January 7th in New York City History
NYC proposed as independent and neutral city-state for Civil War,
and many big birthdays, big events and firsts.
Posted: Jan 7, 2013 | 12:37 AM
by Jared Goldstein
1789: The first US Presidential election elected George Washington. As it was during the Confederation from 1784-1788, NYC was the capitol of the former British colonies along the east coast.
1861: As Civil War loomed, Mayor Fernando Wood proposed that New York become a "free city" so as not to lose trade with seceding Southern states. More specifically, Wood proposed that New York City secede from the Union and become a city-state to preserve its profitable trade with the South.
The City Council rejected the suggestion by a wide margin.
1873: Adolph Zukor, who built Paramount, born.
1891: Harlem Renaissance figure, writer, and researcher Zora Neale Hurston born.
1912: Cartoonist Charles Addams born. He died in 1988.
1927: Transatlantic telephone service begins connecting New York and London.
1946: Jann Wenner, born in NYC, Magazine publisher (Rolling Stone based in NYC), turns 67.
1955: Singer Marian Anderson debuted with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, becoming the first black person to perform as a member in its 71 year history.
She sang contralto in the role of the dramatic sorceress Ulrica in Verdi's Masked Ball, which earned her many curtain calls, including from two black porters who bought tickets to see her as audience members.
1957: Talk show host Katie Couric turns 56 years old today.
1970: Lou Rawls sings the ABCs song on the first season of Sesame Street.
1976: Former Yank 2nd baseman Alfonso Soriano born.
1991: The US Supreme Court refused to consider a challenge to the NFL's free agency system. To see how it turned out for the players and owners, see January 6th 1993.
1992: Met's pitcher
Tom Seaver elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with the highest margin, 98.8%. It would have been higher, but for a protest vote against the banning of Pete Rose.
1996: The Blizzard of '96 closed schools and most businesses. 20.2 inches of snow blew in over about a day and a half. At that point, it was the city's 3rd largest snowfall, coming in behind the blizzards of 1947 and 1888.