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On this day in 1848, while constructing a millrace for a saw mill on the South Fork of the American River, James Wilson Marshall, a carpenter from New Jersey noticed a sparkle in the dark mud. Looking closer he noticed that the entire millrace was speckled with small flakes of gold and he rushed to tell his boss, John Sutter.

Sutter’s claim to the US government for mineral rights was investigated by Joseph Libbey Folsom, who issued confirmation of the gold discovery in June. The first flake found by Marshall was shipped to President James K. Polk in Washington D.C., arriving in August 1848. It is now on display in the National Museum of American History.

Ironically, the California gold rush was a disaster for Sutter. Though it brought thousands of men to California, the prospectors had no interest in joining Sutter’s despotic agricultural community. Instead, they overran Sutter’s property, slaughtered his herds for food, and trampled his fields. By 1852, New Helvetia was ruined, and Sutter was nearly wiped out. Until his death in 1880, he spent his time unsuccessfully petitioning the government to compensate him for the losses he suffered as a result of the gold rush he unintentionally ignited.

As news of the gold spread, settlers flocked to the new US territory of California. The population expanded from 14,000 non-natives to an estimated 85,000 newcomers in just a year. There were roughly 85,000 newcomers in 1849 and another 91,000 in 1850.^[9] Many settled at the new town of Coloma, California, which sprung up close to Sutter’s Mill. Numerous further discoveries of gold in California were made. During the next seven years, approximately 300,000 people came to California (half by land and half by sea) to seek their fortunes from either mining for gold or selling supplies to the prospectors. This California Gold Rush permanently changed the territory, both through mass immigration and the economic effects of the gold. California became a US state in 1850.

Yet more signs!!!

Today is the birthday, in 1941, of American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the US chart including ‘Cracklin’ Rose’, ‘Song Sung Blue’ and ‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers’ and has sold more than 130 million records worldwide. Diamond wrote ‘I’m A Believer’, the No.1 for The Monkees. Many acts from Elvis Presley, Lulu, Cliff Richard and Deep Purple have all covered his songs. With his 2008 album ‘Home Before Dark’ Diamond became the oldest artist to have a US No.1, the record was previously held by Bob Dylan in 2006 with ‘Modern Times’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utBKv9ZMojM

At a graduation ceremony at a church in Geneva, New York on January 23, 1849, Geneva Medical College bestows a medical degree upon Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman in the United States to receive one.

Blackwell’s family was remarkable by any standard. Her father was a staunch abolitionist and both her brother and his wife were active in the women’s suffrage movement. Another sister-in-law was the first female minister to be ordained in a mainstream Protestant denomination, and Elizabeth’s younger sister Emily also studied medicine.

Blackwell’s fellow students shunned her. So did the townspeople of Geneva. Her professors complained that teaching her was an inconvenience, and one even tried to stop her from attending a lesson on anatomy, fearing it would be immodest for her to be present. When Blackwell graduated, the dean of her school congratulated her in his speech but went as far as adding a note to the program stating that he hoped no more women would attend his school. The sentiment was echoed by the rest of the American medical community—a letter to the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal described her graduation as a “farce.” Again, Blackwell succeeded in the face of indignities, not only graduating but publishing her thesis in the Buffalo Medical Journal.

Blackwell set up a clinic for the poor of New York City, where she met what she described as “a blank wall of social and professional antagonism,” but remained determined to treat as many patients as possible. She founded a hospital, the New York Infirmary for Women and Children, in 1857 with the help of her sister and another protégé, both women who had followed in her footsteps and received medical degrees. She and her sister trained nurses during the Civil War and opened their own medical college in 1868. She eventually moved to London, becoming a professor of gynecology at the School of Medicine for Women. 

Faced with sexist discrimination at every turn, Blackwell not only received her degree and practiced medicine but contributed greatly to the education of the first generation of female doctors in America. The profession remained notoriously male for many, many years, but the progress that started with Blackwell continues. In 2017, for the first time ever, a majority of medical students in the United States were women.

More fashion leaders from NYC…

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Today is the birthday, in 1948, of Anita Pointer, singer with American R&B singing group The Pointer Sisters who had the 1981 US No.2 single, ‘Slow Hand’ and the 1984 UK No.2 single ‘Automatic’. The Pointer Sisters have won three Grammy Awards and had 13 US top 20 hits between 1973 and 1985. She died from cancer on 31 December 2022 at her home in Beverly Hills, California, aged 74. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyTVyCp7xrw

Today is Errol Barrow Day, a public holiday in Barbados. This public holiday celebrates the birthday of Errol Barrow, the first Prime Minister of Barbados.

Born on January 21st 1920, Errol Walton Barrow served in the RAF during the Second World War, flying in over 40 bombing missions over Europe. Barrow was an RAF Navigator in 88 Squadron, 2nd Tactical Air Force (TAF). He saw active service supporting the Allied ground forces, bombing German communication infrastructure positions and airfields where he accrued 48 bombing sorties giving him 103 hours and 25 mins combat flying time.

After the war, he earned his law degree in England before returning to Barbados.

His political career began in 1951 when he was elected as a member of parliament for the Barbados Labour Party. In 1955, he became a founding member of the Democratic Labour Party, becoming its leader in 1958. He became Premier of Barbados in 1961.

Barrow was a key figure in the movement for independence and became the first Prime Minister of Barbados on 30 November 1966. During his time as prime minister, he is credited for introducing free education, National Insurance, improving health care and expanding the tourism sector.

After two terms as Prime Minister, he lost the election in 1976. He became Prime Minister for the second time in 1986 but died suddenly while in office on September 8th 1987.

Today is the birthday, in 1950, of British singer and songwriter Billy Ocean. His 1984 single ‘Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run) peaked at No.1 in the US and Ocean won the 1985 Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for the song. He accumulated a series of international hit singles ‘When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going’ (1985 and the theme song for the film The Jewel of the Nile), ‘There’ll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)’ (1986). In 1988, his single ‘Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car’ reached No.1 in the US. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNgcYGgtf8M