When writing about our ancestors, sometimes we want to find not only the date, but also the day of the week. My ancestor Michael Harm arrived in New York Harbor on the packet ship Helvetia on June 30, 1857. What day, exactly, was that? There are various sites to help us figure this out, such as Ancestor Search.
And here’s a find, specifically for the 19th century, through the University of Pittsburgh Library System. A digitized publication from 1886, called “The 19th Century Almanac: A complete calendar from 1800 to 1900.” There are options for viewing the almanac, depending on the format (and power of your computer). Below is a page snipped from the alamanac. (Double-click to enlarge.)
Especially fun are lists of important events in a given year. Here are the events of 1853.
Since the Almanac was published in 1886, what about 1887 and following, the “time that is to come”? In those years, the Almanac lists upcoming presidential elections and congresses and so on, and centennial events from 1787 to 1800. There are also pithy quotes at the bottom of each page. For 1887, it’s:
“We take no note of time, but from its loss.”
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