January 9: Sarah W. Kairns

January 9: On this date in 1855, Sarah W. Kairns, mother of 22 who had died two months earlier, finally is placed in her final resting place at Green-Wood. Sarah, who died at the age of 117 years, 3 months, and 16 days, is the oldest of the more than 500,000 individuals who are interred at Green-Wood.

January 8: George Bellows

January 8: Realist painter George Bellows, only 42 years old, dies of a ruptured appendix. An exhibit of his work, “George Bellows,” is now running at The Met.

January 7: Anna Case

January 7: Anna Case, lyric soprano with the Metropolitan Opera, who married Clarence Hungerford Mackay (one of the wealthiest men in America) in 1931, died on this date in 1984.

January 6: Edward Stokes

Click image to expand January 6 In the culmination of a lovers’ quarrel over the affections of Josie Mansfield, Edward Stokes guns down Colonel Jim Fisk on the steps of Broadway’s Grand Central Hotel on this date in 1872.

January 5: Peter F. Dailey

January 5: Peter F. Dailey, burlesque comedian whose epitaph reads, “He Laughed And The World Laughed With Him” (what more could any comedian want?), was born on this date in 1861.

January 4: James Brown

January 4: Co-founder with his brothers of what would become one of the largest private banks in America, now Brown Brothers Harriman, James Brown was born on this date in 1794.

January 2: Orlando Bronson Potter

January 2: Elected to Congress and the developer of the Potter Building at 38 Park Row in Manhattan 1882-1886, the latest in fireproof construction (and now a New York City Landmark), Orlando Bronson Potter also co-founded the New York Architectural Terra Cotta Company to build other fireproof buildings. He died on this date in 1894.

January 1: Tom Hyer

January 1: Tom Hyer was born on this date in 1819; he would win the bare-knuckle boxing championship of America in 1841, triumphing in 101 rounds.