Fun On this date in history...

If I may...

ON AUGUST 20th:

In 1833, Benjamin Harrison, 23rd president of the U.S., was born in North Bend, OH.

In 1866, President Andrew Johnson formally declared the Civil War over, months after fighting had stopped.

In 1882, Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" had its premiere in Moscow.

In 1907, actor/voice artist Alan Reed was born in New York City. In addition to many radio roles, he’s best known for providing the original voice of Fred Flintstone.

In 1910, a series of forest fires swept through parts of Idaho, Montana and Washington, killing at least 85 people and burning some 3 million acres.

In 1914, German forces occupied Brussels, Belgium, during World War I.

In 1920, the first commercial radio station, 8MK (now WWJ-AM), begins operations in Detroit.

In 1926, Japan's public broadcasting company, Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) was established.

In 1932, actor Anthony Ainley was born in Stanmore, Middlesex, England, years before earning his Masters.

In 1940, during World War II, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill paid tribute to the Royal Air Force before the House of Commons, saying, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

Also in 1940, exiled Communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky was assassinated in Coyoacan, Mexico by Ramon Mercader, a Spanish Communist agent working at the behest of Josef Stalin. (Trotsky died the next day.)

In 1942, singer/songwriter/actor/producer Isaac Hayes was born in Covington, TN.

In 1943, Sylvester McCoy was born in Dunoon, Scotland, years before earning his Doctorate.

In 1953, the Soviet Union publicly acknowledged it had tested a hydrogen bomb.

In 1962, actress Sophie Aldred was born in Greenwich, England. The Nitro-9 would come along later.

In 1963, filming began on the original series “Doctor Who” when the title sequence was shot.

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act, a nearly $1 billion anti-poverty measure.

In 1968, the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations began invading Czechoslovakia to crush the "Prague Spring" liberalization drive.

In 1969, all four Beatles worked together in-studio for the last time. They were there for post-production work on “Abbey Road”.

In 1972, the Wattstax concert took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

In 1975, NASA launched the unmanned spacecraft Viking 1 on a mission to Mars. The spacecraft’s lander would touch down on Mars the following July.

In 1977, the U.S. launched Voyager 2, an unmanned spacecraft carrying a 12-inch copper phonograph record containing greetings in dozens of languages, samples of music and sounds of nature.

In 1982, the fantasy movie “The Beastmaster”, starring Marc Singer and Tanya Roberts, went into wide release in the U.S. The many, many re-runs on TBS would come later.

In 1989, entertainment executive Jose Menendez and his wife, Kitty, were shot to death in their Beverly Hills mansion by their sons, Lyle and Erik.

Also in 1989, fifty-one people died when a pleasure boat sank in the River Thames in London after colliding with a dredger.

In 1998, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Quebec could not legally secede from Canada without the federal government's approval.

Also in 1998, the United States launched cruise missile attacks against alleged al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and a suspected chemical plant in Sudan in retaliation for the August 7th bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

 

Also on August 20th:

1942--The planes of Marine Aircraft Group 23--18 Wildcat fighters and 12 Dauntless dive-bombers--take off from the escort carrier Long Island and land at Henderson Field, the newly completed and christened airstrip on the island of Guadalcanal. This was the beginning of what would become the Cactus Air Force.

 

If I may...

ON AUGUST 21st:

In 1858, the first of seven debates between Illinois senatorial contenders Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas took place.

In 1863, during the Civil War, Lawrence, KS was destroyed by the Confederate guerrilla force Quantrill’s Raiders in the Lawrence Massacre.

In 1897, Oldsmobile was founded.

In 1904, musician/composer/bandleader Count Basie was born in Red Bank, NJ.

In 1906, animator/producer/director Friz Freling was born in Kansas City, MO. He’s best-known for his work with the Warner Bros. animation unit during the “Termite Terrace” era.

In 1911, Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. (The painting was recovered two years later in Italy.)

In 1918, during World War I, the Second Battle of the Somme began.

In 1935, the Benny Goodman Orchestra played a highly-successful concert at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles that's now considered to be the beginning of the Swing Era.

In 1944, the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union and China opened talks at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington that helped pave the way for establishment of the United Nations. (The talks concluded on October 7.)

Also in 1944, Canadian and Polish units captured the strategically important town of Falaise, Calvados, France.

In 1945, President Harry S. Truman ended the Lend-Lease program that had shipped some $50 billion in aid supplies to America's allies during World War II.

Also in 1945, physicist Harry K. Daghlian, Jr. was fatally irradiated in a criticality accident during an experiment with the Demon core at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

In addition in 1945, composer/conductor Basil Poledouris was born in Kansas City, MO.

In 1956, actress Kim Catrall was born in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It would be some time later that a golden robot would become infatuated with her.

In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order making Hawaii the 50th state.

In 1961, singer Patsy Cline recorded her hit song “Crazy”, written by Willie Nelson.

Also in 1961, marine biologist/animator/writer/voice artist Stephen Hillenberg, creator of “SpongeBob SquarePants”, was born in Lawton, OK.

In 1963, martial law was declared in South Vietnam as police and army troops began a violent crackdown on Buddhist anti-government protesters.

In 1964, the Hammer Horror movie “The Gorgon”, starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, premiered in London.

In 1965, NASA launched the Gemini 5 mission, crewed by Gordon Cooper and Pete Conrad. The flight tested the new spacecraft fuel cells, as well as being in orbit for eight days, the length of time for a lunar mission.

In 1971, Laura Baugh, at the age of 16, won the United States Women's Amateur Golf tournament. She was the youngest winner in the history of the tournament.

In 1983, Philippine opposition leader Benigno S. Aquino Jr., ending a self-imposed exile in the United States, was shot dead moments after stepping off a plane at Manila International Airport.

In 1984, Victoria Roche, a reserve outfielder, became the first girl to ever compete in a Little League World Series game.

In 1991, the hard-line coup against Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev collapsed in the face of a popular uprising led by Russian Federation President Boris N. Yeltsin.

In 1992, the Ruby Ridge standoff between survivalists the Weaver family and U.S. Marshals and the FBI began.

In 1993, in a serious setback for NASA, engineers lost contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft as it was about to reach the red planet on a $980 million mission. (Speculation regarding Marvin’s involvement in the mishap remains inconclusive.)

In 1995, ABC News settled a $10 billion libel suit by apologizing to Philip Morris for reporting the tobacco giant had manipulated the amount of nicotine in its cigarettes.

In 2010, a Vincent van Gogh painting, "Poppy Flowers," was stolen in broad daylight from Cairo's Mahmoud Khalil Museum. (Although Egyptian authorities initially said they'd recovered the painting the same day at the Cairo airport, that report turned out to be erroneous; the painting remains missing.)

 

Happy Birthday to Thorin Oakenshield (a.k.a. Mister Richard Armitage) and Shaw Brothers "Shaolin Monk San Te", Mister Gordon Liu both born on August 22nd in 1971 and 1955 respectively.

 

If I may...

ON AUGUST 22nd:

In 1485, England's King Richard III was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field, effectively ending the War of the Roses.

In 1642, Charles I raised his standard in Nottingham, which marked the beginning of the English Civil War.

In 1654, Jacob Barsimson arrived in New Amsterdam, the first known Jewish immigrant to America.

In 1770, James Cook named and landed on Possession Island, and claimed the east coast of Australia for Britain as New South Wales.

In 1787, inventor John Fitch demonstrated his steamboat on the Delaware River to delegates from the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

In 1831, Nat Turner led a violent slave rebellion in Virginia resulting in the deaths of at least 55 white people. (He was later executed.)

In 1846, Gen. Stephen W. Kearny proclaimed all of New Mexico a territory of the United States.

In 1851, the schooner America outraced more than a dozen British vessels off the English coast to win a trophy that came to be known as the America's Cup.

In 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war against Belgium.

In 1920, author Ray Bradbury was born in Waukegan, IL.

In 1922, Irish revolutionary Michael Collins was shot to death, apparently by Irish Republican Army members opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty that Collins had co-signed.

In 1925, actress Honor Blackman was born in Plaistow, West Ham, London. Sometime later, one of her characters would take an interesting trip to Fort Knox.

In 1932, the British Broadcasting Corp. conducted its first experimental television broadcast, using a 30-line mechanical system.

Also in 1932, astronaut/engineer Gerald P. Carr, commander of the Skylab 4 mission, was born in Denver, CO.

In 1941, during World War II, German troops began the Siege of Leningrad.

In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon were nominated for second terms in office by the Republican National Convention in San Francisco.

In 1962, French President Charles de Gaulle survived an attempt on his life in suburban Paris.

In 1967, filming began on the “Star Trek” TOS episode “The Trouble with Tribbles”.

In 1968, Pope Paul VI arrived in Bogota, Colombia, for the start of the first papal visit to South America.

Also in 1968, Ringo Starr quit The Beatles during the White Album sessions when the constant bickering and tension became too much for him. The news of Ringo's departure was kept secret, and he rejoined the sessions on September 3rd.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon was nominated for a second term of office by the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach.

In 1985, 55 people died when fire broke out aboard a British Airtours charter jet on a runway at Manchester Airport in England.

In 1989, Black Panthers co-founder Huey P. Newton was shot to death in Oakland, California. (Gunman Tyrone Robinson was later sentenced to 32 years to life in prison.)

In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed welfare reform into law, representing a major shift in US welfare policy

In 2004, versions of “The Scream” and “Madonna”, two paintings by Edvard Munch, were stolen at gunpoint from a museum in Oslo, Norway.

In 2007, The Texas Rangers defeated the Baltimore Orioles 30–3, the most runs scored by a team in modern Major League Baseball history, with the combined run total also Major League record.

 

They were just discussing that one on SportsCenter last night, including throwing a flashback to Tim Kurkjian sounding like a little boy being excited about it.

 

If I may...

ON AUGUST 23rd:

In 1305, Scottish rebel leader Sir William Wallace was executed by the English for treason.

In 1775, Britain's King George III proclaimed the American colonies to be in a state of "open and avowed rebellion."

In 1831, Nat Turner’s slave rebellion was suppressed.

In 1912, actor/dancer/singer/director/choreographer Gene Kelly was born in Pittsburgh, PA.

In 1914, Japan declared war against Germany in World War I.

In 1921, British airship R-38 experienced structural failure over Hull in England and crashed in the Humber estuary. Of her 49 British and American training crew, only four survived.

In 1926, silent film star Rudolph Valentino died in New York at age 31.

In 1927, amid protests, Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed in Boston for the murders of two men during a 1920 robbery.

In 1929, an Arab attack on the Jewish community in Hebron in the British Mandate of Palestine, continuing until the next day, resulted in the death of 65–68 Jews and the remaining Jews being forced to leave the city.

In 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to a non-aggression treaty, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, in Moscow. In a secret addition to the pact, the Baltic states, Finland, Romania, and Poland were divided between the two nations.

In 1942, during World War II, the Battle of Stalingrad began.

In 1944, Romanian Prime Minister Ion Antonescu was dismissed by King Michael, paving the way for Romania to abandon the Axis in favor of the Allies.

In 1946, the film noir “The Big Sleep”, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, was released in the U.S.

In 1948, the Hitchcock thriller “Rope”, starring James Stewart, was released in Canada. It’s U.S. premiere would occur on August 26th.

In 1970, actor River Phoenix was born in Madras, OR.

In 1973, a bank robbery-turned-hostage-taking began in Stockholm, Sweden; the four hostages ended up empathizing with their captors, a psychological condition now referred to as "Stockholm Syndrome."

In 1974, actor/martial artist Ray Park was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He’d gain his Sith title later on.

In 1982, Lebanon's parliament elected Christian militia leader Bashir Gemayel president. (However, Gemayel was assassinated some three weeks later.)

In 1989, in a case that inflamed racial tensions in New York, Yusuf Hawkins, a 16-year-old black youth, was shot dead after he and his friends were confronted by a group of white youths in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn. (Gunman Joey Fama was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.)

Also in 1989, Pete Rose, the manager of the Cincinnati Reds, agreed to a lifetime ban from baseball after being accused of gambling on baseball.

In 2005, actor Brock Peters died in Los Angeles at age 78. Best-known for playing Tom Robinson in “To Kill a Mockingbird”, he’s known to Trekkers for his roles in two “Star Trek” movies and on “Deep Space Nine”, and to “Star Wars” fans for playing Darth Vader in the NPR radio adaptations of the Original Trilogy.

In 2011, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown after the National Transitional Council forces took control of Bab al-Azizia compound during the Libyan Civil War.

In 2012, Muppeteer Jerry Nelson died in Cape Cod, MA at age 78.

In 2013, cinematographer Gilbert Taylor, who won on Oscar for his work on “Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope”, died in Newport, Isle of Wight at age 99.

In 2014 the “Doctor Who” episode “Deep Breath” was broadcast on BBC 1. It was the first full episode featuring Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, and included the first appearance of Michelle Gomez as Missy, and the last appearance (to date) of Matt Smith as the Doctor.

In 2016, actor Steven Hill died in Monsey, NY at age 94.

 

If I (belatedly) may...

ON AUGUST 24th:

In A.D. 79, long-dormant Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in volcanic ash; an estimated 20,000 people died. (Some scholars, however, believe this event occurred in October.)

In 1349, six thousand Jews were killed in Mainz after being blamed for the bubonic plague.

In 1456, the printing of the Gutenberg Bible was completed.

In 1572, the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of French Protestants at the hands of Catholics began in Paris.

In 1814, during the War of 1812, British forces invaded Washington D.C., setting fire to the Capitol (which was still under construction) and the White House, as well as other public buildings.

In 1821, the Treaty of Cordoba was signed, granting independence to Mexico from Spanish rule.

In 1857, The Panic of 1857 begins, setting off one of the most severe economic crises in United States history.

In 1875, Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to swim the English Channel.

In 1912, Congress passed a measure creating the Alaska Territory.

Also in 1912, the U.S. Congress approved legislation establishing Parcel Post delivery by the U.S. Post Office Department, slated to begin on January 1, 1913.

In 1916, actor/voice artist Hal Smith, best-known for playing Otis Campbell on “The Andy Griffith Show”, was born in Petoskey, MI.

In 1932, Amelia Earhart embarked on a 19-hour flight from Los Angeles to Newark, NJ, making her the first woman to fly solo, non-stop, from coast to coast.

In 1934, actor/musician Kenny Baker was born. He’d later appear as one of the Time Bandits. And he’d also play a robot in a movie series that was rather successful.

In 1942, during World War II, at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, the Japanese aircraft carrier Ryujo was sunk and US carrier USS Enterprise was heavily damaged.

In 1942, the Disney cartoon anthology “Saludos Amigos” premiered in Rio de Janeiro. It starred Donald Duck and Goofy, and featured the first appearance of Jose “Joe” Carioca.

In 1946, the Bowery Boys movie “Spook Busters” was released in the U.S.

In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty came into force.

In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Communist Control Act, outlawing the Communist Party in the United States.

In 1957, actor/comedian/writer Stephen Fry was born in Hampstead, London.

In 1964, the first Roman Catholic Mass celebrated in English took place at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis.

In 1966, the science fiction movie “Fantastic Voyage” was released in the U.S.

In 1970, an explosives-laden van left by anti-war terrorists blew up outside the University of Wisconsin's Sterling Hall in Madison, killing 33-year-old researcher Robert Fassnacht, injuring three others, and causing over $2 million dollars in damages.

In 1970, the horror movie “House of Dark Shadows”, based on the TV soap opera, premiered in New York City.

In 1989, Baseball Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti officially banned Pete Rose from the game for gambling.

In 1991, Ukraine declared itself independent from the Soviet Union.

Also in 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as head of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

In 1992, Hurricane Andrew smashed into Florida, causing $30 billion in damage; 43 U.S. deaths were blamed on the storm.

In 2004, eighty-nine passengers died after two airliners exploded after flying out of Domodedovo International Airport, near Moscow. The explosions were caused by suicide bombers (reportedly female) from the Russian Republic of Chechnya.

In 2006, the International Astronomical Union, in highly-controversial decision, declared that Pluto was no longer a planet, demoting it to the status of a "dwarf planet."

In 2016, an earthquake struck Central Italy with a magnitude of 6.2, with aftershocks being felt as far as Rome and Florence.

 

If I may...

ON AUGUST 25th:

In 1718, hundreds of French colonists arrived in Louisiana, with some settling in present-day New Orleans.

In 1814, on the second day of the Burning of Washington, British troops torched the Library of Congress, the U.S. Treasury, the Dept. of War, and other public buildings.

In 1825, Uruguay declared independence from Brazil.

In 1835, the first Great Moon Hoax article was published in The New York Sun, announcing the discovery of life and civilization on the Moon.

In 1913, animator/cartoonist Walt Kelly, creator of the comic strip “Pogo”, was born in Philadelphia, PA.

In 1916, the National Park Service was established within the Department of the Interior.

In 1918, composer/conductor/musician Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrence, MA.

In 1921, the United States signed a peace treaty with Germany.

Also in 1921, actor/singer/TV host Monty Hall was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He’d later spend a lot of time asking if people wanted to keep what they already had or trade it for what was behind the curtain.

In 1930, actor/producer Sean Connery was born in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, Scotland. His job at Universal Exports would come later.

In 1940, the R.A.F. bombed Berlin for the first time.

In 1944, during World War II, Paris was liberated by Allied forces after four years of Nazi occupation.

Also in 1944, Romania declared war on former ally Germany.

In 1945, ten days after World War II ended with Japan announcing its surrender, armed supporters of the Chinese Communist Party killed missionary/U.S. intelligence officer John Birch. The American conservative organization the John Birch Society was later named in his honor.

In 1946, Ben Hogan won the PGA in Portland, OR. It was his first major golf title.

In 1950, President Harry Truman ordered the U.S. Army to seize control of the nation's railroads to avert a strike.

In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a measure providing pensions for former U.S. presidents and their widows.

In 1972, the horror movie “Blacula”, starring William Marshall, was released in the U.S.

In 1975, the Bruce Springsteen album "Born to Run" was released by Columbia Records. (The title song would later be named New Jersey’s “Unofficial Youth Rock Anthem” by the NJ State Assembly. Take from this what you will.)

In 1980, the Broadway musical "42nd Street" opened. (Producer David Merrick stunned the cast and audience during the curtain call by announcing that the show's director, Gower Champion, had died earlier that day.)

In 1981, the unmanned U.S. spacecraft Voyager 2 came within 63,000 miles of Saturn's cloud cover, sending back pictures of and data about the ringed planet.

In 1985, Samantha Smith, age 13, the schoolgirl whose letter to Yuri V. Andropov resulted in her famous peace tour of the Soviet Union, died with her father, Arthur, and six other people in a commuter plane crash in Auburn, ME.

In 1989, Voyager 2 made its closest approach to Neptune, its final planetary target.

In 1991, Belarus gained its independence from the Soviet Union.

In 2000, author/cartoonist Carl Barks, best-known for his Donald Duck comics and for creating Scrooge McDuck, died in Grants Pass, OR at age 99.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit Florida with 80 mph winds and headed into the Gulf of Mexico.

Also in 2005, the Congressional base closing commission voted to shut down the Army's historic Walter Reed hospital and move much of its staff and services to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD.

In 2009, politician Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy died at age 77 in Hyannis Port, MA.

In 2012, pilot/engineer/astronaut/educator Neil Armstrong died in Cincinnati, OH at age 82.

Also in 2012, the U.S. unmanned Voyager 1 spacecraft entered interstellar space, becoming the first man-made object to do so.

 

Lest we forget...

 

If I may...

ON AUGUST 26th:

In 1789, France's National Assembly adopted its Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

In 1883, the island volcano Krakatoa began cataclysmic eruptions, leading to a massive explosion the following day.

In 1920, cartoonist Brant Parker, co-creator of “The Wizard of Id”, was born in Los Angeles.

In 1930, actor/director/screenwriter Lon Chaney, Sr. died in Los Angeles at age 47.

In 1939, the first televised major league baseball games were shown on experimental station W2XBS: a double-header between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. (The Reds won the first game, 5-2, the Dodgers the second, 6-1.)

In a world…exactly like our own in 1940, voice actor/announcer Don LaFontaine was born in Duluth, MN.

In 1944, French Gen. Charles de Gaulle braved the threat of German snipers as he led a victory march in Paris, which had just been liberated by the Allies from Nazi occupation.

In 1946, Norma Jean Baker was signed to a contract with 20th Century Fox, who changed her name to Marilyn Monroe.

In 1957, the Hammer horror/sci-fi movie “The Abominable Snowman”, starring Peter Cushing and Forrest Tucker, was released in the UK.

In 1958, Alaskans went to the polls to overwhelmingly vote in favor of statehood.

In 1961, The International Hockey Hall of Fame in opened in Toronto, Canada.

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson was nominated for a term of office in his own right at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, NJ.

In 1968, the Democratic National Convention opened in Chicago.

In 1968, The Beatles released "Hey Jude", backed with "Revolution". It was the first single from their Apple Records label.

In 1970, Jimi Hendrix played what proved to be his last concert, at the Isle of Wight Pop Festival off the English coast.

In 1972, the summer Olympic games opened in Munich, West Germany.

In 1978, Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice was elected pope following the death of Paul VI. The new pontiff took the name Pope John Paul I.

In 1985, 13-year-old AIDS patient Ryan White began "attending" classes at Western Middle School in Kokomo, IN via a telephone hook-up at his home after school officials had barred Ryan from participating in person.

In 1991, the original pilot episode of “Doctor Who”, which had been rejected by the BBC and remade as the series’ first episode (“An Unearthly Child”), was finally broadcast on BBC 2.

In 1996, Democrats opened their 42nd national convention in Chicago.

In 2009, authorities in California solved the 18-year disappearance of Jaycee Lee Dugard after she appeared at a parole office with her children and the Antioch couple who'd kidnapped her when she was 11.

In 2015, reporter Alison Parker and photojournalist Adam Ward of WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, VA were shot and killed while doing a live interview. (The gunman, a disgruntled former station employee, committed suicide later that day.)

 

If I (belatedly) may...

ON AUGUST 27th:

In 1776, the Battle of Long Island began during the Revolutionary War as British troops attacked American forces, who ended up being forced to retreat two days later.

In 1883, the island volcano Krakatoa erupted with a series of cataclysmic explosions; the resulting tidal waves in Indonesia's Sunda Strait claimed some 36,000 lives in Java and Sumatra.

In 1908, Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th President of the U.S., was born near Stonewall, TX.

In 1928, the Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed in Paris, outlawing war and providing for the peaceful settlement of disputes.

In 1939, the first turbojet-powered aircraft, the Heinkel He 178, went on its first full-fledged test flight over Germany.

In 1949, a violent white mob prevented an outdoor concert headlined by Paul Robeson from taking place near Peekskill, NY. (The concert was held eight days later.)

In 1957, the USS Swordfish, the second Skate Class nuclear submarine, was launched from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine.

In 1962, the United States launched the Mariner 2 space probe, which flew past Venus in December 1962.

In 1964, the Disney fantasy “Mary Poppins” premiered in Los Angeles.

In 1967, entrepreneur Brian Epstein, best-known for managing the Beatles, died in London at age 32.

In 1969, the science fiction movie “Doppelganger” (also known as “Journey to the Far Side of the Sun”) premiered in Detroit, MI.

In 1979, British war hero Lord Louis Mountbatten and three other people, including his 14-year-old grandson Nicholas, were killed off the coast of Ireland in a boat explosion claimed by the Irish Republican Army.

In 1989, the first U.S. commercial satellite rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida — a Delta booster carrying a British communications satellite, the Marcopolo 1.

In 2008, Barack Obama was nominated for president by the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

In 2011, Hurricane Irene struck the United States east coast, killing 47 and causing an estimated $15.6 billion in damage.

In 2015, basketball player/coach Darryl Dawkins died in Allentown, PA at age 58.

 

If I may...

ON AUGUST 28th:

In 1609, English explorer Henry Hudson and his ship, the Half Moon, reached present-day Delaware Bay.

In 1833, The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 received Royal Assent, abolishing slavery through most of the British Empire.

In 1862, the Second Battle of Bull Run (also known as Second Manassas) began in Prince William County, Virginia, during the Civil War; the result was a Confederate victory.

In 1917, comic book artist/writer/editor Jack Kirby was born in New York City.

In 1922, the first-ever radio commercial aired on station WEAF in New York City; the 10-minute advertisement was for the Queensboro Realty Co., which had paid a fee of $100.

In 1930, the Marx Brothers comedy “Animal Crackers” was released in the U.S.

In 1944, during World War II, German forces in Toulon and Marseille, France, surrendered to Allied troops.

In 1945, the Allies began occupying Japan at the end of World War II.

In 1953, the evangelical organization Campus Crusade for Christ was incorporated, two years after its founding.

In 1955, Emmett Till, a black teen-ager from Chicago, was abducted from his uncle's home in Money, MS by two white men after he had supposedly whistled at a white woman; he was found brutally slain three days later.

In 1957, U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond began a filibuster to prevent the Senate from voting on the Civil Rights Act of 1957; he stopped speaking 24 hours and 18 minutes later, the longest filibuster ever conducted by a single Senator.

In 1963, more than 200,000 people listened as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

In 1964, two days of race-related rioting erupted in North Philadelphia over a false rumor that white police officers had beaten to death a pregnant black woman.

In 1968, police and anti-war demonstrators clashed in the streets of Chicago as the Democratic National Convention nominated Hubert H. Humphrey for president.

In 1972, Mark Spitz of the United States won the first two of his seven gold medals at the Munich Olympics, finishing first in the 200-meter butterfly and anchoring the 400-meter freestyle relay. In addition, the Soviet women gymnasts won the team all-around.

In 1987, director/screenwriter/actor John Huston died in Middletown, RI at age 81.

In 1988, 70 people were killed when three Italian stunt planes collided during an air show at the U.S. Air Base in Ramstein, West Germany.

In 1990, an F5 tornado struck the Chicago area, killing 29 people.

In 1993, the movie “Eegah!” was shown on “Mystery Science Theater 3000” over Comedy Central. Viewers are advised to watch out for snakes.

In 1995, a mortar shell tore through a crowded market in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, killing some three dozen people and triggering NATO airstrikes against the Bosnian Serbs.

In 2005, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered everyone in the city to evacuate after Hurricane Katrina grew to a monster storm.

In 2016, the British department store chain British Home Stores (BHS) ceased operations and trading; going into liquidation after 88 years on the high street.

 

If I may...

ON AUGUST 29th:

In 1533, the last Incan King of Peru, Atahualpa, was executed on orders of Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro.

In 1758, the first American Indian reservation was established, at Indian Mills, NJ.

In 1786, Shay’s Rebellion, an armed uprising of Massachusetts farmers, began in response to high debt and tax burdens.

In 1814, during the War of 1812, Alexandria, VA formally surrendered to British military forces, which occupied the city until September 3.

In 1864, the Democratic National Convention, which nominated Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan for president, opened in Chicago.

In 1877, Brigham Young, the second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, died in Salt Lake City, UT at age 76.

In 1915, actress Ingrid Bergman was born in Stockholm, Sweden.

In 1944, 15,000 American troops of the 28th Infantry Division marched down the Champs Elysees in Paris as the French capital continued to celebrate its liberation from the Nazis.

In 1949, the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb, known as First Lightning or Joe 1, at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan.

In 1958, singer/songwriter/producer/actor Michael Jackson was born in Gary, IN.

In 1964, Roy Orbison's single "Oh, Pretty Woman" was released on the Monument label.

In 1965, Gemini 5, carrying astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles "Pete" Conrad, splashed down in the Atlantic after 8 days in space.

Also in 1965, The Beatles performed at the Hollywood Bowl.

In 1966, The Beatles ended their U.S. tour by performing what would be their last public concert, before 25,000 fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

In 1967, the running stopped. The final episode of “The Fugitive” was broadcast on ABC-TV.

In 1982, actress Ingrid Bergman died in London at age 67.

In 2000, actress Shelagh Fraser, known to “Star Wars” fans for playing Aunt Beru in the original movie, died in London at age 79.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast near Buras, Louisiana, bringing floods that devastated New Orleans. More than 1,800 people in the region died.

In 2007, six US cruise missiles armed with nuclear warheads are flown without proper authorization from Minot Air Force Base to Barksdale Air Force Base.

In 2016, actor/screenwriter/director/author Gene Wilder died in Stamford, CT at age 83.