Dutch explorer Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert left Fort Orange (Albany), and passed around the little falls, possibly south of Fall Hill, while visiting Iroquois villages on his way to Oneida Lake. Most likely, he was the first white person to have visited this area.
This day in Mohawk Valley History, December 28, 1917, Sailor Boys Hardly Know How to Thank the Ilion-Mohawk Relief.
‘Tis December 24, the day before Christmas, and all through the land, families send excited children to bed with a reading of Clement Moore’s classic poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas.”
![[Gen. Washington resigning his commission to Congress, Annapolis, Md., Dec. 23, 1783]. Photograph of a painting by John Trumbull, [between 1900 and 1912]. Detroit Publishing Company. Prints & Photographs Division](https://mohawkvalleymuseums.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_3153-180x180.jpeg)
George Washington resigned his commission as commander in chief of the Continental Army on December 23, 1783.
On December 19, 1888, it was announced another knitting mill would be in the Herkimer Manufacturing Company brick building.
On December 14, 1774, several hundred men overpowered the small British garrison at Castle William & Mary in New Hampshire gaining possession of about 100 barrels of gunpowder from the crown.
On December 12, 1894, it was reported that D.H. Burrell of Little Falls has received a patent for making cheese.
Each year on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Survivors, veterans, and visitors from all over the world come together to honor and remember the 2,403 service members and civilians who were killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
On December 1, 1853, John Burnham was attempted to cross the aqueduct on the side without rails, slipped on the ice, and fell 20 or 25 feet to his death upon the rocks below.
On December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment (Amendment XXI) to the United States Constitution is ratified repealing the 18th Amendment.
![Harris & Ewing, photographer. USS Pennsylvania. [Between 1911 and 1917] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2016853699/](https://mohawkvalleymuseums.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_3163-180x180.jpeg)
Harris & Ewing, photographer. USS Pennsylvania. [Between 1911 and 1917] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2016853699/![[Santa with toys in a sleigh, drawn by reindeer…] [between 1880 and 1890]. Part of Marion S Carson Collection. Prints & Photographs Division](https://mohawkvalleymuseums.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_3154-180x180.jpeg)
[Santa with toys in a sleigh, drawn by reindeer…] [between 1880 and 1890]. Part of Marion S Carson Collection. Prints & Photographs Division
Circa 1950s -Photo by Howard Ohlhous