This Day In New York History

There are a lot places to find information on New York history. Plenty of organizations do a great job telling in depth stories about specific battles, famous people, and even small town tales. All of that history comes with important dates in our past.

This page is an evolving attempt to try and capture the important dates in the Empire State’s past. The database includes historic events, births, and deaths that took place on this day in history. Each one in some way directly relates to Upstate.

This database is a work in progress and is updated regularly with historic dates. Some will be wide reaching and recognizable across Upstate. Others will be noteworthy only to those who live right in the region.

Regardless of the relation, all of the dates and events included in this database have had an impact in some way to the history of Upstate New York.

Today’s Events

1777 English General Burgoyne offers a pardon to colonists near Fort Ticonderoga if they lay down their arms.

1817 Construction begins on the Erie Canal in Rome

1827 Slavery is abolished in New York State.

1831 James Monroe, fifth President of the United States of America and namesake of Monroe County, dies in New York City of heart failure and tuberculosis. He is the third president to have died on Independence Day.

1839 In Berne, New York, a the first mass meeting of tenant farmers takes place, which later would lead to the Anti-Rent War.

1859 French daredevil Monsieur Blondin makes his second of many crossings over the Niagara River while walking a cable and carrying a sack above his head.

1859 The first Liberty Pole is raised in Rochester at the corner of Main and Franklin Streets. The wooden pole was three feet in diameter and 101 feet tall.

1899 Dr. Konstantin Frank, leading wine expert of the Finger Lakes Region, is born in the Ukraine.

1911 Mitch Miller, considered to be one of the most influential names in the music industry during the 1950's, is born in Rochester.

1912 The Corning Train Wreck (aka, "Gibson Train Wreck") occurs at 5:21a when three trains of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad collide three miles east of Corning. The first two trains were stopped, as the first had broken down. A third did not head warning signals and drove full speed into the second stopped train. 88 people were injured, and 39 people were killed.

1938 The very first "Lake of Fire" celebration on Conesus Lake takes place when residents with lake shore property are all given two road flairs to light at the water's edge. Later, after World War II, the tradition would be moved to July 3rd.

1948 John August Antonelli, born in Rochester, makes his Major League Baseball debut with the Boston Braves. When he signed with the Braves that year, he received the largest signing bonus in history (for the time) of $52,000.

Looking for more? You’ll find a whole bunch of Upstate history in the facts section.

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Whether it’s the closing an iconic restaurant, the birth of a well known Upstater, or a news event that made waves, it’s an important piece of our past. It may seem inconsequential, but preserving the past is an integral part of our local storytelling.

If you have a piece of history related to New York that you feel should be included, please submit using this contact form.