TODAY IN HISTORY

In 1135, Moses Maimonides, the renowed medieval Jewish scholar, was born. Considered the foremost Talmudist of the Middle Ages, his most important writing was “Guide to the Perplexed” (1190), in which he tried to harmonize Rabbinic Judaism with the increasingly popular Aristotelianism of his day.

In 1809, the Labrador Act gave Labrador to Newfoundland. This was later disputed by Quebec and a final decision was not made until 1927.

In 1842, ether was first used as an anesthetic by Dr. Crawford Long in Jefferson, Ga. His patient paid $2 for the anesthesia before having a cyst removed.

In 1853, artist Vincent Van Gogh was born in the Netherlands. He committed suicide in France in 1890.

In 1858, the first pencil with an attached rubber eraser was patented by Hyman L. Lipman of Philadelphia.

In 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward reached agreement with Russia to purchase the territory of Alaska for $7.2 million, a deal roundly ridiculed as “Seward’s Folly.”

In 1870, the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving all citizens the right to vote regardless of race, was declared in effect by Secretary of State Hamilton Fish.

In 1901, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that marriages of Catholics by Protestant clergymen were valid.