October 27:

1904 : New York City subway opens

At 2:35 on the afternoon of October 27, 1904, New York City Mayor
George McClellan takes the controls on the inaugural run of the city's
innovative new rapid transit system: the subway.

While London boasts the world's oldest underground train network
(opened in 1863) and Boston built the first subway in the United
States in 1897, the New York City subway soon became the largest
American system. The first line, operated by the Interborough Rapid
Transit Company (IRT), traveled 9.1 miles through 28 stations. Running
from City Hall in lower Manhattan to Grand Central Terminal in
midtown, and then heading west along 42nd Street to Times Square, the
line finished by zipping north, all the way to 145th Street and
Broadway in Harlem. On opening day, Mayor McClellan so enjoyed his
stint as engineer that he stayed at the controls all the way from City
Hall to 103rd Street.

At 7 p.m. that evening, the subway opened to the general public, and
more than 100,000 people paid a nickel each to take their first ride
under Manhattan. IRT service expanded to the Bronx in 1905, to
Brooklyn in 1908 and to Queens in 1915. Since 1968, the subway has
been controlled by the Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA). The
system now has 26 lines and 468 stations in operation; the longest
line, the 8th Avenue "A" Express train, stretches more than 32 miles,
from the northern tip of Manhattan to the far southeast corner of
Queens.

Every day, some 4.5 million passengers take the subway in New York.
With the exception of the PATH train connecting New York with New
Jersey and some parts of Chicago's elevated train system, New York's
subway is the only rapid transit system in the world that runs 24
hours a day, seven days a week. No matter how crowded or dirty, the
subway is one New York City institution few New Yorkers--or
tourists--could do without.

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1659 : Quakers executed for religious beliefs
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5472

1858 : Teddy Roosevelt born
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7063

1914 : Dylan Thomas born
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5474

1994 : U.S. prison population exceeds one million
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5475

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