American Express is founded by Henry Wells & Williams Fargo (Mar 19), Los Angeles and San Francisco are incorporated as cities (Apr 4&15), the transportation of British convicts to Western Australia begins (Jun 1), the Danish Stag Holocaust takes place (Jul 2), Prussia capitulates to Austrian Empire (Nov 29), tens of thousands of East Indian laborers are shipped to Trinidad and Jamaica until 1880, the Great Famine in Ireland goes on - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

This is an article series depicting what we people have uttered in a moment of elation, insight, inspiration, wisdom, despair - or any other emotion. The headline suggests anger, and is really a joke here, anger being such a poor indicator. It is instead those other emotions we are looking for. Try to guess/remember first who said that, and if you don’t know, you’ll see who it was at the very end of the article. Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_2748” align=“alignright” width=“206”]Maori chief Hone Heke with wife Hariata wearing flax cloaks[/caption] In the year 1845, The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe is published (Jan 29), Florida becomes the 27th U.S. state (Mar 3), New Zealand Wars begin, waged between the Maori and the British (Mar 11), Stephen Perry patents the rubber band (Mar 17), Scientific American begins publication (Aug 28), potato blight breaks out in Ireland, beginning the Great Famine (Sep 9), the Monroe Doctrine states that the United States should aggressively expand into the West (Dec 2), anesthesia is used for the first time for childbirth in Jefferson, Georgia (Dec 27), Texas is admitted as the 28th U. Continue reading

In the year 1844, the Edict of Toleration is passed allowing Jews to settle in the Holy Land (Mar 23), the world’s second police force is established in Hong Kong (May 1), the first electrical telegram is sent by Samuel Morse (May 24), YMCA is founded in London (Jun 6), Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber (Jun 15), the Mormon leader Joseph Smith and his brother are killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois (Jun 27), Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx meet in Paris (Aug 28), Hungarian becomes the official language of Hungary (Nov 13), the safety match is invented - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

As a courtesy to our readers, Journeys of Life provides a service that might interest some of you. In addition to being able to list your own birth data here, you are allowed to add your ancestors as well. But as you present their name and birth data (as fully as possible), please tell us also their main profession or what they mainly were known for. Also you could give some of the historical background to shed some more light. Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_2744” align=“alignnone” width=“950”]Pioneers on the Oregon Trail in 1843[/caption] The Thames Tunnel, the world’s first bored underwater tunnel, is opened in London (Mar 25), the first major wagon train headed for the American Northwest sets out with 1000 pioneers from Missouri (May 22), Brazil becomes the second country to issue postage stamps (Aug 1), the amusement park Tivoli Gardens opens in Copenhagen, Denmark (Aug 15), Ada Lovelace becomes in essence the world’s first computer programmer (Sep), the Economist is first published in London (Sep 2), the city of Shanghai opens for trade with foreigners (Nov 17), the world’s first Christmas cards are sent (Dec) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1842, an American medical student becomes the first person to administer an inhaled anesthetic to facilitate a surgical procedure (Jan), Mexican troops invade Texas, but soon head back - the first such invasion since the Texas Revolution (Mar 5), the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra performs its first concert (Mar 28), a primary school system is established in Sweden (Jun 18), the Treaty of Nanking ends the First Opium War, and establishes Hong Kong as a British colony until 1997 (Aug 29), the New York Philharmonic performs its first concert (Dec 7) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_2727” align=“alignright” width=“394”]Replica of The Amistad (courtesy of Amistad America)[/caption] In the year 1841, Britain occupies Hong Kong (Jan 24), the two colonies of The Canadas are merged into the United Province of Canada (Feb 11), the court case United States v. The Amistad is ruled in favor of the slaves from Sierra Leone (Mar 9), John Tyler is sworn in as the 10th U.S. President (Apr 6), New Zealand becomes a British colony (May 3), the first edition of Punch is published in London (Jul 17), Emperor Pedro II is crowned in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Jul 18), first demonstration of what was then called animal magnetism - later hypnotism - is observed (Nov 13) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Have you read the novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn? I have, long time ago. It describes a single day in the life of an ordinary prisoner in a Gulag camp, and now, that book gives life to a new article series in this Journeys of Life: One Day in the Life of people from all walks of life. If we live to be 80, we have lived around 29,200 days. Continue reading

This is the second piece in the series First Names First and it is all for pure entertainment! We present a chronological list of persons with their first name (or the name they mainly use) here, and your task is to pick one. Then follow the Wikipedia link to read about that person, and to see what if anything he or she could contribute your life with. Inspiration, passion, encouragement, empathy, etc. Continue reading

The Great Wave off Kanagawa, published 1829-1833 by Katsushika Hokusai In the year 1829, Andrew Jackson is sworn in as the 7th President of the United States (Mar 4), Greece receives autonomy from the Ottoman Empire (Mar 22), accordion is patented (May 23), the Metropolitan Police Service in London is established (Jun 19), the first bus service in London is begun (Jul 4), African-American abolitionist David Walker publishes his Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World (Sep 25), the first bobbies start patrolling London streets (Sep 23), the first modern hotel in the U. Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_2650” align=“alignleft” width=“237”]Marker stone on the battlefield of Little Bighorn, courtesy of Mark A. Wilson[/caption] In the year 1876, Alexander Graham Bell is granted a U.S. patent for the telephone, ahead of Elisha Gray (Mar 7), thousands of Plains Indians gather at the Little Bighorn River (spring), Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is published in London (June), the first train ride from New York to San Francisco takes some 84 hours (Jun 4), Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse defeat Custer’s forces at the Battle of the Little Bighorn (Jun 25-26), retaliated later at Powder River (Nov 25), Heinz Tomato Ketchup is introduced, Anheuser-Busch first markets Budweiser as a nationally sold beer, samurai are banned from carrying swords in Japan - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

This is the second article in the series Streets & Squares. This time it is about New York City - the place that never sleeps. For those of you who have visited the city, it is no news that its five boroughs, especially Manhattan, are filled with numbered avenues and streets, i.e. with no credit to any historical persons. But there are a few addresses with names too, and here are a few of them. Continue reading

In the year 1883, Life Magazine is founded in Los Angeles (Jan 4), the first vaudeville theater is opened in Boston, MA (Feb 28), oxygen is liquefied for the first time (Apr 5), after 13 years of construction, the Brooklyn Bridge is opened to traffic (May 24), the world’s first rodeo is held in Pecos, Texas (Jul 4), Krakatoa in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) erupts, killing thousands (Aug 26), the Orient Express begins to run (Oct 4), U. Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_2324” align=“alignright” width=“242”]Martin Brodeur in 2006[/caption] For all you hockey fans out there, here is a list of all the goaltenders who have reached 350+ wins in the NHL! True to the site genre, the list below is chronological. Active goalies are marked with *** and behind each goalie you see the nationality, match wins and matches played. The ranking is shown in brackets. For the more traditional list, check below this one. Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_2529” align=“alignleft” width=“337”]Tulip fields in the Netherlands[/caption] In the year 1560, Denmark buys the Estonian island of Saaremaa (Apr 15), Oda Nobunaga defeats Imagawa Yoshimoto in the Battle of Okehazama (Jun 12), the Treaty of Edinburgh is signed, and thus ends the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland (Jul 9), the Roman Church is overthrown and Protestantism is established as the national religion in Scotland (Aug 17), Eric XIV becomes King of Sweden upon the death of his father Gustav Vasa (Sep 29). Continue reading

In the year 1500, the last year of the 15th century, Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral officially discovers Brazil, and claims the land for the Kingdom of Portugal (Apr 22), Portuguese navigator Diogo Dias discovers Madagascar (Aug 10), France and Spain agree to divide the Kingdom of Naples between them in the Treaty of Granada (Nov 11), Europe’s population is estimated at 56.7 million people - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1884, the eight-hour workday is proclaimed in the United States, and is henceforth observed as May Day or Labor Day elsewhere in the world as well (May 1), the espresso machine is patented (May 16), the invention of local anesthesia is made public in a medical congress in Heidelberg, Germany (Sep 15), Timisoara becomes the first European town to be illuminated by electric light (Nov 2), the Washington Monument is completed, becoming for a while the tallest structure in the world (Dec 6), Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published in London (Dec 10) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Perhaps not the most well-known name, but still, Luise Ziezt begins this new series of Remarkable Women. She was born in the spring of 1865 in Bargteheide, Prussia, German Empire. She started working at an early age as her dad had a home weaving business where she too had to put in hours. She later studied to become a kindergarten teacher, got married in Hamburg in 1890, and became politically active there. Continue reading

In this particular series of articles we present women who have had an impact on the world. Women who can stand as role models to us modern women no matter when they themselves were born. Because in their own time, they were ahead of their time. Or they simply rose above their gender. Do you know by the way why the International Women’s Day is celebrated on the 8th of March? Continue reading