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Today is September11, 2026 Friday.

Born ?

The World in 1876 the year baseball started paying wages

Close to ten million people walked through the gates in Philadelphia across six months. That is roughly one American in five, in a country where most people had never travelled more than a day from home.

Life back then

Baseball turned into a job that winter. Eight club owners set up the National League, put players under contract for the season and banned drink and betting at the grounds. Pitchers still threw underhand, fielders caught bare handed, and a batter could ask for the ball high or low. Games started in the afternoon because there were no lights, so clerks found reasons to leave the office early. Chicago took the first pennant.

The year in 8 events

• ⚾Feb 2 Eight clubs meet in New York and form baseball's National League. Players sign contracts for the season.
• 🤝Feb 26 Japan and Korea sign a treaty at Ganghwa. Korean ports open to Japanese ships and traders.
• ☎️Mar 10 Alexander Graham Bell speaks to his assistant through a wire in Boston, from one room to the next.
• 🎡May 10 The Centennial Exposition opens in Philadelphia to mark 100 years of the United States.
• ⚔️Jun 25 Sioux and Cheyenne fighters destroy Custer's force at the Little Bighorn in Montana.
• 🎭Aug 13 Wagner opens his own theatre at Bayreuth in Germany with the first night of the Ring cycle.
• 🏛️Nov 16 Porfirio Diaz wins the battle at Tecoac and takes control of Mexico. He runs the country for most of the next 35 years.
• 📜Dec 23 The Ottoman Empire announces its first written constitution, with an elected parliament in Istanbul.

Who Was in Charge?

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