Mathew Henson reaches North Pole
Born in Charles County to a sharecropping family, Mathew Henson meets Robert Peary, joining him for the first party to reach the North Pole in 1909.
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Mallows Bay National Marine Sanctuary is the first in an American River
Mallows Bay in Charles County became home to a wooden “ghost fleet” of 230 World War II ships in 2019. It is now a wildlife sanctuary.
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Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard builds the first Liberty Ship
Baltimore shipyards build 384 Liberty Ships over four years to carry supplies and soldiers to the European battlefields of World War II.
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Wes Moore becomes youngest African American governor
Wes Moore’s leadership marks a first for Maryland.
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First bookmobile is in Washington County
Progressive leadership at the Washington County Free Library sends out the first bookmobile in 1905 to great acclaim.
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U.S. Naval Academy is founded
A catastrophic naval voyage with the son of the Secretary of War aboard results in a grisly outcome and the creation of the Naval Academy in 1845. Note bodies hanging from yardarm.
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First use of genetic genealogy at Catoctin Furnace
The first use of DNA links 27 Black workers buried in the local cemetery of the Catoctin Furnace (c1800) and reveals links to nearly 42,000 living relatives, and traces the enslaved back to their African origins.
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The Water’s Edge Museum opens
The Water’s Edge Museum opens in 2021, featuring works of white painter Ruth Starr Rose who chronicles an African American Eastern Shore maritime community in the 1930s.
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Columbia family is first to control its eco-friendly yard
A Columbia couple initiates a suit that becomes the first law in the country in 2023 that limits Homeowner Association’s control over eco-friendly yards.
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Carla Hayden becomes the Librarian of Congress
Carla Hayden heads the country’s oldest federal institution, The Library of Congress, in 2019. She is the first professional librarian, first woman and first African American in the post. Previously she directed the Enoch Pratt in Baltimore for 13 years.
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