ON THIS DAY

On this date in 1783, a Frenchman, Pilatra deRozier, became the first man to fly in a hot air balloon.
  • His first words in the air were, "I thought I told you not to let go of that line!" This was back in the days before bullies had school lockers to stuff you into.
  • Another guy was the first to fly in an untethered balloon, but he got away before we could hear his name.

In 1860, 11-year-old Grace Bedell of Westfield, NY, wrote a letter to presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln, suggesting that he would look better with a beard.
  • She actually said, "Free the shaves" which gave him another idea.
  • Imagine how different our $5 bills would look, if it weren't for that 11-year-old.
  • Ironically, generations later, her great-great grandson just wrote a similar letter to Hillary Clinton.

On this date in 1914, the Clayton Antitrust Act was passed. Ever since then, we've never trusted anyone named Clayton, either.

In 1917, Mata Hari, a Dutch dancer who had spied for the Germans, is executed by firing squad outside of Paris. They shot her outside of Paris because inside of Paris was too crowded. She died of lead poisoning.

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