By 1849, cholera killed 5,000 in New York, with a mass grave on Randall's Island in the East River. 8,000 died of cholera in Cincinnati and 3,000 killed in New Orleans. Spreading up the Mississippi, 5,000 were killed by cholera in St. Louis, which was about 6% of the city's population, among them being Pierre Chouteau, Sr., one of the St. Louis' prominent early settlers.
Major Ben Tallmadge: "At this time a very dense fog began to rise off the river, and it seemed to settle in a peculiar manner over both encampments. I recollect this peculiar providential occurrence perfectly well, and so very dense was the atmosphere that I could scarcely discern a man at six yards distance ..."
Wernher von Braun stated further: "Speaking for myself, I can only say that the grandeur of the cosmos serves to confirm my belief in the certainty of a Creator."
Webster's original 1828 American Dictionary utilized King James Bible verses within the definitions. In fact, it contained the greatest number of Biblical definitions given of any reference volume. Noah Webster wrote: "The Bible should be the standard of language as well as of faith."
The original Republican platform was adopted June 18, 1856, being the first political party in history to have the abolition of slavery in its official party platform: "This Convention of Delegates ... are opposed to ... the extension of Slavery into Free Territory ... We deny the authority of Congress ... to give legal existence to slavery ... It is both the right and the imperative duty of Congress to prohibit in the Territories those twin relics of barbarism—Polygamy, and Slavery."
