Famous for claiming to be born on the 4th of July, George M. Cohan was actually born on July 3, 1878 in Providence, Rhode Island. A theater legend, Cohan was born to parents of Irish Catholic descent who were travelling vaudevillians. From a young age, he and his sister appeared in several of his parents's shows and sketches and they eventually became known as "The Four … [Read more...] about July 3, 1878
December 19, 1877
Michael Davitt, Land League organizer, was released from Dartmoor Prison on this day in 1877. During the Fenian Rising, Michael Davitt became involved in the effort to provide Catholics with arms. He took part in the failed raid on Chester Castle in 1867 and then attempted to arm Catholic churches against Protestant attack in 1868. Police arrested Davitt on May 14, 1870 and he … [Read more...] about December 19, 1877
August 17, 1877
Billy "the kid," born William McCarty, commits his first murder on this day in 1877. The infamous outlaw was born in an Irish neighborhood of New York to a family who had immigrated during the famine. His mother moved his family west, where McCarty became involved with small crimes as a teenager. After getting into an argument with Irish immigrant Frank Cahill, Billy the kid … [Read more...] about August 17, 1877
August 19, 1876
The ship "Catalpa," which carried six Irish Fenians who escaped from Australia, docked in the U.S. on this day in 1876. Funded by Clan na Gael and several pardoned Fenians already in the U.S., the "Catalpa" was purchased by the organization and set sail for western Australia where Thomas Darragh, Martin Hogan, Michael Harrington, Thomas Hassett, Robert Cranston and James Wilson … [Read more...] about August 19, 1876
June 24, 1875
Forrest Reid, Irish novelist and literary critic, was born on this day in Belfast in 1875. To this day, Reid is regarded amongst the likes of J.M. Barrie and Hugh Walpole as a pre-war British boyhood novelist. His most famous work was Young Tom, for which he won a James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1944. … [Read more...] about June 24, 1875