In 1842, Dr. Crawford W. Long of Jefferson, Ga,. first used ether as an anesthetic during a minor operation.
In 1858, Hyman L. Lipman of Philadephia patented a pencil with an attached eraser.
In 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward reached agreement with Russia to purchase the territory of Alaska for $7.12 million. The deal was roundly ridiculed in the United States "Seward's Folly."
In 1945, the Soviet Union invaded Austria during
World War II.
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"A true history of human events would show that a far larger proportion of our acts are the results of sudden impulses and accident, than of that reason of which we so much boast."
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Peter Cooper, American businessman and philanthropist