Thomas Dongan was born in the Kingdom of Ireland in 1634 and went on to become a member of Irish Parliament. As a child, he and the rest of his family faced persecution by Oliver Cromwell, a staunch Protestant who aimed to crushing Catholicism in Ireland. That convinced him to escape to the New World, where he would be free to practice his religion in peace.
On this day July 22, 1686, Governor Thomas Dongan charters Albany, New York. Albany is the oldest city charter to still exist in the United States, and its 250th commemoration day was celebrated on the half-dollar coin minted in 1936.
Albany is the capital of New York, although it is far from its largest, as its population was below 100,000 during the 2010 census. It is 150 miles north of New York City, the largest city in New York, which has 9 million in its city and 22 million in its metropolitan area. Albany is very much of a college town, with SUNY Albany among a number of other universities situated there.