This Day in History Class

On this day in 1874, farmer and rancher Joseph Glidden was granted a patent for double-stranded barbed wire.

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On this day in 534 BC, an ancient Greek performer named Thespis became the first known actor to portray a character on stage.

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On this day in 1927, American inventor Carl Eliason received a patent for an early version of the snowmobile.

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On this day in 1783, at a public demonstration in Paris, two volunteers embarked on the first free ascent in a hot air balloon.

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On this day in 1966, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops loosened the rule requiring Catholics to abstain from meat on Fridays. 

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On this day in 1913, German monarch Kaiser Wilhelm II forbade his officers from dancing the tango while in uniform.

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On this day in 1974, scientists at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico sent the first message intended for alien lifeforms. 

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On this day in 1937, cartoonist Al Capp introduced the pseudo-holiday known as Sadie Hawkins Day in his Li’l Abner comic strip.

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On this day in 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island was published as a single-volume book.

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On this day in 1961, in the rural Dutch village of Staphorst, residents publicly shamed a cheating couple by driving them through the streets in the back of a dung wagon.

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