PIONEER DAY (UTAH)

Pioneer Day commemorates the day in 1847 when Brigham Young led his “pioneer band” of Mormons into the Salt Lake valley to establish a settlement–their new Zion. The Mormons had been driven from New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois and had spent four difficult months traveling 1,073 miles overland to reach the Great Basin, chosen by Young because of its remoteness. It was the most organized and disciplined westward migration in American history, and unlike most emigrants intent on their destination, the Mormon pioneers were equally concerned with improving the trail for those who would follow. Pioneer Day is celebrated as the second most important date in the Mormon calendar, behind April 6, the day Joseph Smith established the church.

Every Year

• PIONEER DAY (UTAH)

1560s

• 1567: MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS WAS DEPOSED

1780s

• BORN 1783: SIMÓN BOLÍVAR (SOUTH AMERICAN LIBERATOR)

1800s

• BORN 1802: ALEXANDRE DUMAS (AUTHOR)

1840s

• 1847: BRIGHAM YOUNG AND FOLLOWERS ARRIVED AT SALT LAKE, UTAH

1860s

• DIED 1862: MARTIN VAN BUREN (8TH U.S. PRESIDENT)
• 1866: TENNESSEE READMITTED TO UNION AFTER CIVIL WAR

1890s

• BORN 1898: AMELIA EARHART (AVIATOR)

1900s

• 1901: O. HENRY RELEASED FROM OHIO STATE PENITENTIARY

1910s

• 1910: JAMES MACGILLIVRAY PUBLISHED FIRST ACCOUNT OF PAUL BUNYAN IN THE DETROIT NEWS
• 1911: ARCHAEOLOGIST HIRAM BINGHAM “DISCOVERED” THE MACHU PICCHU INCAN RUINS IN PERU
• 1915: STEAMER EASTLAND OVERTURNED IN THE CHICAGO RIVER, KILLING 844 PEOPLE

1930s

• BORN 1936: RUTH BUZZI (ACTRESS)

1940s

• BORN 1942: CHRIS SARANDON (ACTOR)
• 1948: DEBUT OF MARVIN THE MARTIAN IN BUGS BUNNY’S HAREDEVIL HARE
• 1949: 67-POUND 8-OUNCE MUSKELLUNGE CAUGHT IN LAC COURTE OREILLES, HAYWARD, WISCONSIN

1950s

• BORN 1951: LYNDA CARTER (ACTRESS)

1960s

• BORN 1963: KARL MALONE (BASKETBALL PLAYER)
• BORN 1964: BARRY BONDS (BASEBALL PLAYER)
• BORN 1968: KRISTIN CHENOWETH (ACTRESS)

1970s

• BORN 1970: JENNIFER LOPEZ (SINGER & ACTRESS)
• 1974: THE U.S. SUPREME COURT UNANIMOUSLY RULED THAT PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON DID NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO WITHHOLD SUBPOENAED WHITE HOUSE TAPES AND ORDERED HIM TO SURRENDER THE TAPES
• BORN 1975: ERIC SZMANDA (ACTOR)

1980s

• DIED 1980: PETER SELLERS (ACTOR)
• BORN 1982: ANNA PAQUIN (ACTRESS)
• 1987: HULDA CROOKS CLIMBED MT FUJI AT AGE 91
• 1988: 9-YR.-OLD EMMA HOULSTON BECAME YOUNGEST PERSON TO PILOT PLAN ACROSS CANADA (VICTORIA, B.C., TO ST. JOHN’S, N.L.)

1990s

• DIED 1991: ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER (WRITER)
• BORN 1998: BINDI IRWIN (ANIMAL ACTIVIST; DAUGHTER OF CROCODILE HUNTER STEVE IRWIN)

2010s

• DIED 2012: SHERMAN HEMSLEY (ACTOR)

COURTESY www.almanac.com