August 20: On this date in 1876, Frances Flora Bond Palmer, the only woman artist who worked for lithographers Nathaniel Currier and James Ives, and whose art hung in more American homes than any other artist, died.
August 19: Robert Troup, who roomed with Alexander Hamilton at Kings College, was captured at the Battle of Brooklyn, and served as an aide to General Horatio Gates, was born on this date in 1757.
August 18: On this date in 1920, the efforts of suffragists Louisine Havemeyer, Harriet Laidlaw, Clemence Lozier, and others, culminated in the ratification of the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote.
August 17: Frederick Thomas Locke, who was brevetted brigadier general for his actions at the Battle of Five Forks during the Civil War, and worked as a plumbing contractor after the war, was born on this date in 1826.
August 16: Nehemiah Cleaveland, Green-Wood’s first historian, was born on this date in 1796 and died on April 17, 1877, one day before the anniversary of the cemetery’s founding.
August 15: The cornerstone of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, designed by James Renwick, was laid on this date in 1858.
August 14: Confederate agent George N. Sanders, who was suspected of having participated in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, was interred on this date in 1873.
August 13: Ira D. Sankey, “The Sweet Singer of Methodism,” died on this date in 1908.
August 12: On this date in 1988, painter Jean-Michel Basquiat died of a heroin overdose.
August 11: Ebenezer Stevens was born on this date in 1751; as a young man, he would take part in the Boston Tea Party.