NOVEMBER 16 — 1821 Becknell opens trade on Santa Fe Trail; 1907 Oklahoma becomes 46th State; 1948 Frederick Gardner Cortrell dies (inventor of electrostatic precipitator); SPORTS: 1984 Houston blocks 20 shots, tying NBA regular season record, 1962 Wilt Chamberlin scores 75 points, 1957 Bill Russell gets 32 rebounds in one game Rockets block 20 s
NOVEMBER 16
1821 – Beckness opens trade on the Santa Fe Trail.
…This trail would be heavily used after 1821 for fur traders to get from Missouri to New Mexico. Prior to the Louisiana Purchase, the French in St. Louis were granted a monopoly on trade in Santa Fe by the Spanish rulers. But in 1821, Mexico gained independence from Spain, and opened the trade to all Americans. Once Missouri Indian trader and business man William Beckness got word of this, he headed immediately to Santa Fe and found a profitable market for his goods, and he grew rich with Mexican silver when he returned to Missouri. He was using a route that had been used for centuries by Native Americans and Spanish and French explorers but he opened a shorter and easier cutoff across the Cimarron Desert, which is how Becknell earned the nickname, Father of the Santa Fe Trail.
1907 – Oklahoma becomes the 46th state. The territory was reserved for Indian tribes in 1828 and became known as the Indian Territory in 1834 as Cherokee tribes moved their way from the east in a forced march known as the trail of tears. After the civil war, illegal white invasion into Indian Territory incurred. They were called Boomers, and the federal government opened two million acres in the area for white settlers.
At noon on April 22, 1889, a pistol was shot and the opening of the new land was on. Tens of thousands of settlers poured in and instantly set up towns, banks, homes, churches, schools, etc. etc. There were some white settlers already there illegally, called Sooners, which is how the state got its nickname. Now some fun facts about Oklahoma according to legendsofamerica.com. In Hawthorne, it’s illegal to put a hypnotized person on a display window. Do that somewhere else. In Clinton OK, it’s illegal to molest an automobile. Don’t ask.
In Ponca City a tornado once picked up a house with a man and his wife still in it. Though the walls and roof were blown away, the floor remained intact and eventually glided downward, setting the couple safely back on the ground. Aunti Em! If you wear a New York Jets jersey in Ada, you could be jailed. Same thing if you’re playing catch with a football in the streets of Bartlesville. The world’s first parking meter was installed in Oklahoma City on July 16, 1935! In Bristow, Oklahoma it is against the law to serve water to a customer in a restaurant unless one peanut in a shell is also served. The consequences for this “serious” offense can result in a fine of up to five dollars.
1948 — Frederick Gardner Cottrell dies.
…He invented the electrostatic precipitator. It worked by collecting sulfuric acid mists, such as fly ash, dust and fumes, acid mists and fogs that spewed from turn-of-the century plants, and this which became a primary means for controlling industrial air pollution.
1841 – Napoleon Guerin from NYC patents the first life preserver. It was originally made out of cork!
1984 – Houston Rockets block 20 shots vs Denver – tying an NBA regulation game record.
1962 – Wilt Chamberlain gets 73 points against the Knicks. 1957 – Bill Russell of the Celtics gets 32 rebounds in the first half alone, an NBA record.