Today in History

Births on August 23rd

1988 – Jeremy Lin
American basketball player

1978 – Kobe Bryant

1926 – Clifford Geertz

1912 – Gene Kelly

1864 – Eleftherios Venizelos

Deaths on August 23rd

2006 – Maynard Ferguson
Canadian trumpet player, bandleader

1926 – Rudolph Valentino

1819 – Oliver Hazard Perry

1305 – William Wallace

634 – Abu Bakr

August 23rd

In 1969, Liverpool rock band Ibex played a gig at the Octagon Theatre in Lancashire, UK. On vocals was Freddie Bulsara (soon to be known as Freddie Mercury ), who had joined the band earlier that year
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1839 Britain captured Hong Kong as a base as it prepared for war with China. The ensuing 3 year conflict was later to be known as the First Opium War.

On This Day In History, August 24th

2006 – Pluto Loses its Status as a Planet
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) declassified Pluto as a planet and classified it as a dwarf planet. According to the IAU definition, a dwarf planet is neither a planet or a natural satellite. It is ‘a celestial object orbiting a star that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity but has not cleared its orbit of space debris’. Discovered in 1930 by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, Pluto is the largest but second-most massive dwarf planet in our solar system. The most massive dwarf planet orbiting our sun is Eris.

1991 – Ukraine gains its independence
The Eastern European country gained independence from the Soviet Union after a failed coup to remove Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev. The country’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine and put the decision out to the public as a referendum. August 24 is celebrated each year as Independence Day in Ukraine.

1949 – NATO is Established
The North Atlantic Treaty, which established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an intergovernmental military alliance, came into effect on this day. The Treaty, which was signed on April 4, 1949 in Washington DC, created a collective defense system, where an attack on one member is considered an attack on all the other signatories. Initially, the treaty was signed by 12 countries - Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom, and United States. Today, membership has increased from the original 12 to 28.

1869 – The Waffle Iron is Patented in the United States
Cornelius Swartwout, a Troy, New York resident invented and received the patent for the waffle iron, a device used to cook waffles. His design for the waffle iron included two plates of iron connected together with hinges. Users could pour waffle batter on one plate and place the other plate on top and cook the batter over an open fire or on a wood-burning oven. This day is often celebrated as National Waffle Day in the United States.

1814 – The British Burn Down Washington
British troops under the leadership of Major General Robert Ross occupied Washington D.C. and burnt down the city, including the Presidential Mansion and the Capitol building. President Madison and members of his government fled the city and took refuge in Brookeville, Maryland. The British had occupied the city for only 24 hours when a massive storm forced the troops to retreat, following which the Americans regained control of the capital.

Births on August 24

1957 – Stephen Fry
English comedian, actor, journalist, author

1945 – Vince McMahon
American wrestler, promoter, producer, actor

1929 – Yasser Arafat
Palestinian engineer, politician

1899 – Jorge Luis Borges
Argentine writer

1759 – William Wilberforce
English politician, philanthropist

Deaths on August 24

2015 – Justin Wilson
English race car driver

2014 – Richard Attenborough
English director

1983 – Scott Nearing
American writer, educator

1946 – James Clark McReynolds
American lawyer, judge

1943 – Simone Weil
French mystic, philosopher

24th August

1200 King John of England, married Isabella of Angouleme in Bordeaux Cathedral.

1482 The town and castle of Berwick upon Tweed were captured from Scotland by an English army. The border town has remained English ever since.

1954 Brazilian President Getulio Vargas committed suicide hours after resigning amid a deepening political crisis.

1967 Two penguins from Chessington Zoo were taken on a day trip to a local ice-rink to cool off during sweltering London temperatures.

1990 Irish hostage released in Lebanon. The Irish hostage, Brian Keenan, was released in Beirut by his Islamic kidnappers after more than four years in captivity.

1456
The printing of the Gutenberg Bible is completed, 180 copies were produced
1869
Cornelius Swarthout receives patent for stovetop waffle iron
1949
NATO{ North Atlantic Treaty Organization} goes into effect
1972
NHL hockey players, Gordie Howe&Jean Beliveau are inducted into Hockey Hall Of Fame
Howe played for Detriot Red Wings won 4 Stanley Cups,Beliveau played his entire career with Montreal Canadiens winning 10 Stanley Cups
1995
Microsoft debuts Windows 95
2008
The Summer Olympic Games from Beijing, China was the most watched TV event ever with 70% of the world's population, over 5 billion viewers
2017
The largest U.S.. lottery Powerball jackpot ever $757.8 mill was won by 53 yr old Mavis Wanczyk in Mass..
She took lump sum after taxes which was $336 mil,quit her job after 32 yrs working at a patient center

August 25th

1835 – "The Great Moon Hoax" Published by the New York Sun who printed a story claiming life was found on the Moon.
It was the first in a series of six articles.
The reports were fake but created tremendous public excitement.

On This Day In History, August 26th

1978 – First German to go into Space
Sigmund Jähn, a pilot from the East German Air Force, joined the crew of Soyuz 31, a Soviet manned space flight to the Salyut 6 space station.

1966 – Namibian War of Independence Begins
The 24-year-long rebellion against the South African government began with an attack by the South African Defence Force on the members of the South-West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) at Omugulugwombashe. Namibia gained independence on 21 March 1990. Namibians observe Heroes Day annually on August 26.

1955 – First Tennis Match to be Telecast in Colour
The Davis Cup match between Australia and the US from the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York, was telecast on NBC.

1920 – 19th Amendment to the US Constitution Takes Effect
The amendment extended universal suffrage to women in the United States. Before this, women in some states could vote in local and state elections. The Amendment was first introduced in Congress 42 years ago in 1878 by Senator Aaron A. Sargent. In 1919, Congress approved the amendment and sent it to the states to be ratified.

1768 – James Cook Sails off on HMS Endeavour
The British explorer was the first European in recorded history to have visited the eastern shores of Australia. The ship reached Botany Bay in April 1770 and was back on British shores on July 12, 1771.

Births on August 26th

1971 – Thalía
Mexican singer-songwriter, actress

1970 – Melissa McCarthy
American actress, writer, producer

1966 – Shirley Manson
Scottish singer-songwriter, actress

1910 – Mother Teresa
Macedonian/Indian missionary, Nobel Prize laureate

1819 – Albert, Prince Consort
of the United Kingdom

Deaths on August 26th

1974 – Charles Lindbergh
American pilot, activist

1958 – Ralph Vaughan Williams
English composer

26th August 1968
Jeannie C. Riley's "Harper Valley P.T.A." is certified Gold. The single eventually sold over six million copies, making Riley the first woman ever to top the US Pop and Country singles charts with the same song.

26th August 1970
Jimi Hendrix made his last live appearance in the UK at the Isle of Wight festival.
On September 18th he would die from an overdose of sleeping pills.

26th August 1973
Bobby Darin performed what would prove to be his final concert at the Las Vegas Hilton.
He would die after heart surgery on the following December 20th at just 37 years old.

August 26th
Joan of Arc's arrival in the outskirts of Paris
In preparation for an attack on Paris , part of Charles VII 's campaign to drive the English from French soil, Joan of Arc
and her soldiers reached the city's outskirts on this day in 1429, but the assault ultimately failed.



..1936 Over 7,000 people queued to see the first high definition television pictures on sets at the Olympia Radio Show, west London. The pictures were transmitted by the BBC from Alexandra Palace, introduced by Leslie Mitchell, their first announcer.

1942 World War II: The beginning of the Holocaust in western Ukraine. At 2.30 am the German security police evicted Jews from their houses, divided them into groups of 120, packed them in freight cars and deported 2000 to Belzec death camp. 500 of the sick, along with children, were murdered on the spot.
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Beatles Meet Yogi1967 The Beatles, Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull, and Donovan meet Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at a retreat in Bangor, Wales

26th August

55BC Two Roman legions (about 10,000 soldiers) under the personal command of Julius Caesar crossed the English Channel in a group of transporter ships from the Portus Itius in Boulogne.

1959 British car manufacturers Austin and Morris launched a small family car - the 'Mini'.

1981 Steve Ovett recaptured the mile-run record which had been taken from him just a week earlier by Sebastian Coe. Ovett's new world record time was 3:48.40.

1985 The controversial athlete, Zola Budd, broke the world 5,000m record.

1994 A man was given the world's first battery-operated heart in a pioneering operation in Britain. The patient, an unnamed 62-year-old from the south of England, is now in a stable condition at the world-famous Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire.

1682
British astronomer,Edmond Halley 1st observes comet that would be named after him
Its 9.3 miles long,5 miles wide,,5 miles thick
1944
French 2nd armored division and Charles de Gaulle parade down Champs-Elysees in Paris after liberation of the city from Nazi occupation
1961
the official opening of International Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto,Canada
1968
Beatles release single' Hey Jude' in U.S. hits #1 on Billboard music chart stays there for 9 wks
1986
Robert Chambers aka 'Preppie Killer' strangles& murders Jennifer Levin in Central Park in NYC,claiming 'rough sex' was motive. He was convicted& sentenced to prison for 15yrs,was paroled in 2003. In 2008 he pleaded guilty to selling drugs, back in prison serving 19yr sentence
2023
the longest alligator ever recorded in Mississippi was captured in the Sunflower River 14ft 3inch long,weighing 802.5 pounds

On This Day In History, August 27th

2003 – World’s Biggest Battery is Plugged in

2003 – Mars approaches closest to the Earth since 57,617 BC

1991 – Moldova gains its Independence

1985 – Military coup in Nigeria

1962 – NASA Launches Mariner 2

Births on August 27

1976 – Mark Webber

1952 – Paul Reubens

1908 – Donald Bradman

1908 – Lyndon B. Johnson

1770 – Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Deaths on August 27

1990 – Stevie Ray Vaughan

1979 – Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma

1975 – Haile Selassie
I
1967 – Brian Epstein

1963 – W. E. B. Du Bois

August 27th
1660 John Milton's books were burned in London, because of the author's attacks on King Charles II.


1784 The first balloon ascent was made in Britain, by James Tytler at Edinburgh.


1877 Birthday of The Hon. Charles Stewart Rolls, English motor manufacturer.


1896 The start (and end) of the Anglo-Zanzibar War. It was the shortest war in world history and lasted for just 38 minutes.



1992 – John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics for “A Day in the Life” were auctioned for over $100,000.

1833 The House of Commons approved the Abolition Act, introduced earlier by Thomas Buxton, abolishing slavery throughout most of the British Empire.



On August 28, 1921 the Red Army disbanded the Ukrainian Makhnovshchina, an anarchist free Ukrainian territory in the Ukraine.



1965 -Bob Dylan is booed for playing electric guitar during a concert at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in Queens, New York City
august 28th

August 29th1831 Michael Faraday successfully demonstrated the first electrical transformer at the Royal Institute, London. 1833 Legislation to settle child labour laws was passed in England. The legislation was called the 'Factory Act'.



1842 The Treaty of Nanking was signed between the British and the Chinese, ending the Opium War, and leasing the Hong Kong territories to Britain.




1882 The England cricket team lost to Australia, in England, for the first time. An 'obituary' printed in the Sporting Times, talked of 'the Ashes' of English Cricket being taken back to Australia. Test Series between the two countries are now played for 'The Ashes




1966 British group The Beatles gave their last live concert performance to a crowd of around 25,000 at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, USA.

29th August

1782 Tragedy struck at Spithead, off the coast of Hampshire, when the British warship HMS Royal George suddenly capsized while undergoing repairs. The 100-gun ship of the line heeled over during routine maintenance, and within minutes she sank beneath the waves. More than 1,200 people were on board, including sailors, dockyard workers and even families visiting their loved ones. Over 800 lives were lost, making it one of the deadliest maritime disasters in British history.

1930 The last 36 remaining inhabitants of St Kilda (40 miles west-northwest of North Uist in the North Atlantic Ocean) were voluntarily evacuated to other parts of Scotland.

1950 British troops arrived in Korea. A British force of about 4,000 infantry arrived in Korea from Hong Kong.

1965 Gemini V returned to Earth. Two American astronauts splashed down safely in the Atlantic after setting a space endurance record.

30th August 2017
The 2017 edition of Guinness World Records said that Ringo Starr's copy of "The White Album" was officially the most expensive LP ever sold at auction.
In December, 2015 the album sold for $790,000.

August 30th

1850 King Kamehameha III officially declared Honolulu a city and the capital of his kingdom.



1860 The first British tramway, operated by the Birkenhead Street Railway, was inaugurated by an American, George Francis Train.

August 31st




1848 Accurate and scientific ' state of the weather' reports were first published by Charles Dickens's newspaper - The Daily News.


1888 The body of Mary Ann 'Polly' Nichols, the first victim of Jack the Ripper, was found mutilated in Buck's Row, London. The unidentified serial killer's attacks involved females from the slums whose throats were cut prior to abdominal mutilations. The removal of internal organs from at least three of the victims led to proposals that their killer possessed anatomical or surgical knowledge. Despite a huge effort by the police, the Ripper was never caught, and his identity is still shrouded in mystery.

• 1895 German Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin patents his navigable balloon

1900 Coca Cola first went on sale in Britain, fourteen years after it was first sold in the U.S.A. Charles Chandler, the eldest son of the founder came to Britain with a jug of cola syrup. It proved so popular that five more gallons were ordered immediately from America.

31 Aug 1976
George Harrison was found guilty of 'subconscious plagiarism' of the Ronnie Mack song 'He's So Fine' when writing '’My Sweet Lord’'. Earnings from the song were awarded to Mack's estate; The Chiffons then recorded their own version of 'my sweet Lord’