Okay for today's history lesson, on this day in history, August 14, in. . .
1848 Following Mexico's cessation of the vast majority of the western USA, Oregon Territory is organized by act of Congress. As you can see on the map, it took in all the area that would become Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and the western edge of Wyoming and Montana. The story of how it got divided up into the various states takes a lot longer to tell.
1880 - The Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany was completed after 632 years of rebuilding. I'm thinking they must have picked a really bad contractor. I mean it is really beautiful and impressive but 632 years????
1888 - A patent for the electric meter was granted to Oliver B. Shallenberger. So we all know who we have to blame for that when we get our electric bill every month.
1893 France became the first country to introduce motor vehicle registration. One does wonder how many motor vehicles France had in 1893.
1896 - Gold was discovered in Canada's Yukon Territory. Within the next year more than 30,000 people rushed to the area to look for gold. There are no statistics, however, on how many of them found some.
1935 Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, creating a government pension system for the retired. At the risk of getting political, it was something very very different from what it is now.
1936 - The first olympic basketball competition was held at the Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. The U.S. defeated Canada, 19-8. They continued the competition in future games anyway.
