On this day in 1729, the General Assembly of Maryland passed an Act creating the Town of Baltimore on the north bank of the Patapsco River. Surveyors began laying out the town on January 12, 1730. By 1752 the town had just 27 homes, including a church and two taverns. Jonestown and Fells Point had been settled to the east. The three settlements, covering 60 acres (24 ha), became a commercial hub, and in 1768 were designated as the county seat.
Baltimore grew swiftly in the 18th century, its plantations producing grain and tobacco for sugar-producing colonies in the Caribbean. The profit from sugar encouraged the cultivation of cane in the Caribbean and the importation of food by planters there.
Baltimore established its public market system in 1763. Lexington Market, founded in 1782, is one of the oldest continuously operating public markets in the United States today. In 1774, Baltimore established the first post office system in what became the United States, and the first water company chartered in the newly independent nation, Baltimore Water Company, 1792. Baltimore, Jonestown, and Fells Point were incorporated as the City of Baltimore in 1796–1797.
The British bombardment of Baltimore in 1814 inspired the U.S. national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”. The construction of the federally funded National Road, which later became part of U.S. Route 40, and the private Baltimore and Ohio Railroad made Baltimore a major shipping and manufacturing center by linking the city with major markets in the Midwest.
A panoramic view of Baltimore in September 2016, including the Inner and Outer Harbors at dusk
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Today is the birthday, in 1944, of Jamaican ska and reggae musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer Jimmy Cliff who had the 1969 UK No.6 & US No.25 single ‘Wonderful World Beautiful People’, and the 1970 UK No.8 hit with his version of Cat Stevens’ ‘Wild World’. He starred in the film The Harder They Come, which helped popularize reggae across the world. He died of pneumonia on 24 November 2025 at the age of 81. At the time of his death, he was the only living reggae musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honor that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievements in the arts and sciences. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrHxhQPOO2c
