Piston Valve Press

Steampunk History:
1859 – Emperor Norton I: Disgruntled with the legal and political structures of the United States, Joshua Norton distributed letters to various newspapers in San Francisco, proclaiming himself "Emperor Norton I of these United States"... and... "Protector of Mexico."

Today in steampunk history:
1890 - Electric chair first used to kill convicted murderer William Kemmler at Auburn State Prison, New York. Edison designed the chair as part of his smear campaign against Tesla & Westinghouse. He wanted to show the dangers of AC (vs his own DC being safer). Edison even tried to name it the Tesla Chair, but the name didn't stick.

Steampunk inventions on this day:
1877 - Phonograph was invented; he announced it as a "talking machine." (Thomas Edison personally did very few good things. This is one of the exceptions). While other inventors had produced devices that could record sounds, Edison's phonograph was the first to be able to reproduce the recorded sound. His phonograph originally recorded sound onto a tinfoil sheet wrapped around a rotating cylinder.

Steampunk history: 1880 - Australian bushranger ( outlaw, gang leader, and convicted police murderer) Ned Kelly was hanged at Melbourne Gaol. Ned was also called the "Iron Outlaw" because of the armor he fashioned for himself. An excellent shot with both pistol and rifle, he quickly entered folklore where he remains.