Today in History

On This Day In History, August 17th

2008 Michael Phelps Earns his 8th Gold Medal in the 2008 Olympics
The American champion swimmer won the medal in the 4×100-meter medley relay race in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. With this medal, he broke the record for the most gold medals won by a person in a single Olympic games, a record previously held by American swimmer Mark Spitz.

1978 Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman became the first people to complete the world's First Transatlantic Balloon Flight
The feat was accomplished in a balloon called the Double Eagle II. It took Abruzzo, Anderson, and Newman 6 days to fly from Presque Isle, Maine to a barley field near Paris.

1970 Venera 7 launched by the Soviet Union
Launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Venera 7 became the first spacecraft to land on another planet, Venus, and send data back to Earth. It entered Venus’ atmosphere in December 1970.

1960 Gabon gains independence from the French
France had occupied Gabon since the latter part of the 1800s. In 1910, the Equatorial country was added to French Equatorial Africa, a federation of France's Central African colonies. From 1934 to 1958, French Equatorial Africa was considered by France as a unified colony.
 

Births On This Day, August 17th 🎂

1960 Sean Penn
American actor, director

1949 Norm Coleman
American politician

1943 Robert De Niro
American actor

1911 Mikhail Botvinnik
Russian chess player

1786 Davy Crockett
American soldier, politician


Deaths On This Day, August 17th 🪦

1988 Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
Pakistani politician, 6th President of Pakistan

1935 Charlotte Perkins Gilman
American sociologist, novelist

1880 Ole Bull
Norwegian violinist, composer

1850 José de San Martín
Argentinian general, politician, 1st President of Peru

1786 Frederick the Great
Prussian king
 
1903
newspaper publisher, Joseph Pulitizer donates $1 mill to Columbia Univ in NYC which created the
Pulitizer Prizes which are given out yearly The 12 awards are given for excellence in journalism, arts&letters
1936
unemployed worker, Neils B. Ruud in Madison,Wisconsin receives 1st unemployment ck under a state law,ck was for $15
1945
Korea is divided into North &South along the 38th parallel
1978
3 U.S businessmen, Ben Aruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman aboard a helium filled balloon,Double Eagle II successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean. They departed Preque Isle, Maine landed in a wheat field near Misery, France after 137 hrs 6 min
1998
Pres Bill Clinton admits in a tape testimony he had an improper physical relationship with White House intern, Monica Lewinsky
2020
Univ of North Carolina becomes the 1st U.S. college to send students home and start online classes due to the 135 Covid- 19 cases detected
 
On This Day In History, August 18th

2005 Indonesia suffers a Massive Power Outage
Thought to be one of the biggest power outages in recent history, the Java-Bali outage affected about 100 million people. Electricity was restored to most areas within 6 hours.

1958 Lolita is First Published in the US
The highly controversial novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabakov detailed an adult man’s obsession over 12-year-old Dolores Haze, who he secretly calls Lolita.

1920 The State of Tennessee Passes the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution
This action by the Tennessee legislature brought the number of states passing the 19th Amendment to 36 and provided the necessary majority to ratify the amendment, which extended universal suffrage to women.

1877 Martian Moon Phobos is Discovered
One of the two natural satellites of Mars, Phobos, was discovered by American astronomer Asaph Hall. Hall also discovered Deimos, the other Martian Moon. Named after the Greek God of fear, Phobos orbits only 3700 miles from the surface of Mars, making it the Moon to orbit closest to its planet in the Solar System. Because of this, Phobos completes an orbit around Mars in 7 hours and 39 minutes.

1612 The Pendle witch trials begin
11 people - 9 women and 2 men - are tried for practising witchcraft in one of the UK's most well-documented and followed witch trials. The trial lasted for two days and 10 of the accused were found guilty and executed on August 20.
 
Births On This Day, August 18th 🎂

1983 Cameron White
Australian cricketer

1962 Felipe Calderón
Mexican politician, 56th President of Mexico

1933 Roman Polanski
French/Polish director, producer, writer, actor

1910 Herman Berlinski
Polish/American composer

1750 Antonio Salieri
Italian composer

Deaths On This Day, August 18th 🪦

2009 Kim Dae-Jung
South Korean politician, 8th President of South Korea Nobel laureate

1990 B. F. Skinner
American psychologist, author

1945 Subhas Chandra Bose
Indian politician, activist

1850 Honoré de Balzac
French author, playwright

1227 Genghis Khan
 
On This Day In History, August 19th

1991 Race riots break out in the Crown Heights area of New York City
The violent race riots broke out between African-American and Orthodox Jewish residents of Crown Heights after 2 children were accidentally run down by the motorcade of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a leader of the Orthodox Jews. This resulted in a 3-day-long riot that ended in the death of 2 men and several injuries.

1978 A fire at the Rex Cinema in Abadan, Iran, kills over 400 people
The incident which is considered to be a run-up to the Iranian Revolution occurred during the screening of The Deers, a film by Iranian director Masoud Kimiai. It is thought that 4 extremists locked the gates of the theatre and set it on fire. Many people at the time believed that the fire was started by SAVAK, the Iranian intelligence agency.

1964 World’s First Geostationary Satellite is Launched
Syncom 3, a communications satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida. A geostationary satellite is a manmade object that follows the Earth’s rotation around its axis. Because of this, it looks like it is not moving in the sky for observers on Earth. Like all geostationary satellites, Syncom 3 was placed in orbit about 22,00 miles from Earth, above the Equator and near the International Date Line. The 1964 Tokyo Olympics were broadcast to the United States with the help of this satellite.

1960 Sputnik 5 is launched by USSR
The Soviet spacecraft carried two dogs, Strelka and Belka, who became the first living beings to survive in space.

1919 Afghanistan Gains Independence From the United Kingdom
The Central Asian country came under British control in 1859, The country was considered to be a buffer for the British trade in opium and as a frontier to protect their interests in India. Despite trying several times to consolidate their rule over Afghanistan, the Afghan people remained hostile to British control and in 1919, King Amanullah declared Afghanistan to be independent of Britain’s protection. The declaration launched a war called the Third Anglo-Afghan War, which ended with the signing of the Rawalpindi Treaty on this day. The treaty granted Afghanistan independence from the British.
 

Births On This Day, August 19th 🎂

1946 Bill Clinton
American politician, 42nd President of the United States

1942 Fred Thompson
American politician, actor

1919 Malcolm Forbes
American publisher

1883 Coco Chanel
French fashion designer founded the Chanel Company

1871 Orville Wright
American aviation pioneer

Deaths On This Day, August 19th 🪦

1994 Linus Pauling
American chemist, activist, Nobel Prize laureate

1977 Groucho Marx
American comedian, actor

1936 Federico García Lorca
Spanish poet, playwright, director

1895 John Wesley Hardin
American outlaw, gunfighter

14 Augustus
Roman Emperor
 
On This Day In History, August 20th

1993 Oslo Accords negotiations conclude
The negotiations for the Oslo Accords were concluded at the Fafo Institute in Oslo. The agreement was between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. The accords, which were eventually signed in Washington D.C. set up the Palestinian Authority and gave it governing powers over the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

1988 The Iran-Iraq War comes to an end after 7 years
The deadly conventional war between the two Middle Eastern countries began when Iraq invaded Iran on September 22, 1980.

1975 Viking 1 is launched by NASA using a Titan launch vehicle
It became the first space probe to successfully land on Mars.

1960 Senegal withdraws from the Mali Federation
Senegal withdrew from the Mali Federation, a year after its establishment. Léopold Senghor became the first president of Senegal a month later.

1940 Leon Trotsky is attacked in Mexico
Russian revolutionary and founder of the Red Army, Leon Trotsky was attacked in his home by an undercover agent of the Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs or N.K.V.D. He died a day later due to the injuries sustained during the attack.
 
Births On This Day, August 20th 🎂

1944 Rajiv Gandhi
Indian politician, 6th Prime Minister of India

1941 Slobodan Milošević
Serbian politician, 3rd President of Serbia, Montenegro

1935 Ron Paul
American physician, author, politician

1923 Jim Reeves
American singer-songwriter

1890 H. P. Lovecraft
American writer

Deaths On This Day, August 20th 🪦

2012 Meles Zenawi
Ethiopian politician, Prime Minister of Ethiopia

1996 Rio Reiser
German singer-songwriter

1915 Paul Ehrlich
German physician, Nobel Prize laureate

1914 Pope Pius X

1643 Anne Hutchinson
English spiritual adviser
 
20th August

1968 The 'Prague Spring' liberalisation in Czechoslovakia is crushed by the arrival of 200,000 Soviet troops.

1988 During 'The Troubles' in Northern Ireland, 8 British Army soldiers were killed and 28 wounded when their bus was hit by a Provisional IRA roadside bomb in County Tyrone. The event is sometimes referred to as the 'Ballygawley bus bombing'.

1992 The Daily Mirror published compromising photographs of Sarah Ferguson (the Duchess of York), sunbathing topless, on holiday in France with John Bryan, a Texan financial manager. The event contributed to her further estrangement from the Royal Family and after four years of official separation, the Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson announced the mutual decision to divorce, in May 1996.

2020 Hashem Abedi, aged 23 and the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, was jailed for at least 55 years for the murders of 22 people. He was convicted after a court heard that he was just as guilty as his brother, Salman Abedi, who had detonated the bomb and blew himself up at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on 22nd May 2017. Abedi refused to leave his cell at the Old Bailey for the sentencing. The judge said that it would be 55 years before Abedi could even be considered for parole and that he "may never be released". The trial was the largest murder case in English legal history.
 
On This Day In History, August 21st

1993 NASA loses communication with the Mars Observer almost a year after its launch
The robotic space probe was tasked with exploring and studying the Red Planet.

1991 Latvia gains full independence from the Soviet Union
Founded in 1918, the Republic of Latvia was fully incorporated as a Soviet republic after the Second World War. Independence for the Baltic state was achieved after a peaceful revolution known as the Singing Revolution, which began in Estonia.

1986 Limnic eruption in Lake Nyos in Cameroon kills about 1700 people
A high amount of carbon dioxide was released by the underwater volcanic eruption.

1911 The Mona Lisa is stolen
The famed Leonardo da Vinci painting was stolen by a Louvre employee. It was recovered 2 years later in Italy.

1879 Oldsmobile is founded by Ransom Eli Olds of Olds Motor Works
The popular brand of car was first manufactured in Lansing, Michigan. The company was purchased by GM in 1908 and closed its doors in 2004.
 
Births On This Day, August 21st 🎂

1986 Usain Bolt
Jamaican sprinter

1984 Eve Torres
American wrestler, model, dancer

1952 Joe Strummer
English singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor

1936 Wilt Chamberlain
American basketball player

1765 William IV of the United Kingdom

Deaths On This Day, August 21st 🪦

1993 Tatiana Troyanos
American soprano

1983 Benigno Aquino, Jr.
Filipino politician

1979 Giuseppe Meazza
Italian footballer

1940 Leon Trotsky
Russian theorist, and politician, founded the Red Army

1762 Lady Mary Wortley Montag
 
21st August

1689 The Battle of Dunkeld took place, between Jacobite clans supporting the deposed King James VII of Scotland and a government regiment of covenanters, led by the 27 year old Colonel William Cleland supporting William of Orange, King of Scotland.

1770 James Cook landed on the eastern coast of Australia, naming it New South Wales.

1918 World War I: The beginning of the Second Battle of the Somme. The battle formed the central part of the Allies' advance to the Armistice of 11th November, which went into effect at 11 a.m. 1918. It marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat for Germany.

1941 The first Allied Arctic convoy carrying supplies for the USSR, codenamed 'Dervish', leaves from Iceland.

1944 Allied representatives meet at Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC, to make plans for world security post-war.
 
On This Day In History, August 22nd


1963 First Person to Enter Space Twice
The record was set by Joseph A. Walker, a United States Air Force Captain, and a fighter pilot while flying the X-15, an experimental hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft. The X-15 was a joint venture between the US Air Force and NASA. Not only did Walker become the first person to enter space twice, he also was the first person to take a spaceflight to an altitude of 67 miles (108 kilometres) in a 12-minute long flight.

1962 France’s President Charles De Gaulle Survives an Assassination Attempt
The Organisation de l'armée secrète (OAS), a French far-right organization tried to machine gun Charles De Gaulle while he was riding to the airport with his wife. The assassination attempt was led by Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry, an officer in the French Air Force. Bastien-Thiry and the OAS were unhappy about De Gaulle’s role in allowing Algeria’s independence. It is thought that the car De Gaulle was riding in, a Citroen DS 19, was partially responsible for saving his and his wife’s life. After being caught, Bastien-Thiry was the last person in France to be executed by a firing squad.

1922 Irish Politician Michael Collins is Assassinated
A member and leader of Sinn Fein, a political party that advocated complete Irish independence from Britain, Collins was shot dead in an ambush. This was only a few months after he had been appointed as the Finance Minister of the Irish Free State.

1851 The First America’s Cup is held
The cup is awarded to the winner of a race between sailing yachts. Thought to be the oldest international sporting trophy to be still awarded today the cup’s name was changed from Hundred Guinea Cup to America’s Cup after the name of the yacht that won the first race on this day. Led by Commodore John Cox Stevens, America participated in a 53-nautical-mile race around the Isle of Wight in England.

1779 James Cook Lands on Possession Island
British explorer James Cook reached the island, which is off the northern coast of Queensland Australia, 2 years after he had set sail on the HMS Endeavour from Plymouth. James Cook named the area New South Wales and claimed it for the British Crown.
 
Births On This Day, August 22nd 🎂

1928 Karlheinz Stockhausen
German composer

1904 Deng Xiaoping
Chinese politician, diplomat

1893 Dorothy Parker
American poet, writer

1880 George Herriman
American cartoonist

1862 Claude Debussy
French composer

Deaths On This Day, August 22nd 🪦

2011 Jack Layton
Canadian politician

1553 John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland
English Admiral, politician

1485 Richard III of England

1358 Isabella of France

1241 Pope Gregory IX
 
1865
William Shepard granted 1st U.S. patent for liquid soap
1906
The 1st Victor Victrola is manufactured from the Victor Talking Machine Company.It was the 1st record player to have the horn inside the cabinet,price was $200. It was flagship model for many yrs.
1950
U.S.inventor, Ralph Teetor granted patent for controlling vehicle speed otherwise known as 'cruise control'
1962
the world's 1st nuclear powered ship successfully completed its maiden voyage from Yorktown,Virginia- Savannah, Georgia
1984
the last Volkswagen Rabbit is produced
2007
Texas Rangers routed the Baltimore Orioles 30-3 the most runs scored by a team in modern MLB history
 
On This Day In History, August 23rd

1990 Armenia Declares Independence From the Soviet Union
The Western Asian country had been part of the USSR since 1922. Until 1936, the country was part of the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (TSFSR), along with Azerbaijan and Georgia. In 1936, the TSFSR was broken up and Armenia was renamed the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. The country declared itself independent of the USSR on the 23rd of August, 1990, and finally achieved independence a year later on September 21, 1991.

1966 First Photograph of the Earth Taken From the Orbit of the Moon
NASA’s Lunar Orbiter 1 was the first American unmanned spacecraft to orbit the Moon. Taking black-and-white pictures of the Earth was not the Orbiter’s main task. Its primary task was to scope out landing sites on the Moon for future spacecraft.

1944 Romania Switches Sides in World War II
A coup in the Southeast European country moved its allegiance from the Axis powers to the Allies during the Second World War. In the early years of WW II, Romania had tried to remain neutral but in 1940, due to external pressures, the country joined Nazi Germany and the Axis powers. On this day, King Michael I removed the government of Ion Antonescu and declared Romanian support to the Allies. Some experts believe that by switching sides Romania helped shorten the war by several months.

1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact is signed
The German foreign minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and the Soviet foreign minister, Vyacheslav Molotov signed a non-aggression pact in Moscow. The pact stipulated that the USSR would not get involved in a war in Europe.

1904 Snow Chains Patented
Harry D. Weed of New York was awarded a patent for snow chains by the United States Patent Office. Snow chains are attached to the tyres of vehicles to improve their traction on snowy and icy roads.
 
Births On This Day, August 23rd 🎂

1988 Jeremy Lin
American basketball player

1978 Kobe Bryant
American basketball player

1926 Clifford Geertz
American anthropologist

1912 Gene Kelly
American dancer, actor

1864 Eleftherios Venizelos
Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece

Deaths On This Day, August 23rd 🪦

2006 Maynard Ferguson
Canadian trumpet player, bandleader

1926 Rudolph Valentino
Italian/American actor

1819 Oliver Hazard Perry
American naval officer

1305 William Wallace
Scottish knight, landowner

634 Abu Bakr
Arabian caliph
 
On This Day In History, August 24th

2006 Pluto is Declassified 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 today. The Treaty, which was signed on April 4, 1949, in Washington DC, created a collective defence 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, the United Kingdom, and the 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 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 This Day, August 24th 🎂

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 This Day, August 24th 🪦

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
 
On This Day In History, August 25th

2012 First Spacecraft to Enter Interstellar Space
NASA’s Voyager 1, which was launched on September 5, 1977, left the heliosphere — the part of space that is influenced by our Sun — on this day. In February 1990, the spacecraft took the first overview picture of the solar system. It is the most distant man-made object in space.

1991 Michael Schumacher Makes His Formula One Debut
The German race car champion competed in his first Formula One race in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa Francorchamps. While he did not win that race, he would go on to win 91 Formula One Grand Prix races.

1944 Liberation of Paris
The battle to liberate Paris, which had been under Nazi control since 1940, began on August 19, 1944, and ended on this day. The battle was fought between Nazi soldiers and members of the French resistance group, who were helped by the American Armed Forces headed by General George Patton. The Germans provided little resistance and did not carry out Hitler’s orders to raze Paris to the ground. The Nazi Commander of Paris, General Dietrich Von Choltitz surrendered to the French and American troops. On August 26, General Charles de Gaulle entered Paris and headed a liberation march on the Champs Elysees before declaring the Provisional Government of the French Republic.

1835 First Installment of the Great Moon Hoax is Published
The New York-based newspaper The Sun published a series of articles, starting on this day, that detailed the discovery of civilization on the Moon.

1825 Uruguay Declares Independence from the Brazilian Empire
The Empire consisted of present-day Brazil and Uruguay and had declared its independence from Portugal in 1822. Despite the declaration of independence, Uruguay's independence was not recognized by the Empire until August 1928, when the Treaty of Montevideo was signed.
 

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