Today in History

1792
A cornerstone was laid for the 1st U.S. government building: U.S. Mint in Philadelphia
1948
Pres. Harry Truman dedicates Idlewild Field{now known as Kennedy Airport} in NYC
1995
Walt Disney Corp acquires Capitial Cities/ABC network for $19 billion.The properties include Disney,ABC Sports,ESPN and ESPN2
 

August 1st
1793
France is 1st country to use metric system
1932
George Washington quarter goes into circulation
1957
U.S &Canada create NORAD{North American Air Defense}
1972
The 1st article exposing 'Watergate scandal' written by Washington Post reporters,Carl Bernstein,Bob Woodward appears in Washington Post
 
1800 - The Act of Union 1800 was passed which merged the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

1831 - New London Bridge was opened by King William IV. It lasted for 140 years and was sold and rebuilt in Arizona.

1984 - Commercial peat-cutters discovered the preserved body of a man they called Lindow Man, at Lindow Moss in Cheshire. It is thought that he was deposited some time between 2 BC and 119 AD.
 

Aug 2nd
1776
The formal signing of U.S Declaration of Independence by 56 people
1790
The 1st U.S. Census population 3,939,214 including 697,264 slaves
1921
A Chicago jury aquitted 8 White Sox baseball players who were charged with throwing the 1919 World Series.The next day they were all banned from playing again
1961
The Beatles begin their 2 yr engagement as the 'house band' at Liverpool's Cavern Club. They would perform about 300 shows
 
Aug 4th
1821
The Saturday Evening Post was published as a weekly magazine
1944
Anne Frank arrested in Amsterdam by German Security Police,they were tipped off by an informant who was never identified
1958
Billboard Hot 100 singles published for 1st time,# 1 was Ricky Nelson's 'Poor Little Fool'
 
Aug 6th
20 yrd old Gertrude Eberle becomes the 1st American woman to swim the English channel in a record breaking time of 14 hrs,39 min
1945
U.S. superfortress,'Enola Gay' drops atomic bomb over Japanese city of Hiroshimia,6 days later Japan surrenders to Allies
1965
Pres. Johnson signs the Voter Rights Act which prohibits discrimination against minorities
1991
computer scientist,Tim Berners-Lee releases files of his idea for World Wide Web
WWW debuts as a publicly available service on the Internet
 
Weird weather rarely comes as weird as the weather in Great Yarmouth today in 2000, when instead of raining cats and dogs, it rained...dead sprats!
Apparently a mini-tornado off the coast picked up a shoal of these small fish along with the water surrounding them, and then dropped them on the unsuspecting Norfolk town.
 
7th August

1840...The Chimney Sweeps Act comes into force, preventing anyone under the age of 21 becoming an Apprentice Chimney Sweep. Unfortunately, the act is widely ignored and children as young as seven continue to be employed as chimney sweeps.

1913 - In Britain's first aviation tragedy, US airman 'Colonel' Samuel Cody was killed when his aircraft crashed at Farnborough.

1993 - The public got its first glimpse inside Buckingham Palace as people were given the opportunity to tour the London home of Queen Elizabeth II. Proceeds from ticket sales were earmarked to help repair fire damage at Windsor Castle.
 
1927
The Peace Bridge connecting Buffalo,NY to Fort Erie,Ont was dedicated
1984
At the Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games, the U.S. women's baskeball team won its 1st gold medal by defeating South Korea,85-55
1990
U. S. deploys 500,000 troops to Saudi Arabia to begin 'Operation Desert Shield'
 
Aug 9th
1483
The opening of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican
1898
German engineer,Rudolf Diesel receives patent for his internal combustion engine,later known as a diesel engine
1974
Pres. Richard Nixon resigns as POTUS over the Watergate scandal,VP Gerald Ford is sworn in to take his place
 
Aug 10th
1846
U.S. Congress passes&establishes The Smithsonian Institute.Its now the world's largest museum and research complex
1941
the battle of Guam ends,U.S. recaptures it from the Japanese
1993
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is sworn in as U.S. Supreme Court Justice
 
1675 - King Charles II laid the foundation stone of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London. The observatory was built to provide English navigators with accurate tables of the positions of the moon and stars.

1842 - Britain passed the Mines Act - forbidding women and children from working underground.

1889 - The screw bottle top was patented by Dan Rylands of Hope Glass Works, Yorkshire.
 
1896
Harvey Hubbell patents electric light bulb socket with pull chain
1934
The 1st federal prisoners arrived at Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay
1992
The Mall of America opened in Bloomington,Minn with 330 stores,10,000 employees
Over the yrs more stores opened,now at 500,10 attractions including an indoor theme park
It now has 150 stores open because of Covid-19
 
1865 Joseph Lister became the first doctor to use disinfectant during surgery.

1944 The first PLUTO (Pipe Line Under the Ocean) supplying fuel across the English Channel to the Allied forces in France, went into operation from the Isle of Wight. It could transfer up to 700 tons of fuel a day.

1949 Big Ben ran at its slowest for 90 years as flocks of starlings took roost on the minute hands, slowing it by four and a half minutes.
 
Aug 13
1914
Carl Wickman begins the 1st U.S. busline,Greyhound in Minnesota
1942
The Manhattan Project begins which was the codename for U. S. effort to create&test nuclear weapons during WWII ,Two bomb types were developed:
"Little Boy' uranium bomb
'Fat Man' plutonium bomb
1996
Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 3.0
 
14th August

1852 The first public lavatory was opened, on London's Fleet Street.

1908 The world's first international beauty contest was held at Folkestone, Kent.

1930 The 'cautious' (!) use of contraceptives was approved by the Church of England.
 
1935
Pres.Franklin Roosevelt signed Social Security Act into law
1937
The Appalachian Trail was formally completed,2,000 miles through 14 states Maine-Georgia
1965
Sonny&Cher's song'I Got You Babe" was #1 on Billboard Chart,stayed there for 14 weeks
 
Aug 15th
1911
Procter&Gamble introduce 'Crisco' shortening
1969
Woodstock Music&Art Fair opens on Max Yasgur's farm in the small town of White Lake,NY, runs from 8/15-8/18 400,000 people attended.
Jimi Hendrix and Band of Gypsys is the last act
 
Aug 16th
1896
Gold was 1st discovered in Klondike at Bonaza Creek,Alaska by George Carmack
1934
U.S. ends occupation of Haiti,had been there since 1915
1954
Sports Illustrated magazine starts publishing.Eddie Matthews of the Milwaukee Braves was on the 1st cover.Michael Jordan has had most covers with 50,followed by Muhammed Ali with 40
1962
Ringo Starr replaces Pete Best,original Beatles drummer. Two days later he makes is debut with the band
 
Aug 17th
1894
Jack Wadsworth,Louisville Colonel pitcher set a National League record by giving up 28 singles in 1 game vs the Phillies
1903
Joseph Pulitzer donates $1 million to Columbia Univ in NYC,begins the Pulitzer Prizes in America
1945
Korea is divided into North&South along the 38th parallel
 

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