Fun On this date in history...

If I may...

ON AUGUST 14th:

In 1040, King Duncan I was killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth. The latter succeeded him as King of Scotland. These events would be the basis for Shakespeare’s Scottish play.

In 1848, the Oregon Territory was created.

In 1893, France became the first country to introduce motor vehicle registration. No information is available regarding how long motorists had to wait in line to register.

In 1900, international forces, including U.S. Marines, entered Beijing to put down the Boxer Rebellion, which was aimed at purging China of foreign influence.

In 1916, businessman Wellington Mara, co-owner of the New York Giants football team, was born in Rochester, NY.

In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law.

In 1941, Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill signed the Atlantic Charter, stating their postwar aims.

In 1944, the federal government allowed the manufacture of certain domestic appliances, such as electric ranges and vacuum cleaners, to resume on a limited basis.

In 1945, President Harry S. Truman announced that Imperial Japan had surrendered unconditionally, ending World War II.

Also in 1945, the radio program “14 August”, marking the occasion of V-J Day, was broadcast on CBS. It was written by Norman Corwin and narrated by Orson Welles.

In addition in 1945, actor/comedian/writer/producer/musician Steve Martin was born in Waco, TX.

In 1947, Pakistan became independent of British rule.

In 1951, newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst died in Beverly Hills, CA at age 88.

In 1953, composer/conductor/orchestrator James Horner was born in Los Angeles.

Also in 1953, the wiffle ball was invented.

In 1959, the American Football League was founded.

In 1969, British troops went to Northern Ireland to intervene in sectarian violence between Protestants and Roman Catholics.

In 1973, the U.S. bombing of Cambodia came to a halt.

In 1975, the cult classic movie musical "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick, had its world premiere in London.

In 1980, workers went on strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland, in a job action that resulted in creation of the Solidarity labor movement.

In 1989, South African President P.W. Botha announced his resignation after losing a bitter power struggle within his National Party.

In 1993, on “Mystery Science Theater 3000”, the misleadingly-titled fantasy movie “The Magic Voyage of Sinbad” was broadcast on Comedy Central.

In 1995, Shannon Faulkner officially became the first female cadet in the history of The Citadel, South Carolina's state military college. (However, Faulkner quit the school less than a week later, citing the stress of her court fight, and her isolation among the male cadets.)

In 2003, a widespread power blackout affected the northeast United States and Canada.

In 2015, the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba re-opened after 54 years of being closed when relations were broken off between Cuba and the U.S.

 

If I may...

ON AUGUST 15th:

In 1483, the Sistine Chapel was consecrated by Pope Sixtus IV.

In 1534, Ignatius of Loyola founded “the company of Jesus”; it would later be known as the Jesuits.

In 1812, the Battle of Fort Dearborn took place as Potawatomi warriors attacked a U.S. military garrison of about 100 people. (Most of the garrison was killed, while the remainder were taken prisoner.)

In 1914, the Panama Canal officially opened as the SS Ancon crossed the just-completed waterway between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

In 1919, actor Huntz Hall was born in New York City. Hanging around Louie Dombrowski’s malt shop would come later.

In 1933, actress Barbara Shelley, best-known for her roles in Hammer horror movies, was born in Marylebone, London, England.

In 1935, humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post were killed when their airplane crashed near Point Barrow in the Alaska Territory.

In 1945, Japan's Emperor Hirohito announced in a recorded radio address that his country had accepted terms of surrender for ending World War II.

In 1946, singer/songwriter Jimmy Webb was born in Elk City, OK.

In 1947, India became independent after some 200 years of British rule.

In 1948, CBS-TV inaugurated the first nightly news broadcast with anchorman Douglas Edwards.

In 1965, The Beatles played to a crowd of more than 55,000 at New York's Shea Stadium.

In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened in upstate New York.

In 1972, sound editor/sound designer Matthew Wood was born in Walnut Creek, CA. He’s better-known to fans for providing the voice of General Grievous in “Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge of the Sith” and the animated “The Clone Wars” TV series.

In 1974, a gunman attempted to shoot South Korean President Park Chung-hee during a speech; although Park was unhurt, his wife, Yuk Young-soo, was struck and killed, along with a teenage girl. (The gunman was later executed.)

In 1983, filming began for “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock”.

Also in 1983, the action movie “Fuga dal Bronx” was released in Italy. Under the title “Escape 2000”, it would be MSTed some years later.

In 1989, F.W. de Klerk was sworn in as acting president of South Africa, one day after P.W. Botha resigned as the result of a power struggle within the National Party.

In 1995, the Justice Department agreed to pay $3.1 million to white separatist Randy Weaver and his family to settle their claims over the killing of Weaver's wife and son during a 1992 siege by federal agents at Ruby Ridge, Idaho.

In 1998, the Omagh Bombing, the worst terrorist incident of The Troubles, occurred in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The car bombing, carried out by an IRA splinter group, killed 29 people and injured 220 others.

In 2013, at least 27 people were killed and 226 injured in an explosion in southern Beirut near a complex used by Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. A previously unknown Syrian Sunni group claimed responsibility in an online video.

 

On this date in history, August 16th, the Ramones played their first gig at CBGBs in NYC.

Trust me, the bathrooms were as scary as you've heard.

Another tidbit on this date from wikipedia:

• 1989 – A solar flare from the Sun creates a geomagnetic storm that affects micro chips, leading to a halt of all trading on Toronto's stock market.

Folks Born on this day include:

Angela Bassett
Madonna
Steve Carrell

and many younglings I've never heard of...

 

If I may...

ON AUGUST 16th:

In 1777, the American forces led by General John Stark routed British and Brunswick troops under Friedrich Baum at the Battle of Bennington in Walloomsac, NY.

In 1812, American General William Hull surrendered Fort Detroit without a fight to the British Army.

In 1841, U.S. President John Tyler vetoed a bill which called for the re-establishment of the Second Bank of the United States. Enraged Whig Party members rioted outside the White House in the most violent demonstration on White House grounds in U.S. history.

In 1858, a telegraphed message from Britain's Queen Victoria to President James Buchanan was transmitted over the recently laid trans-Atlantic cable.

In 1896, Skookum Jim Mason, George Carmack and Dawson Charlie discovered gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.

In 1899, actor Glenn Strange was born in Weed, Otero County, New Mexico Territory. He’s best-known for his Western roles (including on the TV series “Gunsmoke”) and for playing the Frankenstein Monster in three Universal Horror movies.

In 1929, riots broke out in Mandatory Palestine between Palestinian Arabs and Jews and continued until the end of the month. In total, 133 Jews and 116 Arabs are killed.

In 1933, actress/singer/dancer/Catwoman Julie Newmar was born in Los Angeles.

Also in 1933, engineer/pilot/astronaut Stuart Roosa, CM Pilot for Apollo 14, was born in Durango, CO.

In 1940, the Alfred Hitchcock thriller “Foreign Correspondent” was released in the U.S.

In 1942, during World War II, the two-person crew of the U.S. naval blimp L-8 disappeared without a trace on a routine anti-submarine patrol over the Pacific Ocean. The blimp drifted without her crew, then crash-landed in Daly City, CA.

In 1948, Yankee Hall of Famer Babe Ruth died in New York City at age 53.

In 1954, the first issue of “Sports Illustrated” was published.

In 1956, actor Bela Lugosi died in Los Angeles at age 73.

In 1956, Adlai E. Stevenson was nominated for president at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

In 1960, Britain ceded control of the crown colony of Cyprus.

Also in 1960, Joseph Kittinger parachuted from the balloon Excelsior III over New Mexico at 102,800 feet (31,300 m), setting three records that held until 2012: highest-altitude jump, longest free fall, and highest speed by a human without an aircraft.

In addition in 1960, actor/director/producer Timothy Hutton was born in Malibu, CA. Years later, he’d co-star in a TV series based on the “Nero Wolfe” stories; fans still appreciate how faithful they were to the source material.

In 1962, The Beatles fired their original drummer, Pete Best, replacing him with Ringo Starr.

In 1975, Peter Gabriel publicly announced that he was leaving Genesis.

In 1977, actor/singer/musician/King of Rock & Roll Elvis Presley died in Memphis, TN at age 42.

In 1987, 156 people were killed when Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed while trying to take off from Detroit; the sole survivor was 4-year-old Cecelia Cichan.

Also in 1987, people worldwide began a two-day celebration of the "harmonic convergence," which heralded what believers called the start of a new, purer age of humankind.

In 1997, on “Mystery Science Theater 3000”, the movie “Prince of Space” was broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel. MSTies liked it very much.

In 2014, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, where police and protesters repeatedly clashed in the week since a black teenager was shot to death by a white police officer.

 

Two August 17th birthdays:

• 1943 – Robert De Niro, American actor, entrepreneur, director, and producer
• 1944 – Larry Ellison, American businessman, co-founded the Oracle Corporation

 

If I may...

ALSO ON AUGUST 17th:

In 1786, frontiersman/soldier/politician Davy Crockett was born in Limestone, Greene County, at the time part of North Carolina.

In 1807, Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat began heading up the Hudson River on its successful round trip between New York and Albany.

In 1863, Federal batteries and ships began bombarding Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor during the Civil War, but the Confederates managed to hold on despite several days of pounding.

In1915, a mob in Cobb County, Georgia, lynched Jewish businessman Leo Frank, 31, whose death sentence for the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan had been commuted to life imprisonment.
(Frank, who'd maintained his innocence, was pardoned by the state of Georgia in 1986.)
In 1920, actress/singer Maureen O’Hara was born in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland.

In 1920, the second of only two fatalities to occur in a major league baseball game happened. Ray Chapman (Cleveland Indians) died one day after being hit in the head with a fastball from Carl Mays of the New York Yankees.

In 1930, producer/screenwriter Harve Bennett was born in Chicago. Years later, Trekkers would be very happy that he answered that he could, indeed, make a “Star Trek” movie for less than 45 (expletive deleted) million dollars.

In 1933, Gene Krantz, NASA flight director during the Gemini and Apollo programs, was born in Toledo, OH.

In 1943, the Allied conquest of Sicily during World War II was completed as U.S. and British forces entered Messina.

In 1945, Indonesian nationalists declared their independence from the Netherlands.
Also in 1945, the George Orwell novel Animal Farm, an allegorical satire of Soviet Communism, was first published in London by Martin Secker & Warburg.

In 1951, the science fiction movie “The Lost Continent” was released in the U.S. It’s the movie that later inflicted the dreaded Rock Climbing on Joel & the ‘bots, and should not be confused with the George Pal fantasy “Atlantis, the Lost Continent” or the Hammer Films fantasy “The Lost Continent”.

In 1960, the science fiction movie “The Time Machine”, produced & directed by George Pal and starring Rod Taylor, was released in the U.S.

In 1962, East German border guards shot and killed 18-year-old Peter Fechter, who had attempted to cross the Berlin Wall into the western sector.

In 1969, Hurricane Camille slammed into the Mississippi coast as a Category 5 storm that was blamed for 256 U.S. deaths, three in Cuba.

In 1970, "Soul Train" created & hosted by Don Cornelius, made its debut on Chicago TV station WCIU.

In 1978, the first successful trans-Atlantic balloon flight ended as Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman landed their Double Eagle II outside Paris.

In 1979, the movie “Monty Python’s ‘Life of Brian’” was released in the U.S.

In 1982, the first commercially produced compact discs, a recording of ABBA's "The Visitors," were pressed at a Philips factory near Hanover, West Germany.

In 1985, more than 1,400 meatpackers walked off the job at the Geo. A. Hormel and Co.'s main plant in Austin, Minnesota, in a bitter strike that lasted just over a year.

In 1986, Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen played his first concert with the band since losing his left arm in a car accident in 1984.

In 1998, President Bill Clinton gave grand jury testimony via closed-circuit television from the White House concerning his relationship with Monica Lewinsky; he then delivered a TV address in which he denied previously committing perjury, admitted his relationship with Lewinsky was "wrong," and criticized Kenneth Starr's investigation.

In 1999, more than 17,000 people were killed when a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Turkey.

In 2005, the first forced evacuation of settlers, as part of the Israeli disengagement from Gaza, started.

In 2008, American swimmer Michael Phelps became the first person to win eight gold medals in one Olympic Games.

In 2017, in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, a van was driven into pedestrians in La Rambla, killing 14 and injuring at least 100. It was one of several terrorist attacks in Spain around that time.

 

1903 - German engineer Karl Jatho allegedly flies his self-made, motored gliding airplane four months before the first flight of the Wright Brothers.

 

Some August 18th lore from Wikipedia:

• 1963 – Civil Rights Movement: James Meredith becomes the first African American to graduate from the University of Mississippi.

Happy Birthday to one of my favorite American Actors; Mr. Robert Redford:

• 1936 – Robert Redford, American actor, director, and producer

Also...

• 1967 – Brian Michael Bendis, American author and illustrator

 

August 19th is a special day for this foreign film fan:

Happy Birthday to Ti Lung. This talented actor and martial artist was the face of Shaw Brothers from the mid 70s through the early 80s, and saw a career resurgence after appearing in John Woo's A Better Tomorrow 1 and 2. He's won at least one acting award for per decade since the 1970s. An avid martial artist, he learned Wing Chun, Karate, Hung Gar, Muay Thai Boxing and several weapons forms, Ti Lung still practices Kung Fu today. Born 71 years ago, he has no plans to retire from the screen - which makes this fan woman very happy. Read more here and here.


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and in other 8-19 birthdays

• 1940 – Johnny Nash, American singer-songwriter
• 1945 – Ian Gillan, English singer-songwriter (Deep Purple and Black Sabbath)

 

If I may...

ON AUGUST 18th:

In 1587, Virginia Dare, granddaughter of Governor John White of the Colony of Roanoke, became the first English child born in the America.

In 1590, John White, the governor of the Roanoke Colony, returned from a supply trip to England and found his settlement deserted.

In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson issued his Proclamation of Neutrality, aimed at keeping the United States out of World War I.

In 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing women's suffrage,as Tennessee became the 36th state to approve it.

In 1952, actor/dancer Patrick Swayze was born in Houston, TX.

In 1954, the feature film version of the TV series “Dragnet”, starring Jack Webb and Ben Alexander, was released in the U.S.

In 1956, composer/conductor John Debney was born in Glendale, CA. His credits include “The Passion of the Christ”, “Iron Man 2” and the McGann movie.

In 1962, Ringo Starr made his debut with The Beatles at the horticultural society Dance, Birkenhead, England, having had a two-hour rehearsal in preparation. This was the first appearance of The Beatles as the world would come to know them: John, Paul, George, and Ringo.

In 1963, James Meredith became the first black student to graduate from the University of Mississippi.

In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in Bethel, NY wound to a close after three nights with a mid-morning set by Jimi Hendrix.

In 1976, two U.S. Army officers were killed in Korea's demilitarized zone as a group of North Korean soldiers wielding axes and metal pikes attacked U.S. and South Korean soldiers.

In 1977, Steve Biko was arrested at a police roadblock under the Terrorism Act No 83 of 1967 in King William’s Town, South Africa. He later died from injuries sustained during this arrest bringing attention to South Africa's apartheid policies.

In 1983, Hurricane Alicia slammed into the Texas coast, leaving 21 dead and causing more than a billion dollars' worth of damage.

In 1988, Vice President George H.W. Bush accepted the presidential nomination of his party at the Republican National Convention in New Orleans.

In 1992, filming began on “Emissary”, the first episode of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”.

In 1998, actress/model/author Persis Khambatta died in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India at age 49.

In 2004, composer/conductor/songwriter Elmer Bernstein died in Ojai, CA at age 82.

In 2006, the thriller “Snakes on a Plane” was released in the U.S. And moviegoers are still waiting to see those $%^&*($#@ snakes on another $%^&*($#@ airplane.

In 2014, announcer/voice actor Don Pardo died in Tuscon, AR at age 96.

 

And one more because of board double posting:

 

That's ironic. The last vinyl LP I ever bought was ABBA's "The Visitors."

 

If I may...

ON AUGUST 19th:

In A.D. 14, Caesar Augustus, Rome's first emperor, died at age 76 after a reign lasting four decades; he was succeeded by his stepson Tiberius.

In 1692, in Salem, Province of Massachusetts Bay, five people, one woman and four men, including a clergyman, were executed after being convicted of witchcraft.

In 1812, the USS Constitution defeated the British frigate HMS Guerriere off Nova Scotia during the War of 1812, earning the nickname "Old Ironsides."

In 1814, during the War of 1812, British forces landed at Benedict, MD with the objective of capturing Washington D.C.

In 1909, the first car race to be run on brick occurred at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

In 1921, screenwriter/producer/Great Bird of the Galaxy Gene Roddenberry was born in El Paso, TX.

In 1934, a plebiscite in Germany approved the vesting of sole executive power in Adolf Hitler.

In 1935, physician/astronaut F. Story Musgrave was born in Boston, MA. He’d later become only the second astronaut to fly six missions, and is the only astronaut to fly on all five Space Shuttles.

In 1936, the first of a series of show trials orchestrated by Soviet leader Josef Stalin began in Moscow as 16 defendants faced charges of conspiring against the government (all were convicted and executed).

In 1938, actress Diana Muldaur was born in Brooklyn. Her guest shots on TOS and regular status on TNG would come later.

In 1940, the B-25 Mitchell medium bomber had its first flight.

In 1942, during World War II, about 6,000 Canadian and British soldiers launched a disastrous raid against the Germans at Dieppe, France, suffering more than 50-percent casualties.

In 1946, Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the U.S., was born in Hope, AR.

In 1952, actor/author/director/Number One Jonathan Frakes was born in Bellefonte, PA.

In 1953, the CIA and MI6 helped to overthrow the government of Mohammad Mosaddegh in Iran and reinstated the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

In 1955, torrential rains caused by Hurricane Diane resulted in severe flooding in the northeastern U.S., claiming some 200 lives.

In 1964, The Beatles opened their first full-fledged U.S. tour as they performed at San Francisco's Cow Palace.

In 1972, the musical variety “The Midnight Special” was first aired as (appropriately) a special on NBC-TV. It would begin its regular run the following February.

In 1973, voice actor/musician Ahmed Best was born in New York City. He’d later play one of the more noteworthy characters from “Star Wars: Episode I- The Phantom Menace”.

In 1974, U.S. Ambassador Rodger P. Davies was fatally wounded by a bullet that penetrated the American embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus, during a protest by Greek Cypriots.

In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford won the Republican presidential nomination at the party's convention in Kansas City.

In 1977, actor/comedian Groucho Marx died in West Hollywood, CA at age 86.

In 1980, 301 people aboard a Saudi Arabian L-1011 died as the jetliner made a fiery emergency return to the Riyadh airport.

In 1991, Soviet hard-liners made the stunning announcement that President Mikhail S. Gorbachev had been removed from power. (The coup attempt collapsed two days later.)

Also in 1991, during a series of riots, African-American groups targeted Hasidic Jews on the streets of Crown Heights in New York City for three days, after two black children were hit by a car driven by a Hasidic man

In 2010, Operation Iraqi Freedom ended, when the last of the United States brigade combat teams crossed the border to Kuwait.

In 2017, comedian/actor/activist Dick Gregory died in Washington, D.C. at age 84.

 

Some August 20th birthdays

• 1890 – H. P. Lovecraft, American short story writer, editor, novelist (d. 1937) - et tu Cthulhu?!
• 1937 – Stelvio Cipriani, Italian composer (One of his more popular soundtracks right here...)
• 1943 – Sylvester McCoy, Scottish actor
• 1947 – Alan Lee, English painter and illustrator
• 1948 – Robert Plant, English singer-songwriter
• 1949 – Phil Lynott, Irish singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (d. 1986)

 

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.

In 2017, actor/comedian/filmmaker Jerry Lewis died in Las Vegas at age 91.