A page from the past August

Aug. 1, 1872

A 2-inch pipe running five miles in Pennsylvania from Newton Wells to Titusville reaches completion, earning the distinction as the first long-distance gas pipeline in the United States.

Source: www.historynet.com

Aug. 1, 1878

The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in La Crosse begins an endless prayer session in adoration of the Eucharist that continues to this day. The organization uses a tag-team approach that keeps at least two sisters at the altar 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

Source: Wisconsin Historical Society

Photo courtesy of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration

Aug. 2, 1754

Pierre Charles L'Enfant is born. L'Enfant was a French engineer who designed the layout of Washington, D.C.

Source: www.historynet.com

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Foundation

Aug. 15, 1914

The Panama Canal officially opens for traffic with the passage of the U.S. vessel Ancon. The American-built waterway is regarded as one of the largest construction projects of all time, with engineers moving nearly 240 million cubic yards of earth and spending nearly $400 million to create the 40-mile canal.

Source: www.historychannel.com

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Foundation

Aug. 20, 1882

The first commercial, hydroelectric power plant goes into operation in Appleton. The plant produced 12.5 kilowatts of power and energized the lighting in a private home and the machinery in two paper mills.

Sources: Wisconsin History Day by Day and Wisconsin Department of Justice

Photo courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Aug. 23, 1847

Forty masons and bricklayers stop work and demand that their daily wages increase from $1.50 to $1.75. That work stoppage was the first strike in Milwaukee.

Source: Wisconsin History Day by Day

Aug. 24, 1970

A bomb explodes in Sterling Hall on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. The bomb, which was a Vietnam War protest aimed at the Army Mathematics Research Center in the building, killed one researcher, Robert Fassnacht.

Source: Wisconsin History Day by Day

Photo courtesy of UW-Madison Archives and Digital Collections

Aug. 27, 1836

James Duane Doty selects the site for Wisconsin's Capitol in Madison.

Source: Wisconsin History Day by Day

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Foundation

Aug. 31, 1839

The U.S. Department of the Treasury moves into its new home at 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. The department moved into what are now the building's East and Center wings, which were designed by architect Robert Mills and cost less than $700,000 to build.

Sources: www.historychannel.com and www.ustreas.gov

Photo courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division