Alexander Brown (1764-1834), an Irish linen merchant, settles in Baltimore and creates the first investment bank in the United States. In 1808, the company organizes the first nationwide public offering for the Baltimore Water Company.
Alexander Brown creates first investment bank in U.S. Read More »
John O’Donnell brings the first Asian immigrants to the US in 1785 as sailors on his ship that carries a cargo of Chinese goods. His statue in O’Donnell Square has been recently removed.
Chinese and Asian immigrants arrive Read More »
In 1904 with a population of 25,000 Crisfield becomes the second largest city in Maryland due to its marketing of the bounty of the Chesapeake Bay on newly created rail lines.
Crisfield: Seafood Capital of the World Read More »
Fannie May Salter serves 22 years ending in 1947 as the last female lighthouse keeper at Turkey Point Light on the Elk Neck River in Cecil County. Here she is pictured with her son and their turkeys. Her house and lighthouse are in the background.
Fannie May Salter, last female lighthouse keeper Read More »
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.
Mathew Henson reaches North Pole Read More »
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.
Mallows Bay National Marine Sanctuary is the first in an American River Read More »
Baltimore shipyards build 384 Liberty Ships over four years to carry supplies and soldiers to the European battlefields of World War II.
Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard builds the first Liberty Ship Read More »
Progressive leadership at the Washington County Free Library sends out the first bookmobile in 1905 to great acclaim.
First bookmobile is in Washington County Read More »
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.
U.S. Naval Academy is founded Read More »
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.
First use of genetic genealogy at Catoctin Furnace Read More »
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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