The 100 Days Of 19th Century US Coins Plus 64 Days Of 20th

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A SNAPSHOT OF THE YEAR 1869

James B. Longacre, chief engraver of the U.S. Mint since 1844 and the designer of the Flying Eagle and Indian Head cents, died on New Year's Day, 1869. His successor was William Barber, who would serve until 1879.

On May 10, tracks from the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads met at Promontory Summit, Utah, completing a transcontinental rail link after six years of labor. Travelers finally had an overland train route from New York to California, and no longer needed to make the long journey by way of Panama.

In the newly formed Wyoming Territory, women enjoyed the rare privileges of voting and holding public office. Striving to make such rights universal, Susan B. Anthony started the Woman's Suffrage Association, rallying her followers with the motto "Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less." Transcontinental Railroad.

Wall Street saw its first financial "black day" on Black Friday, September 24, 1869. Many speculators were ruined. Jay Gould, James Fisk, and others (including President Grant's brother-in-law) attempted to corner the gold market, driving the metal's price up to $162 per ounce; in response, Secretary of the Treasury George Boutwell flooded the market with government-held gold in order to push the price back down.

In October a massive petrified figure, said to be the fossil of an ancient human being, was unearthed behind a farmer's barn in Cardiff, New York. The Cardiff Giant, as it came to be known, was pronounced genuine by various authorities- - " Railroad Travelers either as the remains of one of the "giants" With the new transcontinental train route, a trip from New York City to San Francisco could be made in mentioned in the Book of Genesis, or as a just eight days (instead of two months). 17th-century sculpture. A robust sightseeing trade was set up (despite the protests of scientists who labeled it a silly fraud), with thousands paying 50¢ apiece to look at it for 15 minutes. When the "giant" was moved to Syracuse, New York, it was finally revealed to be a modern humbug. This didn't stop the curious, who still paid eagerly to get a glimpse of the hoax. The Giant's unstoppable popularity encouraged P.T. Barnum to make an offer of $60,000 for a three-month lease; when he was rebuffed, he had his own replica carved- - "a fake of a fraud- - "and went on to make even more money than the original.