This week in HVNY history (January 8-14, 2024)
January 8: On January 8, 1902, New York State Assemblyman Francis G. Landon, representing Dutchess County, “successfully introduced and passed a bill to criminalize men turning around on a street and ‘looking at a woman in that way’ to pay a $500 fine. There was a strong anti-flirting movement at the time. The law was still on the books in 2017, although it wasn't heavily enforced by then,” according to the Hudson River Valley Institute.
January 8: David Bowie was born David Robert Jones on January 8, 1947 in Brixton, London. In 2002, the iconic rocker bought a secluded 50-acre property near Woodstock with his wife Iman after falling in love with the area – which was mostly surrounded by white birch trees, his favorite – while recording his album Heathen at Allaire Studios in Shokan. Bowie died of liver cancer on January 10, 2016 in New York City. It was rumored that his ashes were to be scattered in the Catskills, where he worked on his last album and spent his final days, but his ashes were reportedly scattered during a private Buddhist ceremony in Bali.
