This Day in History: May 10

Here’s a brief look back in time for this day, May 10.

In 1773, British parliament passes the Tea Act to the American colonists’ dismay, making the East India Tea Company a monopoly on the tea trade. It effectively lowered taxes on the near-bankrupt British company, meaning that they can sell tea more cheaply to the American colonies while the others had to sell at the same rates. This was the catalyst to the Boston Tea Party, where members of the Sons of Liberty dressed as Mohawk Native Americans threw 93,000 pounds of tea into the Boston Harbor.

In 1863, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson dies of pneumonia caused by a gunshot wound. He was regarded as one of the most feared Confederate generals to have fought in the eastern theater of the American Civil War. He got his famous nickname after one of his fellow generals named Bernard Bee exclaimed during the First Battle of Manassas: “Look, men! There is Jackson standing like a stone wall! Let us determine to die here, and we will conquer!” The end of his story was not a heroic one however, as the wound he sustained was a result of friendly fire.

In 1869, the United States’ first transcontinental railroad is completed, which connected Council Bluffs, IA, to the San Francisco Bay in California. Originally named the Pacific Railroad, it gave passengers a new way to traverse the rough landscape of western America safely without the usage of wagons. The famous photo depicting the driving of the last spike was taken in Utah. Made entirely of gold, the original now rests in Stanford University’s Cantor Arts Museum.