Aruna Miller is the first South Asian woman in the U.S. to serve as a state Lieutenant Governor.
Aruna Miller is the first South Asian woman in the U.S. to serve as a state Lt. Governor.
Immigration
Alexander Brown creates first investment bank in U.S.
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.
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Chinese and Asian immigrants arrive
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.
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Gustav Brunn, German immigrant, develops Old Bay seasoning
Gustav Brunn, German immigrant, rescued from a concentration camp, arrives in Baltimore in 1939 with a spice grinder. He develops a popular seafood seasoning mix, names it after a Chespeake Bay steamer, and sells the formula for Old Bay to McCormick & Co.
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Baltimore earns the label of “Mobtown”
Gangs from the Know Nothing Party and Southern sympathizers riot in Baltimore during elections. In 1857 fighting kills 17 gang members and injures 67 in the most intense violence of the Know Nothing era. Riots in “Mobtown” make national headlines.
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Baltimore City is unique in the U.S. at 1850
In 1850 Baltimore, America’s third largest city, is a singular urban mix of immigrants, free and enslaved Blacks, white leadership and energetic industry. As a border state it is an example of the country’s divisions and challenges before the Civil War.
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Reaper developed on Carroll County Farm
Jacob R. Thomas, a Carroll County farmer, assembles a wheat reaping machine in 1811 and tries it out locally. It doesn’t cut well, but the first experiment with a mechanical reaper ushers in the age of agricultural machinery.
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The National Road West is the government’s first project
Maryland builds the beginning of an interstate road, a toll road from Baltimore to Cumberland. In a first federal project the government funds next road segment west to Ohio in 1811.
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A “Mud Machine” dredges Baltimore Harbor
A mud machine driven by horse power dredges Baltimore harbor from 1806 to 1819. Irish immigrants do the hard labor, becoming the early working poor.
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The Methodist Episcopal Church is the first established church in the U.S.
The Methodist Episcopal Church, the first established church in the US, is formed at the Lovely Lane Meeting House in Baltimore in 1819.
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