Moments in Time – August 17, 2022

#Middlebury

• On Sept. 3, 1783, the American Revolution comes to an end when representatives of the United States, Great Britain, Spain and France sign the Treaty of Paris. The signing signified America’s status as a free nation, as Britain formally recognized the independence of its 13 former American colonies.
• On Sept. 1, 1850, circus entrepreneur P.T. Barnum brings to the United States Jenny Lind (“The Swedish Nightingale”), the greatest opera performer in the world at the time. Her tour is believed to have netted Barnum close to a half-million dollars.
• On Aug. 31, 1888, Mary Ann Nichols, the first victim of London serial killer “Jack the Ripper,” is found murdered in Whitechapel’s Buck’s Row. On Nov. 7, after a month of silence, Jack took his fifth and last victim, Mary Kelly. In 1892, with no leads found and no more murders recorded, the Jack the Ripper file was closed.
• On Aug. 29, 1945, President Harry S. Truman authorizes the Navy to seize control of and operate petroleum refineries to counteract strikes by oil workers. Oil, gas and chemical workers had worked hard during the war to meet production demands and now wanted to return to a 40-hour work week. They resented the amount of money oil industry CEOs were making off of their labor while they simultaneously threatened to lower workers’ wages after the war.
• On Sept. 4, 1957, Ford Motor Company unveils the Edsel. One reporter called it “an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon.” In addition, at highway speeds, the famous hood ornament had a tendency to fly off and into the windshield.
• On Aug. 30, 1967, Thurgood Marshall becomes the first African American to be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice. He would remain on the Supreme Court for 24 years before retiring.
• On Sept. 2, 1987, the trial of Mathias Rust, the 19-year-old pilot who flew his Cessna plane into Red Square in May 1987, begins in Moscow. Rust had become an international celebrity after he flew completely undetected through Soviet airspace. Rust claimed that he was merely trying to promote world peace.

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