Today in NYC History

Arts & Culture

Today in NYC History: The U.S. Congress Meets for the First Time in 1789

Today’s U.S. Congress may be a bunch of hot-aired do-nothings, but the first session conducted under the U.

• 

Janos Marton Mar 4, 2015

Arts & Culture

Today in NYC History: In 1931, Cab Calloway releases "Minnie the Moocher" and Puts Harlem’s Big Band sound on the Map.

On March 3, 1931, Harlem big band leader Cab Calloway recorded “Minnie the Moocher,” the classic tale of chasing opium

• 

Janos Marton Mar 3, 2015

Arts & Culture

Today in NYC History: A 1643 Massacre of the Lenape Almost Dooms New Amsterdam

By the early 1640s, New Amsterdam had found its identity as a cosmopolitan trade capital, but it was almost wiped

• 

Janos Marton Feb 25, 2015

Arts & Culture

Today in NYC History: Rudy Guiliani Battles the Times Square Porn Shops in 1998

As we explored two weeks ago, the battle for Times Square was long and messy. On February 24, 1998, the

• 

Janos Marton Feb 24, 2015

Arts & Culture

Today in NYC History: President-Elect Abraham Lincoln Comes To Town in 1861

Abraham Lincoln and New York City will always be linked by Lincoln’s legendary speech at Cooper Union in 1860

• 

Janos Marton Feb 19, 2015

Arts & Culture

Today in NYC History: The Harlem Hellfighters Parade in 1919 Celebrated All-Black WWI Regiment

When New York’s all-black 369th Infantry Regiment set off to fight in World War I, they were men without

• 

Janos Marton Feb 17, 2015

Arts & Culture

Teddy Roosevelt, Jacob Riis, and the Little Dog Who Changed Homeless Policy in NYC

Five Cents a Spot, photo by Jacob A. Riis. Image via Museum of the City of New York, Gift of

• 

Janos Marton Feb 17, 2015

Arts & Culture

Today in NYC History: The Flour Riot of 1837

“This is the most gloomy period which New York has ever known. The number of failures is so great daily

• 

Janos Marton Feb 13, 2015

Arts & Culture

Today in NYC History: The Great Garbage Strike of 1968

How would New York look if no one picked up the trash for nine days? New Yorker found the answer

• 

Janos Marton Feb 11, 2015

Arts & Culture

Today in NYC History: The Tugboat Strike of 1946

Normally we don’t associate tugboats with disruption and chaos, but at a time when New York City’s shipping

• 

Janos Marton Feb 11, 2015

Arts & Culture

Today in NYC History: Celebrating the Harlem Rens Basketball Team

Happy Black Fives Day! On February 10, 2013, Mayor Bloomberg issued a proclamation celebrating the legendary black basketball teams that

• 

Janos Marton Feb 10, 2015

Arts & Culture

Today in NYC History: John Lindsay’s No Good, Very Bad Snowstorm of 1969

Ever wonder why New York’s politicians freak out over snowstorms? The blizzard of 1969 not only paralyzed New York

• 

Janos Marton Feb 9, 2015