The "What Came After The Founding Of 'The Saturday Evening Post'" Story

 It was an ordinary day.  Reading an article in The Saturday Evening Post titled "Surprising Things That Are Younger than The Saturday Evening Post."  The story featured a few things that may seem to have been around forever, but are actually younger that The Saturday Evening Post.  Just so happens that the magazine is celebrating it's 200 birthday in 2021 and over those 200 years The Post has chronicled America's growth and change.  They have printed two centuries of cultural shifts, technological advancements, artistic innovations and political changes.  When the magazine was first on the news stands, James Monroe was our nation's fifth President and the Union was ready to admit Missouri as the 24th state.  At the time slavery was still legal and women were expected to run the house.  Only male land-owners over 21 years of age could vote.  And...the following were not a part of the United States of America.  

1.  Chief Justice John Marshall, George Patterson and former President James Madison founded the Washington Monument Society and spend over ten years soliciting funds to create a monument to honor our first president, George Washington.  On July 4, 1848 the cornerstone for the monument was laid and the design picked for the monument was made by Robert Mills.  The Washington Monument was completed in 1884 and opened to the public in 1888.  It was 555 feet 5 1/8 inches tall and at the time the tallest building in the world.

2. The Commercial Typewriter was patented in 1868, the 47th year of The Saturday Evening Post.  A number of inventors attempted to create a mechanical means for writing, but it wasn't until 1868 that anyone was successful.  Christopher Latham Sholes, Carlos Glidden and Samuel W. Soule filed patent 79265 and the modern typewriter began to emerge.  A few improvements were made to the original typewriter by gunmakers E. Remington & Sons and Mark Twain received credit for being the first author to write a novel on a typewriter.

3. The Capitol Dome was officially finished in 1868.  The original Capitol building was completed in 1811, but was much smaller and less ornate than what we see today.  British troops set fire to it in 1814 and it underwent major renovations that took over 10 years.  Between 1793 and 1850 the number of states had doubled and the original 30 Senators had grown to 62 and the House that had originally seated 69 representatives now was too small for the 233.  In 1850 Congress passed a bill and President Fillmore chose architect Thomas U. Walter to enlarge the Capitol as well as the dome.  The dome was finished by President Lincoln's second inauguration in 1865 in The Saturday Evening Post's 47th year.

4. Samuel Morse sent the first telegraph message which read "What hath God wrought?" from Washington D.C. to Baltimore, Maryland on May 24, 1844.  Then in 1857-58 the first transatlantic telegraph cable was laid between Newfoundland and Ireland.  Only problem was the line failed within weeks.  Improvements were made and a new cable was laid by the end of July, 1866.  Queen Vitroria and President Andrew Johnson were the first to exchange messages.

5. On May 7, 1824 Ludwig van Beethoven completed his final complete symphony; Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.  It contained the "Ode to Joy" theme.  The Saturday Evening Post reporters weren't in attendance at the premiere even though it was the third anniversary of the magazine.  He did get a bit of coverage in later issues. 

6.  The A Christmas Carol was first published in 1843, 22 years after the Post had been published for the first time.  Charles Dickens, the author of the Carol, was born on February 7, 1812 so he was 9 years old when The Saturday Evening Post was first printed.  Charles made two trips to the United States during his life.  On his first trip he petitioned Congress to consider international copyright laws so American composers and publishers couldn't pirate his stories.  The American press wasn't too keen on the idea.

7. The area known as Upper Peru declared its independence in 1809.  When The Saturday Evening Post first hit the newsstands in1821 and those South American revolutionaries were still embroiled in a 16-year battle to overthrow the Spanish government and take control.  Independence was finally achieved in 1825, four years after the first Post.  On August 6 the Republic of Bolivar was born.

8.  Finally, on September 21, 1823 messenger Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith and pointed the way to the gold plates that held the story of the continent's former inhabitants and their provenance.  According to Mormon doctrine, Smith translated the plates and they were published in 1830 as the Book of Mormon and the Church of Latter-day Saints was officially founded two years after The Saturday Evening Post was founded.  

Well there you have it.  Eight items that happened after The Saturday Evening Post was founded.  I'm sure there were hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of other things that were newsworthy that happened between the start of the magazine and today, but they would bore you even more than what you just finished reading.  it was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.