March 23:

A.D. 1743: Handel's Messiah premieres in London.

A.D. 1752: Stephan II is elected pope, but dies two days later.

A.D. 1775: Patrick Henry makes his famous statement, "Give me liberty or give me death."

A.D. 1808: Napolean's brother Joseph takes the throne of Spain.

A.D. 1839: First recorded use of OK (meaning "oll korrect") occurs in the Boston Morning Post.

A.D. 1840: The first successful photograph of the moon is taken using a daguerrotype camera.

A.D. 1857: The first elevator is installed.

A.D. 1858: The streetcar is patented.