Today in History

NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery took off for the first time on August 30, 1984, beginning what would become 27 years of reliable service. In its nearly three decades of use, Discovery successfully completed 39 missions, the first of which was putting three communication satellites into orbit.
 

August 30th

1146 A conference of European leaders outlawed the crossbow. It was hoped that by banning the weapon, wars would eventually end. Despite the prohibition, crossbows continued to be used until the 16th century, when they were replaced by firearms.

1791 HMS Pandora, the ship sent in 1790 to search for the Bounty and the mutineers who had taken her, sank after having run aground on a reef the previous day.

1901 Scottish inventor Hubert Cecil Booth patented the vacuum cleaner.

2020 Eyam Parish Church held its Annual Plague Commemoration Service on-line on the Eyam Church Facebook page because of the world coronavirus pandemic. The plague came to this Derbyshire village in 1665 and there are many parallels with the 2020 COVID-19 epidemic. Residents in Eyam locked themselves away for more than a year to avoid spreading the disease. Generally the annual service is held at Cucklett Delf, an open space close to the village, as it was during the plague epidemic but, in 2001 because of 'Foot and Mouth' the service was held, ironically, in the church itself as most farmland that year was declared out of bounds.
 
1890
Pres, Benjamin Harrison signed the 1st U.S. law requiring inspection of meat products
1901
British engineer, Hubert Cecil Booth patents powered vacuum cleaner
1909
Burgess Shale Fossil site was discovered by Charles Walcott, a palaeontologist which is one of the earliest marine micro systems.It gives a glimpse of life over 500 million yrs ago. Its located in Yoho National Park near town of Field, British Columbia
1967
U.S. Senate confirms 1st black Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, was on the bench for 24 yrs
1993
"Late Show with David Letterman' from Ed Sullivan Theatre in NYC debuts on CBS. Dave's 1st guest was actor, Bill Murray, singer Billy Joel was musical guest. The show ended May 2015
2015
British author Frederick Forsythe reveals he worked for MI6 for more than 20 yrs. MI6 is a Secret Intelligence Service which collects foreign intelligence
 
Aug 30th Birthdays:
1898
Shirley Booth- actress, "Come Back Little Sheba, The Matchmaker," her best known TV role' Hazel Burke' in sitcom' Hazel'. She played maid/ housekeeper for "Baxter family'
1918
Ted Williams- Baseball Hall of Fame Outfielder with Boston Red Sox. He is the last player to bat over .400 in a single season
1930
Warren Buffet- U.S. business magnate, nick name' Oracle from Omaha'
1943
Jean Claude Killy- retired French alpine skier, won 3 Gold medals at '68 Winter Olympics
1972
Cameron Diaz- actress 'Charlie's Angels, The Mask, My Best Friend's Wedding, Shrek movies{voice}
Deaths:
1968
William Talman- actor best known TV role,'D.A Hamilton Burger' in legal drama' Perry Mason' '57-'74 co starred with Raymond Burr 63
2003
Charles Bronson- actor' The Dirty Dozen, Death Wish' 81
2013
Seamus Heaney- Irish poet/playwright won Nobel prize for Literature in '95 74
 
On This Day In History, August 31st

1998 North Korea Announces the Launch of its First Satellite
According to government sources of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the satellite called Kwangmyongsong-1 was successfully launched into lower Earth orbit. Most space agencies around the world, have not been able to confirm whether the launch was successful.

1997 Princess of Wales, Diana, Dies in a Car Crash
Diana, the former wife of Charles, the heir apparent to the British Crown, was fatally injured when the driver of her car lost control while speeding away from paparazzi, and crashed in a road tunnel in Paris, France. Diana’s companion Dodi al Fayed and the car’s driver also died as a result of the accident. Her funeral was one of the most watched televised events of the century.

1994 Russian Troops Leave Estonia 3 years after Estonia declared independence from the Soviet Union
USSR occupied the Baltic country in 1944, during the Second World War. Many Western countries never recognized the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, which was first established in 1940. Between 1941 and 1944, Nazi Germany occupied the country.

1991 Uzbekistan declares its independence from the Soviet Union
The Central Asian country had become a part of the Russian Empire in the 19th century and was made part of the Soviet Union as the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic in 1924. The country celebrates September 1 as its Independence Day.

1957 Federation of Malaya Gains Independence
The Federation, now known as Malaysia gained its independence from the British. The Southeast Asian country, which was one of the world's largest producers of rubber, came under British rule in the late 18th century.
 
Births On This Day, August 31st 🎂

1979 Mickie James
American wrestler, singer

1979 Yuvan Shankar Raja
Indian composer

1977 Jeff Hardy
American wrestler, singer, painter, writer

1945 Van Morrison
Irish singer-songwriter

1870 Maria Montessori
Italian physician, educator

Deaths On This Day, August 31st 🪦

1997 Diana, Princess of Wales
1985 Frank Macfarlane Burnet
Australian biologist, Nobel Prize laureate

1973 John Ford
American director

1927 Andranik Ozanian
Armenian military commander

1688 John Bunyan
English preacher, author
 
31st August

1422 King Henry V of England died of dysentery whilst in France. His son, Henry VI, became King of England at the age of 9 months

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 female prostitutes 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. In 2006, Jack the Ripper was selected by the BBC History magazine and its readers as the worst Briton in history.

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.

1989 Buckingham Palace issued a brief statement stating that the Princess Royal, Princess Anne, was separating from her husband, Captain Mark Phillips.
 
1888
The 1st vicitm of 'Jack The Ripper' was prostitute,Mary Ann Nichols who was found dead in London's Whitechapel district. The police at the time had no modern day forensic techniques e.g fingerprinting,blood typing,no suspect was ever found
1909
AJ Reach&Company patent cork-centered baseball
1954
Hurricane Carol hits New England as a Category 3 storm with winds at 115mph. It devastated south coast of Massachusetts, Rhode island caused $462 mill damage,killed 72 people. It was the 1st named storm to be retired
1978
Emily&Williams Harris members of SLA, left wing radical group who kidnapped heiress, Patty Hearst in 1974 plea guility, are sentenced to 8 yrs in prison. They were parolled in 2007 and went their seperate ways
2012
movie' Argo' directed&starring Ben Affleck is released. The story is about CIA expert'Tony Mendez{Affleck} who using a cover of a bogus movie production,rescues 6 Americans in Tehran who are hiding in the Canadian Embassy during the hostage crisis in '79-'80.Other cast members, Victor Garber, Bryan Cranston,John Goodman,Alan Arkin The movie was based on Mendez's book' The Master of Disguise,won 3 Oscars picture, editing adapted screenplay
 
Aug 31st Birthdays:
1897
Frederic March- actor 'Dr Jekyll&Mr Hyde, The Best Years of Our Lives'
1918
Alan Jay Learner- Broadway&Oscar wining lyricist 'My Fair Lady,Gigi,Camelot'
1931
Jean Beliveau- Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame center with Montreal Canadians, played for 20 seasons '50-'71 won 17 Stanley Cups
1949
Richard Gere- actor' An Officer &A,Gentleman', Pretty Woman, Cotton Club,Breathless,Chicago
Deaths:
1973
John Ford- film director Drums Along the Mohawk,,Stagecoach, The Grapes of Wrath,Mister Roberts 78
2002
Lionel Hampton- jazz vibraphone pianist/ drummer 94
2013
David Frost- British journalist/ interviewer 74{heart attack}
2017
Richard Anderson- actor best known TV role' Oscar Goldman' in TV show'The 6 Million Dollar Man, spinoff' The Bionic Woman' 91
 
On This Day In History, September 1st

2004 350 people and children are killed in a massacre in Beslan, North Ossetia
Armed Chechen rebels took over 1000 people including school children at school. The rebels demanded international recognition of an independent Chechnya. The hostage crisis lasted for 3 days and ended after Russian troops stormed the school.

1985 The Wreck of the sunk ship Titanic is found in the North Atlantic Ocean
A French-American expedition group found the wreck, which sunk on 14 April 1912 on her first voyage from Southampton, UK, to New York City, U.S.

1979 Pioneer 11 makes its closest approach to Saturn
The NASA-built space probe was the first probe to encounter Saturn - it flew by the planet at a distance of 13,000 miles (21,000 km). After its flyby, the probe went on a trajectory to go outside the Solar System. All contacts with it were lost a few weeks later.

1952 Life magazine publishes parts of the Old Man And The Sea
One of American author Ernest Hemingway’s best-known works, the novel tells the story of an old man and his fishing misadventures. Within a few days of the publication of the excerpt, 5 million copies of the magazine had been sold.

1914 Passenger Pigeons become extinct
Martha, the last Passenger Pigeon known to man, died at the Cincinnati Zoo, Cincinnati, Ohio effectively making Passenger Pigeons extinct.
 
Births On This Day, September 1st 🎂

1975 Natalie Bassingthwaighte
Australian singer-songwriter, actress

1970 Padma Lakshmi
Indian actress

1964 Nabeel Rajab
Bahraini activist

1957 Gloria Estefan
Cuban/American singer-songwriter, actress

1946 Roh Moo-hyun
South Korean politician, 16th President of South Korea

Deaths On This Day, September 1st 🪦

2013 Tommy Morrison
American boxer

1983 Larry McDonald
American politician

1981 Albert Speer
German architect

1947 Frederick Russell Burnham
American soldier, adventurer

1715 Louis XIV of France
 
1st September

1532 Lady Anne Boleyn was made Marquess of Pembroke by her fiancé, King Henry VIII. The investiture ceremony was performed by Henry VIII himself in Windsor Castle. Less than 4 years later Henry had her investigated for high treason. She was found guilty of adultery and incest and was executed on 19th May 1536.

1951 The Premier supermarket opened in Earl’s Court, London; the first supermarket in Britain.

1971 The British penny and the threepenny piece coins ceased to be legal tender as decimalization continued.

1973 The rescue of former British Royal Navy officer Roger Mallinson and engineer Roger Chapman after their Vickers Oceanics small (6ft diameter) submersible Pisces III was trapped on the seabed at a depth of 1,575 ft (480 m), 150 miles off Ireland in the Celtic Sea. The rescue, by British, American and Canadian dive teams had taken 76 hours and resulted in the deepest sub rescue in history. It was later determined that there was just 12 minutes of oxygen left aboard.
 
1878
The 1st female telephone operator,Emma Nutt started work for Edwin Holmes Telephone Dispatch Company in Boston,Mass
1897
The 1st U.S. underground rapid system in North America opened in Boston Mass
1923
a magnitude earthquake 7.9 hits Tokyo&Yokohama, Japan killing 142,000 people
1969
Army capt, Muammar al-Quaddfi led a successful coup against Libyan King Idris1.He established anti Western dictatorship by removing U.S. and British military bases
1977
Tracy Austin becomes the youngest female tennis player,age 14 at the U.S. Tennis Championship Tournament in NYC,she won her 1st match
1990
the highest scoring football game in history of the Canadian Football League when the Toronto Argonauts defeated B.C. Lions 68-43 at Skydome in Toronto
1995
Rock n Roll Hall of Fame opens in Cleveland,Ohio
 
Sept 1st Birthdays:
1875
Edgar Rice Burroughs- author' Tarzan of the Apes'
1935
Lilly Tomlin- comedic actress best known TV roles 'Ernestine', sarcastic, nasal telephone operator, 'Edith Ann' 5 yr old sitting in a rocking chair ended with tag line' and thats the truth' blowing raspberry' on sketch comedy TV show'Rowan&Martin's Laughin'
1946
Barry Gibbs-singer/ songwriter with his brothers Maurice&Robin as 'The Bee Gees','Night Fever, How Deep Is Your Love,I Started a Joke, he is surviving member
Deaths:
1977
Ethel Waters- actress/singer 76
1989
A. Bartlett Giamatti- U.S. Major League Baseball Commissioner 51{heart attack}
2012
Hal David- lyricist'Raindrops Keep Fallin On My Head, Do You Know The Way to San Jose, What the World Needs Now 91
 
On This Day In History, September 2nd

1960 The First election of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile is held
The parliamentary body of the Central Tibetan Administration was elected and formed by Tibetan exiles in India. The day is celebrated as Democracy Day among Tibetan exiles.

1946 Interim government of India is formed
The interim government and the Constituent Assembly of India were given the task to oversee India's transition to independence from British rule. The government was headed by Jawaharlal Nehru.

1789 U.S. Department of the Treasury is formed
The department is responsible for managing the government's revenue and spending. Alexander Hamilton was the first Secretary of the Treasury

1752 U.K. adopts the Gregorian Calendar
The calendar, also sometimes known as the Western Calendar, is one of the most widely used calendars today. Prior to the switch, Britain and its territories followed the Julian Calendar. Due to the change, the British lost 11 days when September 2 was followed by September 14.

1666 A fire ravishes the city of London
Also known as the Great Fire of London, the fire broke out in a bakery and raged for 4 days destroying the houses of most inhabitants of the city.
 
Births On This Day, September 2nd 🎂

1982 Joey Barton
English footballer

1966 Salma Hayek
Mexican/American actress, director, producer

1964 Keanu Reeves
Canadian actor

1953 Ahmad Shah Massoud
Afghan commander

1913 Bill Shankly
Scottish footballer, manager

Deaths On This Day, September 2nd 🪦

1973 J. R. R. Tolkien
English philologist, author

1969 Ho Chi Minh
Vietnamese politician, 1st President of Vietnam

1948 Sylvanus Morley
American archaeologist, scholar

1937 Pierre de Coubertin
French historian, and educator, founded the International Olympic Committee

1910 Henri Rousseau
French painter
 
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