Events On This Day In History August 2 1769 - The city of Los Angeles was named on this day. Uh, sort of. Gaspar de Portola, a Spanish army captain, and Juan Crespi, a Franciscan priest, stopped on their way north from San Diego. They really liked the area and decided to name it Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula, which means Smog-free Paradise. Hah! Just kidding. It really means Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula -- Porciuncula being a chapel in Italy. 1791 - Samuel Briggs and his son, Samuel Briggs, Jr., became the first father-son pair to receive a joint patent -- for their nail-making machine. 1823 - The New York Mirror and Ladies Literary Gazette was founded. The weekly newspaper later became the daily New York Mirror. 1824 - Fifth Avenue was opened in New York City. It became one of the most famous thoroughfares in the world, the home of many beautiful, fashionable stores. 1887 - Barbed wire was patented Chester A. Hodge of Beloit, WI. 1907 - Walter Johnson pitched his first professional baseball game for the Washington Senators. He went on to fan 3,499 batters in his career. 1938 - The yellow baseball was first used in a test by the Brooklyn Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals in New York City. Ball players said that they had no preference for the yellow ball over the traditional white ball. 1943 - U.S. General George Patton had a bad day. He slapped and kicked U.S. Army Private C.H. Kuhl. 1943 - Lieutenant (j.g.) John F. Kennedy had a bad day, too. His PT 109, with the future President of the U.S. on board, was rammed and sunk by the Japanese destroyer Amigiri. Kennedy suffered a back injury that plagued him for the rest of his life. The story of the PT 109 was told in Hollywood style in the 1963 movie, PT 109, starring Cliff Robertson as JFK. 1984 - Charles Schulz’ award-winning comic strip was picked up by the Daily Times in Portsmouth, OH. With the addition of that paper, Peanuts, featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Pigpen, Linus, Peppermint Pattie, Woodstock and the gang, became the first comic strip to appear in 2,000 newspapers. 1990 - As Iraq invaded Kuwait, the Emir fled to Saudi Arabia. The U.N. Security Council unanimously condemned the Iraqi occupation and not only imposed a complete blockade on Iraq, but authorized member states to reverse the invasion by any and all means. 1992 - Rollie Fingers, Bill McGowan, Hal Newhouser and Tom Seaver were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 12:05:40 +0000
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