Volume 12 , Issue 46

This Day In History - November 15

This Day In History - November 15 On this day in history, November 15th brings many things to mind. Such as: Civil March to the Sea; Stock Ticker and Pike's Peak.

On this day in 1867, the first stock ticker is unveiled in New York City. The advent of the ticker ultimately revolutionized the stock market by making up to the minute prices available to investors around the county. Prior to this development, information from the New York Stock Exchange, which has been around since 1792, traveled by mail or messenger.

The ticker was the brainchild of Edward Calahan, who configured a telegraph machine to print stock quotes on streams of paper tape (the same paper tape later used in ticker-tape parades). The ticker, which caught on quickly with investors, got its name from the sound its type wheel made.

1864 - Civil War, with the march to the sea begins. Union General William T. Sherman begins his expedition across Georgia by torching the industrial section of Atlanta, pulling away from his supply lines. For the next six weeks, Sherman's army destroyed most of Georgia before capturing the Confederate seaport of Savannah, Georgia.

Sherman captured Atlanta in early September after a long summer campaign. He recognized that he was vulnerable in the city as his supply lines stretched all the way from Nashville, Tennessee. Confederate raiders such as Nathan Bedford Forrest threatened to cut his lines. Sherman had to commit thousands of troops to protect the railroads, rivers that carried provisions for his massive army. Sherman split his army, keeping 60,000 men and sending the rest back to Nashville with General George Thomas to deal with the remnants of General John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee, the force Sherman had defeated to take Atlanta.

1806 - Zebulon Pike spots an imposing mountain.

Remember the story of Pike's Peak origin? On this day in November 15, 1806, Zebulon Pike approaches the Colorado foothills of the Rocky mountains during his second exploratory expedition. Pike spots a distant mountain peak that looks like a small blue cloud. The mountain was later named Pike's Peak in his honor.

Pike was more of a professional military man than either Lewis or Clark, and he was a smart man who had taught himself Spanish, French, mathematics and elementary science.

Pike's second exploratory mission was in July 1806 when he was picked to explore the headwaters of the Red and Arkansas Rivers. This route took Pike across present-day Kansas and into the high plains region that would later become the state of Colorado. When Pike first saw the peak that would later bear his name, he grossly underestimated its height and its distance. He had never seen mountains the size of the Rockies.

Pike told his men they should be able to walk to the peak, climb it, and return before dinner. Pike and his men struggled through snow and sub-zero temperatures before finally taking shelter in a cave for the night, without even having reached the base of the towering mountain. Pike lair pronounced the peak impossible to scale.

After attempting for several months to locate the Red River, Pike and his men became hopelessly lost. A troop of Spanish soldiers saved the mission when they arrested Pike and his men. The soldiers escorted them to Santa Fe, thus providing Pike with an invaluable tour of that strategically important region, courtesy of the Spanish military.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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