October 10th in NYC History
Posted: Oct 10, 2012 | 3:46 PM
1645: The Dutch chartered Flushing. Later it will help establish religious tolerance in America.
1770: The Erie Canal's engineer Benjamin Wright born. The canal cemented NYC as the great American port for about 140 years. It was a publicly funded investment that paid for itself before it was even completed.
1775: General Howe chosen to lead British army.
1885: The largest intentional detonation (until the atomic bomb) happens over 9 acres to improve ship navigation through the East River's Hell Gate Channel. The army blasted
three-hundred-thousand pounds of dynamite there.
1900: Broadway's beloved Helen Hayes born.
1917: NYC and Julliard's Jazz great Thelonious Monk born.
1935: "Porgy and Bess," George Gershwin's opera featuring an all-black cast using black idioms opens on Broadway at the Alvin. It was considered the US' first great opera.
1946: Broadway acting and dancing talent Ben Vereen born.
1954: Happy Birthday Rock star David Lee Roth from Van Halen.
1956: The last "Wait 'till next year" in Brooklyn as the Yankees 9-0 take the World Series from them 4-3 in the series:
1973: Two days after a two-team brawl and the fans throwing garbage onto the field, the Mets beat Cincinnati 7-2 take the National League Pennant. Tens of thousands of fans storm the NY Shea Stadium field and tear the turf and trash the stadium.
1985: Yul Brenner known for the King and I died in Manhattan.
2004: Julliard alum, Superman, and philanthropist Christopher Reeve dies at age 52.
2012: Robert Lefkowitz wins the Nobel Prize for Chemistry "studies of G-protein-coupled receptors." He is the 8th graduate of the Bronx High School of Science to be awarded a Nobel Prize.