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.
Johns Hopkins University opens
Johns Hopkins University opens its doors in 1876 as the first US institution of higher education based on a German model emphasizing graduate education. It has produced many firsts, notably the sanitation work of Abel Wolman.
