This day in history: July 31
Date/Time
Date(s) - 31/07/2026
All Day
Categories
1856
The boiler exploded at the Little Falls Cotton Factory. Mr. Thomas Stevenson who lived nearby and was having dinner, heard the explosion, went to his door and was crushed to death by the falling boiler. Several women and children were also hurt by falling debris. A Grand Jury determined the cause to be a faulty boiler operated by an inexperienced boiler man.
1885
The water in the Eastern Park reservoir is so impure that the fish in it have all died. This stagnant pool is liable, during the existing hot weather, to breed disease among those who live in the neighborhood.
1908
Frank Gregorka has invented a water bicycle without any plans or drawings, and is testing his odd craft on the canal in Little Falls. The power is supplied by a bicycle frame connected to a 13” propeller by means of bevel gears. The body has two 6 ½ foot floats fastened 3 feet apart.
1929
A count showed 633 out-of-state automobiles went through the city in six hours – a rate of nearly two per minute. The survey was taken for one hour each day for six consecutive days. The states which led the totals were Michigan (92), Ohio (91), Massachusetts (88), and New Jersey (56.) Cars were also from many other states and California, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, D.C., and the Panama Canal Zone.
1942
WW II Era – Two Little Falls garages, Whitcomb on West Lansing Street and R.G. Smith on West Main and Third Streets, went out of business because of restrictions on the sale of autos and the rationing of tires and gasoline.
1963
No One was injured in an accident on the New York Central this afternoon, at milepost 216.30, in which eighteen cars were derailed just east of Second Street in this city. The engine and the first six cars remained upright on the track.