166 years ago today
The Pony Express Begins Its First Run
On April 3, 1860, the first Pony Express rider departed St. Joseph, Missouri, carrying 49 letters, five telegrams, and some special papers westward toward Sacramento, California — nearly 2,000 miles away. The service promised delivery in ten days or fewer, a revolutionary reduction from the weeks required by stagecoach. Riders changed horses every 10 to 15 miles at relay stations, and individual riders covered stretches of 75 to 100 miles per shift. The entire route crossed some of the most hostile terrain on the continent: the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the Nevada desert. Though the Pony Express lasted only 19 months — rendered obsolete by the completion of the transcontinental telegraph in October 1861 — it became one of the enduring romantic symbols of the American West.
This day, across time
- 1043EventEdward the Confessor Crowned King of England
- 1559EventPeace of Cateau-Cambrésis Ends the Italian Wars
- 1721EventRobert Walpole Becomes Britain's First Prime Minister
- 1783BornWashington Irving
- 1860FeaturedThe Pony Express Begins Its First Run
- 1882EventRobert Ford Kills Jesse James
- 1895EventOscar Wilde's Libel Trial Begins
- 1897DiedJohannes Brahms
- 1922EventJoseph Stalin Becomes General Secretary
- 1924BornMarlon Brando
- 1930BornHelmut Kohl
- 1934BornJane Goodall
- 1948EventMarshall Plan Signed into Law
- 1950DiedKurt Weill
- 1961BornEddie Murphy
- 1973EventFirst Handheld Mobile Phone Call Made
- 1991DiedGraham Greene
- 2010EventApple Releases the First iPad
- 2023DiedNigel Lawson
Alive in 1860
OverlapSame years; not influence
Abraham Lincolnturned 51 this year
Charles John Huffam Dickensturned 48 this year
Charles Robert Darwinturned 51 this year
Friedrich Nietzscheturned 16 this year
Karl Marxturned 42 this year
Nikola Teslaturned 4 this year
Oscar Wildeturned 6 this year
Otto von Bismarckturned 45 this year
Queen Victoriaturned 41 this year
Richard Wagnerturned 47 this year
8 more figures were alive that year
On This Day in History
10 EventsEdward the Confessor Crowned King of England
Edward, who had spent years in exile in Normandy, is crowned King of England at Winchester Cathedral. His reign and his childless death in 1066 would set in motion the chain of events leading to the Norman Conquest.
Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis Ends the Italian Wars
France and Spain sign the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis, ending more than 60 years of war fought largely on Italian soil. The treaty confirmed Spain's dominance over Italy and ended French ambitions there, reshaping European power.
Robert Walpole Becomes Britain's First Prime Minister
Robert Walpole takes office as First Lord of the Treasury, a position historians recognize as marking the beginning of the British Prime Ministerial tradition. He held power for 21 years — the longest unbroken tenure of any prime minister.
Pony Express First Run Departs
The first Pony Express rider leaves St. Joseph, Missouri, carrying mail across nearly 2,000 miles to Sacramento. The service would deliver the mail in under ten days, shrinking the continent before the telegraph made it obsolete.
Robert Ford Kills Jesse James
Robert Ford shoots outlaw Jesse James in the back of the head at his home in St. Joseph, Missouri, to collect the $10,000 reward. Ford became reviled as a coward and was immortalized in song as "that dirty little coward."
Oscar Wilde's Libel Trial Begins
Oscar Wilde sues the Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel after Queensberry left a note calling him a sodomite. The disastrous case, which Wilde abandoned after three days, led directly to his own prosecution and imprisonment.
Joseph Stalin Becomes General Secretary
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union appoints Joseph Stalin as General Secretary of the Central Committee — a post he used with lethal skill to outmaneuver rivals and consolidate total power after Lenin's death.
Marshall Plan Signed into Law
President Truman signs the Economic Cooperation Act, formally launching the Marshall Plan — a $13 billion American program to rebuild the war-shattered economies of Western Europe. It was one of the most successful acts of enlightened self-interest in diplomatic history.
First Handheld Mobile Phone Call Made
Motorola engineer Martin Cooper makes the first publicly documented call on a handheld cellular phone, calling a rival at Bell Labs from a street in Manhattan. The phone weighed 1.1 kilograms and took ten hours to charge for 30 minutes of talk time.
Apple Releases the First iPad
Apple puts the original iPad on sale in the United States, launching a new category of consumer device. Steve Jobs had called it "the most important thing I've ever done." Within a month, Apple sold one million units.
Born on This Day
Marlon Brando
American actor
Brando redefined screen acting with his raw, psychological Method approach in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), On the Waterfront (1954), and The Godfather (1972), for which he won the Academy Award. His influence on acting is incalculable.
Jane Goodall
British primatologist and conservationist
Goodall's decades-long field study of chimpanzees at Gombe transformed our understanding of primate behavior and, by extension, human nature. She discovered that chimpanzees make and use tools — a finding that forced scientists to redefine what it means to be human.
Eddie Murphy
American comedian and actor
One of the most commercially successful entertainers in Hollywood history, Murphy broke out on Saturday Night Live before becoming a global box-office phenomenon with Beverly Hills Cop, Coming to America, and the Shrek franchise.
Washington Irving
American author, first major American literary figure
Author of Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Irving was the first American writer to achieve international literary fame. He invented the legend of Ichabod Crane and helped shape the American cultural self-image.
Helmut Kohl
Chancellor of West Germany and reunified Germany
Kohl was the driving political force behind German reunification in 1990 following the fall of the Berlin Wall, earning him the title "Chancellor of Unity." He also championed European integration and the creation of the Euro currency.
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Johannes Brahms
German composer and pianist
One of the giants of the Romantic era, Brahms composed four symphonies, two piano concertos, and a vast body of chamber music that synthesized Classical architecture with Romantic emotion. He died of liver cancer just months after the death of his great friend Clara Schumann.
Jesse James
American outlaw and folk legend
James led one of the most feared outlaw gangs in post-Civil War America, robbing banks and trains across the Midwest for 16 years. He was shot in the back by gang member Robert Ford in his own home, for a reward of $10,000.
Kurt Weill
German-American composer
Weill composed The Threepenny Opera with playwright Bertolt Brecht, creating one of the most performed theatrical works of the 20th century. His "Mack the Knife" became a jazz standard recorded by hundreds of artists.
Graham Greene
English novelist
Greene's novels — including The Quiet American, The Third Man, and The Power and the Glory — explored moral ambiguity, espionage, and Catholic guilt with elegant prose and unforgettable psychological tension. He was a fixture on the Nobel shortlist for decades.
Nigel Lawson
British politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer
Nigel Lawson served as Margaret Thatcher's Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1983 to 1989, overseeing a dramatic program of tax cuts and financial deregulation known as the Lawson Boom. In later life he was a prominent skeptic of climate change policy.
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