On This Day: Thursday August 18, 2005 This is the 230th day of the year, with 135 days remaining in 2005. Fact of the Day: mail order catalog The first mail-order catalog was published by Montgomery Ward & Co. (of Chicago) in 1872. It was only a single sheet of paper! Ward started the company in 1872 with $2,400 capital and the aim of buying large quantities of merchandise wholesale and then selling it directly to farmers in rural areas without the help of retail intermediaries. Such an operation would provide goods to farmers at low prices but still yield Ward acceptable profits. To accomplish this, Ward began distributing the catalog and backed up his sales with a money-back guarantee. By 1904, the Montgomery Ward catalog weighed four pounds. In 1985, the company closed its 113-year-old catalog operation and in 2000 it announced the closing of its retail stores. Holidays Feast day of St. Helena, Saints Florus and Laurus, St. Agapitus, St. Alipius, and St. Beatrice or Brites da Silva. Events 1853 - The milk condensation process was patented by Gail Borden. 1872 - The first mail-order catalog was published, by Montgomery Ward. 1894 - Congress established the Bureau of Immigration. 1920 - The 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, guaranteeing women the right to vote, was ratified by Tennessee, giving it the two-thirds majority of state ratification necessary to make it law. 1963 - James Meredith became the first African-American to graduate from the University of Mississippi. 2004 - The internet search engine Google went public and the price of shares was $85. Births 1587 - Virginia Dare, the first child of English parents to be born on American soil, on what is now Roanoke Island, North Carolina. 1750 - Antonio Salieri, Italian composer. 1774 - Meriwether Lewis, American explorer of Lewis & Clark. 1830 - Franz Josef I, Austro-Hungarian emperor. 1834 - Marshall Field, American department store mogul. 1904 - Max Factor, American cosmetic mogul. 1934 - Roberto Clemente, Puerto Rican-born American baseball great. 1937 - Robert Redford, American actor, director. Deaths 1227 - Genghis Khan, Mongolian warrior and ruler.