Thomas P Jacks (1839 - 1899)

Refresh this page to see various historical events that occurred during Thomas' lifetime.

In 1839, in the year that Thomas P Jacks was born, in The Boston Morning Post, on March 23rd, the first recorded use of the word "OK" appeared. A columnist in the paper said this: "The "Chairman of the Committee on Charity Lecture Bells, is one of the deputation, and perhaps if he should return to Boston, via Providence, he of the Journal, and his train-band, would have his 'contribution box,' et ceteras, o.k.—all correct—and cause the corks to fly, like sparks, upward." While this is the first known time that OK appeared in print, where the word came from is still disputed.

In 1866, at the age of 27 years old, Thomas was alive when on April 10th, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals - the ASPCA - was created. New Yorker Henry Bergh was the first President of the Society and the leader in its creation. He later formed the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

In 1871, by the time he was 32 years old, 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 1889, by the time he was 50 years old, on April 20th, Adolf Hitler was born in Austria-Hungary - now Austria. In his early 30's, he began his rise to power in German politics, eventually becoming the leader of the Nazi Party and Führer of Nazi Germany. He presided over the death of millions of civilians as well as leading Germany through World War II.

In 1899, in the year of Thomas P Jacks's passing, the meaning of Chinese "oracle bones" was rediscovered. Farmers in China had been turning up the bones in their fields for generations but most often they were ground up and sold as medicine. The chancellor of the Imperial Academy and a friend noticed, before they ground the bones, that they had writing. The bones had been used around the second millennium BC for divination.