Today in Maine History
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Historical Events
Results 1 - 40 of 40
1622-08-10 - County Maine appended on John Mason/Fernandino Gorges
1634-05-31 - US colony Massachusetts Bay annexes Maine colony
1642-03-01 - Georgeana (York) Maine became the 1st incorporated American city
1677-03-13 - Massachusetts gains title to Maine for $6,000
1691-10-17 - New royal charter for Massachusetts, now including Maine, Plymouth
1722-07-25 - The Three Years War begins along the Maine and Massachusetts border.
1775-10-16 - Portland, Maine burned by British
1805-11-18 - 30 women meet at Mrs Silas Lee's home in Wiscasset Maine, organizes
1820-03-15 - Maine admitted as 23rd state
1834-06-14 - Hardhat diving suit patented by Leonard Norcross, Dixfield, Maine
1837-12-29 - Steam-powered threshing machine patented, Winthrop, Maine
1839-02-12 - Aroostock War: Boundary dispute between Maine & New Brunswick
1843-03-07 - 1st Catholic governor in US, Edward Kavanagh of Maine, takes office
1851-06-02 - 1st US alcohol prohibition law enacted (Maine)
1853-07-18 - Completion of Grand Trunk Line, trains begin running over 1st North American railroad between Portland, Maine & Montreal
1855-06-02 - The Portland Rum Riot occurs in Portland, Maine.
1866-07-04 - Firecracker thrown in wood starts fire destroying half of Portland, Mainee, US
1876-02-17 - Sardines 1st canned (Julius Wolff-Eastport, Maine)
1887-03-13 - Chester Greenwood of Maine patents earmuffs
1898-02-15 - USS Maine sinks in Havana harbor, cause unknown-258 sailors die
1911-07-10 - 105°F (41°C) at North Bridgton, Maine (state record)
1912-07-10 - Hannes Kolehmainen runs world record 5000m (14:36.6)
1912-10-20 - Hannes Kolehmainen runs world record marathon (2:29:39.2)
1913-07-03 - Common tern banded in Maine; found dead in 1919 in Africa (1st bird known to have crossed the Atlantic)
1919-02-26 - Acadia National Park forms (as Lafayette N P), Maine
1925-01-19 - -48°F (-44°C), Van Buren, Maine (state record)
1928-12-20 - 1st international dogsled mail leaves Minot, Maine for Montreal, Que
1929-01-19 - Acadia National Park, Maine established
1946-09-29 - Al Couture knockouts Ralph Walton in Lewiston Maine in 10 secs
1947-12-13 - Maine Turnpike opens to traffic
1954-09-11 - 20.4 cm rainfall at Brunswick, Maine (state record)
1964-01-27 - Margaret Chase Smith (Sen-R-Maine) tries for Republican Pres bid
1975-06-02 - James A Healy, 1st black Roman Catholic bishop, consecrated (Maine)
1983-07-05 - NJ Devils purchase AHL Maine Mariners as their farm team
1983-07-07 - 11 year old Samantha Smith of Manchester, Maine, leaves for USSR
1983-10-11 - Last hand-cranked telephones US went out of service as 440 telephone customers in Bryant Pond, Maine, were switched over to direct-dial
1987-04-23 - NJ Devils farm team Maine Mariners (AHL) move to Utica (Devils) NY
1987-11-12 - Heavy snow closes schools from DC to Maine
1996-09-27 - The Julie N. tanker skip crashes into the Million Dollar Bridge in Portland, Maine spilling thousands of gallons of oil.
1998-02-10 - Voters in Maine repeal a gay rights law passed in 1997 becoming the first U.S. state to abandon that law.
Famous Birthdays
Results 1 - 35 of 35
1807-02-27 - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Portland Maine, poet (Hiawatha)
1839-01-09 - John Knowles Paine, Portland Maine, composer
1849-09-03 - Sarah Orne Jewett, Maine, author (Country of the Pointed Firs)
1894-01-20 - Walter Hamor Piston, Rockland Maine, composer (Incredible Flutis)
1895-02-01 - John Ford, Maine, director (Stagecoach, Air Mail, Quiet Man)
1895-08-22 - Paul White, Bangor Maine, composer (Adante & Rondo for Cello)
1897-08-11 - Louise Bogan, Maine, writer (Sleeping Fury)
1897-12-14 - Margaret Chase Smith, (Rep/Sen-R-Maine)
1898-10-16 - William O Douglas, Maine, 81st Supreme Court justice (1939-75)
1899-02-27 - Charles H Best, Maine, physiologist/co-discoverer (Insulin)
1902-12-02 - Horace A Hildreth, (Gov-Maine, 1945-49)
1904-09-13 - Gladys George, Patten Maine, actress (Roaring Twenties)
1912-09-13 - Reta Shaw, South Paris Maine, actress (Ghost & Mrs Muir)
1921-07-10 - Jeff Donnell, South Windham Maine, actor (Gidget Goes to Rome)
1921-11-20 - Phyllis Thaxter, Portland Maine, actress (Nora, Ft Worth)
1924-10-09 - Robert A Rushworth, Madison Maine, test pilot (X-15)
1937-10-15 - Linda Lavin, Portland Maine, actress (Alice, Barney Miller)
1940-08-28 - William S Cohen, (Sen-R Maine, 1979- )
1941-02-20 - Buffy Sainte-Marie, Maine, folksinger (Now That the Buffalo Are Gone)
1948-05-20 - John R McKernan Jr, (Rep-R-ME, 1983-86/Gov-Maine)
1952-12-07 - Susan Collins, American politician, junior senator from Maine
1953-03-22 - Thomas H Andrews, (Rep-D-Maine)
1955-11-04 - Peter Boynton, Danaiscotta Maine, actor (Tonio-As the World Turns)
1956-09-15 - Tawny Elaine Godin Schneider, Maine, Miss Amer (76)/(Eye on Hollywood)
1964-01-22 - Ann Rowe, Auburn Maine, Miss Maine-America (1991)
1965-12-03 - Tammy Jacques, Auburn Maine, cyclist (Olympics-96)
1967-11-08 - Mark Zollitsch, Orono Maine, kayak (alt-Olympics-96)
1969-05-19 - Cecile Ulbrich Tucker, Warren Maine, rower (Olympics-96)
1972-08-10 - Julann Vadnais, Miss Maine USA (1996)
1972-08-27 - Chris Imes, South Paris Maine, US hockey defenseman (Olympics-1994)
1974-04-09 - Sharon Pelletier, Madawaska Maine, Miss America-Maine (1996)
1976-08-25 - Sarah Nadeau, Portland Maine, Miss America-Maine (1997)
1976-08-29 - Stephanie Worcester, Miss USA-Maine (1997)
1979-12-29 - Laura Larson, Miss Maine Teen USA (1996)
1980-04-17 - Crystal Carlson, Miss Maine Teen USA (1997)
Famous Deaths
Results 1 - 4 of 4
1961-12-25 - Owen Brewster, U.S. Senator from Maine (b. 1888)
1966-01-11 - Hannes Kolehmainen, Finnish runner (b. 1889)
1988-06-02 - Horace A Hildreth, (Gov-Maine, 1945-49), dies at 85
1996-03-26 - Edmund S Muskie, vice pres candidate/(Gov-D-Maine), dies at 81
