Robert Henry Windsor (died 1913)

In 1806, Noah Webster published his first dictionary, A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language. It was the first truly American dictionary, incorporating the idioms and language of the day. Thus began his effort to standardize the American language, which was regionally different. It took him 26 years to complete the entire project.

In 1817, on June 12th, German inventor Karl Drais created and rode a dandy horse - also called a "Draisine" or "Laufmaschine". It was the earliest form of a bicycle and had no pedals - the dandy horse was wooden and ridden by running or walking while sitting on the bike.

In 1848, on January 24th, James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in California. On August 19th, the New York Herald published news of the Gold Rush in California - alerting the east coast. The Gold Rush brought over 300,000 people to northern California from the rest of the US and overseas.

In 1871, on March 29th, Royal Albert Hall in London was officially opened by Queen Victoria. Construction had begun in 1867 and the hall was named after Queen Victoria's husband, who had died in 1861 - 10 years before.

In 1913, in the year of Robert Henry Windsor's passing, ratified in February the 16th Amendment, establishing a Federal income tax, became law. Previously, customs duties (tariffs) and excise taxes were the primary sources of federal revenue. With the passage of the 16th Amendment, incomes of couples exceeding $4,000, as well as those of single persons earning $3,000 or more, were subject to a 1% Federal tax (that would be about $98,000 and $74,000 now). Rates rose to 7% for incomes over half a million dollars. Less than 1% of the population was subject to income tax.