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.
Check out what happens in the tunnels of New York City.
http://www.history.com/minisites/sandhogs/
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General Interest
1904 : New York City subway opens
http://www.history.com/tdih.
1659 : Quakers executed for religious beliefs
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1858 : Teddy Roosevelt born
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=7063
1914 : Dylan Thomas born
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1994 : U.S. prison population exceeds one million
http://www.history.com/tdih.
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