On this day: the death of Granny Smith

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Maria Ann Smith – known as Granny Smith – the creator of the green “Granny Smith” apple, died in the colony of New South Wales, Australia on the 9th of March, 1870.

In 1868 Smith was handed a box of French crab apples from Tasmania at a market in Sydney. After she used them for baking, she discovered a seed in the discarded peels had sprouted in a compost heap. She continued to tend it in its place near a creek.

After her death the property’s new owner marketed the fruit as “Granny Smith”.

Smith married in England, having eight children (who survived early childhood) before emigrating to Australia in 1838.

On this day: the first woman nominated for US President

Portrait by Mathew Brady

On the 10^th of May, 1872, for the first time in the history of the United States, a woman was nominated for President.

Victoria Woodhull, a leader in the women’s suffrage movement, was born in September, 1838. The legality of her nomination is disputed for a number of reasons, including the fact she was under the required minimum age of thirty-five at the time.

She was the candidate for the Equal Rights Party. Though she was unsuccessful, she tried again a number of times over the following couple of decades.

Australia in 1870

The Doncaster Hotel in Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia in April or May of 1870.

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On this day: the world’s first passenger railway

Photographed in 1897

On the 25th of March, 1807, the world’s first passenger railway opened in Britain.

1870

The Swansea and Mumbles Railway operated in Wales until 1960. The passenger cars were originally pulled by horses before being changed to steam locomotives, and then finally to electric trams.

Pere Noel, 1875.

This image of Father Christmas, or Pere Noel, appeared in the Canadian Illustrated News in 1875.

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On this day: the founding of Helena, Montana.

On the 30^th of October 1864, Helena, later Montana, USA’s capital, was officially founded.

Helena in either 1870 or 1872

The city was founded after the discovery of gold in the area in July the same year. A small group of men met and selected the name on the day of the official founding. By that time the town had grown to a population of more than two-hundred.

As it was the day before Halloween, other names that were suggested included Pumpkinville and Squashtown.

On this day: Tiffany Opens in 1837

On the 18^th of September, 1837 Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young opened their “stationery and fancy goods emporium” in New York City. Originally called “Tiffany, Young and Ellis” the name was changed to Tiffany & Company when Tiffany took control in 1853.

From then on, the company’s emphasis was on jewellery.

In 1870 they made their move to number 15 Union Square West, the building that can be seen in the picture below:

Tiffany & Company, storage area, circa 1887

In the store circa 1887. On the left is Charles Lewis Tiffany.

(Notice how many women made it into the picture?!)