voted to admit women to full membership in the organization. 1995 - Voters in Bermuda rejected independence from Great Britain. 1999 - In Russia, Vladimir V. Putin was confirmed as prime minister by the lower house of parliament.
1777 The Revolutionary War battle of Bennington, Vt., won by American forces. 1829 The original Siamese twins, Eng and Chang, arrived in Boston. 1948 Baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York City at age 53. 1960 Cyprus, the third-largest island in the Mediterranean, became an independent republic. 1962 Algeria was admitted to the Arab League. 1977 Elvis Presley died at Graceland, his Memphis,Tenn., home, from heart failure at age 42. 2003 Former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin died.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/aug16.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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