Gaslight installed on Baltimore streets

Baltimore
February 7, 1817

Baltimore City is the first American city to install public gaslight. The innovation is born when Rembrandt Peale brings gaslight to his museum galleries in 1816. The Baltimore mayor and other dignitaries are so impressed with Peale’s gaslighting demonstration, they soon found a company in 1817 to light the streets as a means to lower crime. The ancestor of the present Baltimore Gas and Electric Company is born.

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Edgar Allan Poe dies in Baltimore

Poet Edgar Allan Poe dies mysteriously in Baltimore in 1849. He is found on an election day, presumably drunk, taken to a hospital where he dies three days later. His monument and tomb are in downtown Baltimore.

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Land Recognition

We acknowledge the enduring presence of many American Indian tribes who once lived in Maryland and who now, having lost their lands, live in a diaspora. Read more.

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