On this date in...

1859...The paddle steamer "Black Warrior" runs aground off what is now Riis Park, but all aboard are brought safely to shore. The wreck can still be seen below the waters between Brooklyn and Queens.

1861...President-Elect Abraham Lincoln visits New York and attends the opera at The Academy of Music on 14th Street.

1913...The famous "Armory Show of 1913" opens at the armory on Lexington Avenue at 25th Street. For the first time, Picasso, Brancusi and other "modern" artists are shown in America – but the greeting is lukewarm as one critic dubs the new forms and patterns "Ellis Island Art." Nonetheless, the exhibition is a hit with New Yorkers.

Today's New Yorker birthdays include NHL Hall of Famer Phil Esposito of the New York Rangers, born in 1942.