This week in New York history: July 17-23

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — This week in New York history features the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, the first time admission was charged for a baseball game, and the death of Ulysses S. Grant.

James Cagney as Eddie Bartlett in The Roaring Twenties — James Cagney as Eddie Bartlett in “The Roaring Twenties” (Getty Images)

July 17

1749: Peter Ganesvoort, a Colonel in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, is born. He is best known for leading the resistance to Barry St. Leger’s Seige of Fort Stanwix in 1777. Gansevoort was also the maternal grandfather of Moby Dick author Herman Melville.
1899: Actor James Cagney is born in New York City.
1902: The initial plans for what would become the first modern air conditioning system were submitted by Willis Haviland Carrier in Buffalo.
1967: John Coltrane dies at his Huntington, Long Island, home.
1996: TWA Flight 800. Off the coast of Long Island, a Paris-bound TWA Boeing 747 explodes, killing all 230 on board.

July 18

Vin Diesel arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of “F9: Fast & Furious 9” at the TCL Chinese Theatre on Friday, June 18, 2021. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

1743: “The New York Weekly Journal” publishes the first half-page newspaper ad.
1967: Actor Vin Diesel, known for his roles in the “Fast and the Furious” movie franchise, is born in New York City.

July 19

1726: Deed in Trust from Three of the Five Nations to the King.
1848: First day of the women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls.

July 20

Lucretia Mott was one of four women in Upstate New York who organized the first Women’s Rights Convention at Seneca Falls in 1848. In this old print, Mrs. Mott and another early suffragette are being protected by some brave men of the day from an angry masculine mob which broke up a suffragette meeting (Getty Images)

1859: Brooklyn and New York play baseball at Fashion Park Race Course on Long Island. The game marked the first time that admission had been charged for to see a ball game. It cost $0.50 to get in and the players on the field did not receive a salary until 1863.

July 21

1931: CBS airs the first regularly scheduled program to be simulcast on radio and television. The show featured singer Kate Smith, composer George Gershwin and New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker.
1998: Chinese gymnast Sang Lan, 17, is paralyzed after a fall while practicing for the women’s vault competition at the Goodwill Games in New York. Spinal surgery four days later failed to restore sensation below her upper chest.

July 22

1686: Albany charters as a city by Royal Governor Thomas Dongan
1882: Artist Edward Hopper is born in Nyack.
2010: Amy Whitbeck of Duanesburg wins a bronze medal for women’s wrestling at the Junior World Championships at Syma Arena in Budapest, Hungary.