This day from the past for August 4th…216th day of 2014 – 149 days remaining… → 1637 - Huron council blames smallpox epidemic on the sorcery of the black robes (Jesuits). Ontario → 1693 - Dom Perignon invents champagne. A Benedictine monk called Dom Perignon opened a bottle of wine that had been rebottled. The wine was filled with bubbles and the devout wine maker said Im tasting stars! after tasting it. The legend varies as whether this batch was an accident or intentional, but it was the first bottle of champagne. → 1753 - George Washington became a Master Mason on this day. → 1769 - Prince Edward Island comes into being as the British Crown separates the Island of St. John from Nova Scotia. The new colony, population 250, is given a governor, lieutenant-governor, executive and legislative councils, a Supreme Court and civil service, and plans are made for a legislative assembly. → 1777 - Retired British cavalry officer Philip Astley establishes 1st circus. → 1792 - Percy Bysshe Shelley born, lyric poet: Ode to the West Wind; Prometheus Unbound, Epipsychidion, The Witch of Atlas, Hellas, Adonais, A Defence of Poetry; dies July 8, 1822. → 1792 - American Revolution - British General John Burgoyne dies. On this day in 1782, the British playwright and general, John Burgoyne, dies in England. His humiliating surrender to Patriot forces at Saratoga on October 17, 1777, left a black mark on his military career, but his successful play The Heiress, released in 1786, secured his literary reputation. → 1821 - The Saturday Evening Post was published as a weekly for the first time. → 1873 - Custer and 7th Cavalry attacked by Indians. While protecting a railroad survey party in Montana, Custer and his 7th Cavalry clash for the first time with the Sioux Indians, who will defeat them three years later at Little Big Horn. → 1884 - Isoroku Yamamoto born, Japanese Admiral during WWII: planned attack on Pearl Harbor; killed when U.S. 13th Air Force shot down his plane Apr 18, 1943. → 1900 - Elizabeth Angela Marguerite born, Britain’s Queen Mother; dies Mar 30, 2002. Wife of King George VI and the mother of Queen Elizabeth II who was the queen consort of the United Kingdom from 1936 to 1952. She provided moral support to the British public during World War II and is portrayed by Helena Bonham Carter in the Academy Award Winning 2010 film ‘The Kings Speech’. As a child, she enjoyed dogs and ponies and she received private education under a German Jewish governess, Käthe Kübler. She married Prince Albert in 1923 and she became Queen Consort when he unexpectedly became king when his brother, Edward VIII, abdicated in order to marry the American divorcée. Her daughter is Queen Elizabeth II and she took the title Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother to avoid confusion with her. Eleanor Roosevelt praised her as queen. → 1901 - (Daniel) Louis Armstrong born, Satchmo: jazz musician: trumpet; Grammy Award-winning singer: Hello, Dolly!, Lifetime Achievement Award; It’s a Wonderful World, Mack the Knife, Blueberry Hill; appeared in films: The Five Pennies, The Glenn Miller Story, Hello Dolly!, High Society; American ambassador of good will; inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; dies July 6, 1971. → 1902 - Greenwich foot tunnels first open, UK. → 1912 - It was Stockholm, Sweden. The event was the birth of a child named Raoul Wallenberg. Three decades later, Raoul made his mark in history. Wallenberg grew up to become an architect but this was not how he became famous. The upper-class Swedish gentleman also imported luxury goods from Hungary; and in his business dealings, learned of the plight of Hungarian Jews at the hands of the Nazis. Unlike others of his stature and position in society during World War II, Wallenberg went to work to save thousands ... ultimately rescuing at least 100,000 Jews from certain death ... 65,000 of them from the Budapest ghetto. Were his motives purely humanitarian? This is one question that will never be answered. In 1945, Soviet troops entered Budapest and arrested Wallenberg. Although no one actually knows what happened to this brave individual, Tass, the Soviet press agency, reported that he dies in prison two years after his arrest. Raoul Wallenberg has been honored posthumously by the U.S. government. In 1981 the U.S. House of Representatives voted to award Mr. Wallenberg with honorary American citizenship, only the second person ever to receive such recognition (Winston Churchill was the first). He has also been immortalized in books, film and in a miniseries on television. → 1914 - World War I - Britain declares herself and her Empire at war with Germany and Austria-Hungary when Germany invades Belgium; Canada automatically enters the War on Britains declaration; Canada will vote to spend $50 million to raise an army; the US proclaims neutrality. → 1914 - World War I - As World War I erupts in Europe, President Woodrow Wilson formally proclaims the neutrality of the United States, a position that a vast majority of Americans favored, on August 4, 1914. → 1922 - The death of Alexander Graham Bell, two days earlier, was recognized by AT&T and the Bell Systems by shutting down all of its switchboards and switching stations. The shutdown affected 13 million phones. → 1927 - Radio station 2XAG, later named WGY, the General Electric station in Schenectady, NY, began experimental operations from a 100,000-watt transmitter. Later, the FCC regulated the power of AM radio stations to not exceed 50,000 watts on ‘clear channels’ (where few, if any, stations would cause interference with each other). → 1927 - Singer Jimmie Rodgers recorded his first sides for Victor Records in Bristol, TN. He sang ‘Soldier’s Sweetheart’ and ‘Sleep Baby Sleep’. → 1930 - The first US supermarket, called ‘King Kullen’, opens in Queens, New York. →1934 - Mel Ott became the first major-league baseball player to score six runs in a single game. → 1940 - Crime Doctor introduced a new kind of radio hero to audiences. The CBS radio program presented Dr. Benjamin Ordway, the show’s main character, who was a victim of amnesia. He once was a criminal, but got hit on the head, and suddenly began to work as a crime fighter. Nice twist. → 1944 - Nazi police discovered Anne Frank and her family, hiding in secret quarters above her father’s factory in Amsterdam, Holland. Miss Frank was 15 years old and had kept a diary of her feelings, thoughts and fears during the two years of hiding from the Nazis. Anne and her sister were taken to a concentration camp following the arrest. Anne Frank dies at Bergen-Belsen. Her diary was found later and has since been translated into 30 different languages, adapted as a dramatic play and a Hollywood film. Her diary is a symbol of the strength of the human spirit. She wrote: “I keep on trying to find a way of becoming what I would like to be and what I could be, if there weren’t any other people living in the world.” → 1944 - World War II - RAF Squadron Leader Ian Bazalgette of Calgary, Alberta, is shot down over France in his Lancaster bomber during an incendiary raid on a German missile launch pad near Beauvais; with both starboard engines hit by anti-aircraft fire, he continues to guide his squadron to their target; after dropping his bombs, the fuel tank explodes, and he orders his crew to bail out; he stays at the controls and guides the Lancaster away from the village of Senantes before it crashes, killing him and two comrades. Bazalgette will be awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously; the only Alberta-born VC; a junior high school in Calgary is named in his honor, Beauvais, France. → 1951 - Come On-a My House by Rosemary Clooney topped the charts. → 1954 - The uranium rush began in Saskatchewan, Canada. → 1955 - Billy Bob Thornton born, actor: Pushing Tin, One False Move, Tombstone, On Deadly Ground, Primary Colors, Armageddon, Franky Goes to Hollywood. → 1956 - Wilhelm Herz was clocked at 210 miles per hour at Wendover, Utah, the first person to race a motorcycle over 200 mph. → 1956 - My Prayer by the Platters topped the charts. → 1957 - Juan Fangio won his final auto race and captured the world auto driving championship -- for the fifth consecutive year. → 1957 - The Everly Brothers made their second appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show and introduced their upcoming single, Wake Up Little Susie and the song Bye Bye Love. → 1958 - This was a grand day in Grand Forks, ND. The first potato flake plant was completed there. → 1958 - Billboard Magazine introduced its Hot 100 chart, which was part popularity and a barometer of the movement of potential hits. The first number one song was Ricky Nelsons Poor Little Fool. → 1960 - Ottawa Ontario - Commons approves John Diefenbakers Canadian Bill of Rights, setting out Canadian rights and freedoms in written form; Royal Assent August 10. → 1961 - Barack Obama born, 44th U.S. President [2009- ], first African American to be elected U.S. President; U.S. Senator from Illinois [2005-2009]; Illinois State Senator [1997-2004]; president of Harvard Law Review [1990]; married [Jun 1989] to Michelle Robinson; two daughters: Malia Ann and Natasha [‘Sasha’]. → 1962 - Roses Are Red (My Love) by Bobby Vinton topped the charts. → 1963 - Chart Toppers – ‘So Much in Love’ - The Tymes; ‘Fingertips’ - Pt 2 - Little Stevie Wonder; ‘(You’re the) Devil in Disguise’ - Elvis Presley; ‘Ring of Fire’ - Johnny Cash. → 1963 - After two months out of the lineup due to a broken left foot, Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees got a tie-breaking, pinch-hit, home run in the ninth inning to lead the Yankees to a win over the Baltimore Orioles. → 1964 - The murdered bodies of three civil rights workers were found buried in an earthen dam near Philadelphia, Mississippi. James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner had disappeared June 21, not long after they had been held for six hours in the Neshoba County, MS jail on charges of speeding. Their burned car was discovered on June 23, prompting a search by the FBI for the three young men. → 1964 - Vietnam War - Reported North Vietnamese PT boat attacks result in retaliation strikes. At 8 p.m., the destroyers USS Maddox and USS C. Turner Joy, operating in the Gulf of Tonkin, intercept radio messages from the North Vietnamese that give Captain John Herrick of the Maddox the impression that Communist patrol boats are planning an attack against the American ships, prompting him to call for air support from the carrier USS Ticonderoga. → 1966 - A ban of the broadcast of any and all Beatles records on most U.S. radio stations went into effect. The ban was in response to John Lennon stating that the band was now more popular than Jesus Christ. → 1970 - POPPIN’ FRESH was trademark registered by the Pillsbury Company. Poppin Fresh debuted on TV on November 7, 1965. Mascot for the Pillsbury® Companys refrigerated dough products who was created in 1965 by Rudi Perz, an employee of the Leo Burnett Advertising Agency. Poppin Fresh is a miniature blue-eyed man made of dough who wore a bakers hat. → 1973 - The Morning After by Maureen McGovern topped the charts. → 1974 - Paul Simons Love Me Like A Rock was released. → 1977 - U.S Department of Energy is created. → 1978 - Forty one handicapped persons die when their bus plunges into Lac dArgent in the Eastern Townships, Eastman, Québec. → 1978 - Molson Brewery acquires Montréal Canadiens hockey team for $20 million. → 1979 - Bad Girls by Donna Summer topped the charts. → 1983 - New York Yankee outfielder Dave Winfield charged by Toronto police with causing unnecessary suffering to an animal after he kills an Exhibition Stadium seagull with a thrown baseball during warm-ups for the 5th inning; charges later dropped after Winfield convinces police the killing was accidental; the Fowl Ball incident. Winfield later becomes a member of the Toronto Blue Jays himself. → 1984 - When Doves Cry by Prince topped the charts. → 1987 - The soundtrack Dirty Dancing was released. → 1990 - Vision of Love by Mariah Carey topped the charts. → 1991 - The ‘Oceanos’, a Greek luxury liner, sank off of South Africas southeast coast. All of the 402 passengers and 179 crewmembers survived. → 1995 - Movies that opened this day (in U.S. theatres): ‘Babe’ -- about a pig who learns to be a sheep dog; ‘Something to Talk About’ -- about a woman who sees her husband giving an unknown young woman a passionate kiss on his lunch hour; ‘Bushwacked’ -- about a guy who is forced to hide out as a guide to a group of 10-year-old Scouts on their first wilderness outing. → Those were the days, my friend! We thought they’d never end!...Ω
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 10:36:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015