Steamtown, U.S.A. was a steam locomotive museum that ran steam excursions out of North Walpole, New Hampshire, and Bellows Falls, Vermont, from the 1960s to 1983. The museum was founded by millionaire seafood industrialist F. Nelson Blount and was operated by the Steamtown Foundation after his death in 1967. Due to Vermont's air quality regulations restricting steam excursions, declining visitor attendance, and track use disputes, some of the collection was relocated to Scranton, Pennsylvania in the mid-1980s and the rest was sold. Steamtown, U.S.A. failed to attract the expected 200,000–400,000 visitors in Scranton and, facing bankruptcy, it sold more of the collection. In 1986, the U.S. House of Representatives approved funding to begin the process of making it a National Historic Site. Historical research was carried out by the National Park Service (NPS) on the remaining equipment. By 1995, Steamtown had been acquired and developed by the NPS as the Steamtown National Historic Site with a $66 million allocation. Several more pieces have been removed from the collection as a result of the government acquisition. Part of the Blount collection is still on display in Scranton.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamtown,_U.S.A.

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1780:

American Revolutionary War: The British Royal Navy gained their first major naval victory over their European enemies in the war when they defeated a Spanish squadron in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent (pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cape_St._Vincent_(1780)

1862:

The beam of a pumping engine broke at the Hartley Colliery in Northumberland, England, and fell down the shaft trapping the men below, resulting in the deaths of 204 men. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartley_Colliery_Disaster

1920:

The League of Nations, the first intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace, held its first council meeting in Paris. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations

1942:

TWA Flight 3 crashed into Potosi Mountain in Nevada, killing actress Carole Lombard and all of the other 21 people on board. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_3

1964:

The musical Hello, Dolly! opened at the St. James Theatre on Broadway, and would go on to win ten Tony Awards, a record that stood for 35 years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello,_Dolly!_(musical)

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

smurf account: (Internet slang) An alternate account used by a known or experienced user to appear to be someone else. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/smurf_account

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

From now to the end of consciousness, we are stuck with the task of defending art.   --Susan Sontag https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Susan_Sontag