On August 12, 1785, Samuel Emmit laid out the town of Emmitsburg. On August 12, 1831, John Ritchie, who would become chief judge of The Sixth Judicial Circuit, was born in Frederick, the son of Dr. John Ritchie. He died October 27, 1887. On August 12, 1851, the Rev. George Diehl was installed as the pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church on East Church Street in Frederick. On August 12, 1854, a large alarm bell, intended to replace those in Trinity Chapel of the Evangelical Reformed Church, arrived in Frederick. It weighed 1,015 pounds and cost just under $400. On August 12, 1855, Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church on East Third Street in Frederick was dedicated. It later became Quinn Chapel AME. On August 12, 1920, the Rotary Club of Frederick was founded by Charles C. Carty at a meeting in his store at 48 East Patrick Street, Frederick, now the home of The National Museum of Civil War Medicine. On August 12, 1927, the new Frederick Municipal Park was renamed Baker Park in honor of Joseph Dill Baker. On August 12, 1929, the Hotel Braddock at Braddock Heights was destroyed by fire. On August 12, 1960, a helicopter carrying President Dwight David Eisenhower made an unscheduled landing on a Thurmont ball field. On August 12, 1991, Joseph Michael Perla, 29, pleaded guilty in Frederick County Circuit Court to setting a fire that destroyed the Loy's Station Covered Bridge on Old Frederick Road east of Thurmont. The bridge was eventually rebuilt. If anyone can add information to these History Moments, or would like to suggest an item for another calendar day, please contact me privately. John W. Ashbury [email protected]