On this date Margartha Meyer Schurz was born in Hamburg, Germany. In 1852 she relocated to Watertown, Wisconsin, with her husband, future Civil War general and Republican Party leader Carl Schurz. In Watertown, Margarethe began holding classes for children of family and friends. She conducted these classes utilizing the educational philosophy set forth in Froebel's System of Infant Training. Margarethe Meyer Schurz founded the first kindergarten in the United States in November 1856, in Watertown, Wisconsin. [Source: Froebel Web]
1864 - (Civil War) Siege of Petersburg, Virgninia, continues
The 5th, 6th, 7th, 19th, 36th, 37th and 38th Wisconsin Infantry regiments remained entrenched around Petersburg, Virginia.
1878 - Typewriter Patented
On this date Christopher Latham Sholes patented the typewriter. The idea for this invention began at Kleinsteuber's Machine Shop in Milwaukee in the late 1860s. A mechanical engineer by training, Sholes, along with associates Carlos Glidden and Samuel Soulé, spent hours tinkering with the idea. They mounted the key of an old telegraph instrument on a base and tapped down on it to hit carbon & paper against a glass plate. This idea was simple, but in 1868 the mere idea that type striking against paper might produce an image was a novelty. Sholes proceeded to construct a machine to reproduce the entire alphabet. The prototype was sent to Washington as the required Patent Model. This original model still exists at the Smithsonian. Investor James Densmore provided the marketing impetus which eventually brought the machine to the Remington Arms Company. Although Remington mass-marketed his typewriter begining in 1874, it was not an instant success. A few years later, improvements made by Remington engineers gave the machine its market appeal and sales skyrocketed. [Source: Wisconsin Lore and Legends, p.41]
1919 - Nation's First Commercial Air Transport Commences
On this date the Lawson Airliner, with 16 passengers, took off from the Milwaukee County Airport on a demonstration flight to New York City and Washington, D.C. [Source: History Just Ahead: A Guide to Wisconsin's Historical Markers edited by Sarah Davis McBride, p. 39]
1989 - Concordia College Becomes a University
On this date the Concordia College Board of Regents approved changing the college to university status. By doing so, Concordia University Wisconsin became the first University in the Missouri Synod college system. The university is located on the former campus of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Mequon, Wisconsin.[Source: Concordia University Wisconsin]
1990 - Stevie Ray Vaughan Dies
Reader Contribution--On this date legendary rock guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan died when the helicopter in which he was riding, slammed into a ski slope near East Troy, Wisconsin. Vaughan was leaving a concert at Alpine Valley, Wisconsin where he was performing with his brother Jimmie, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, and Robert Cray. Stevie Ray Vaughan is buried in Laurel Land Cemetery, in Dallas, Texas. [Source: Oddball Wisconsin by Jerome Pohlen, p.106]
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