January 11, 1759: The first American life insurance company is incorporated in Philadelphia—the “Corporation of Poor and Distressed Presbyterian Ministers and of the Poor and Distressed Widows and Children of Presbyterian Ministers.”
January 11, 1875: The “Scandal of the Century” goes public as journalist Theodore Tilton sues prominent liberal pastor Henry Ward Beecher for alienating his wife’s affections (i.e. having an affair with her). The trial, which became a national sensation, finally ended with a hung jury.
