This day from the past for August 8th…220th day of 2014 - 145 days remaining… → 1306 – King Wenceslas murdered on his way into church. He is later venerated as Bohemias patron saint. (As good king Wenceslas he also features, more surprisingly, in a popular English carol.) → 1588 - The Spanish Armada, a fleet of 130 huge ships, met defeat at the hands of English sailors and their smaller, more maneuverable vessels. Then a series of wicked Atlantic storms off the coast of Southern England took their toll. Only half of the 130 Spanish ships managed to reach home. The 60 or so English ships had saved England from the Spanish invaders. → 1609 - Venetian senate examines Galileo Galileis telescope. → 1758 - French and Indian War - Andrew Rollo captures Prince Edward Island (Île St-Jean) from the French, deports 3,500 inhabitants to France, builds Fort Amherst, Port La Joie, PEI. → 1775 - On this day in 1775, Captain Daniel Morgan and his Virginia riflemen arrive in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Earlier, Morgan had earned the nickname The Old Waggoneer from a young George Washington during the Seven Years War in 1755, when he removed the wounded from the site of the disastrous Battle of the Wilderness in his wagon. → 1786 - The American Continental Congress defines a silver dollar containing 375.64 grains of silver as the nations unit of account. → 1813 - War of 1812 - US Commodore Isaac Chaunceys ships Hamilton and Scourge capsize in minutes in a heavy gale off Forty Mile Creek on Lake Ontario, and 53 sailors drown; the ships were putting on extra sail to escape British Captain James Yeos fleet, and sank from a shift in weight of the guns; largest loss of life suffered by the United States Navy in the war. Yeo did not see the disaster happen, and did not press his advantage. → 1839 - Beta Theta Pi became the first Greek-letter fraternity west of the Alleghenies. The fraternity was a new arrival at Miami University in Oxford, OH. → 1866 - Matthew Henson born, explorer: North Pole expedition [1908-09 w/Robert Peary]; dies Mar 9, 1955. → 1876 - Thomas A. Edison of Menlo Park, NJ patented the mimeograph machine. He described it as a method of preparing autographic stencils for printing. We don’t use mimeographs much these days, thanks to paper copiers and computer word processors. Mimeograph machines used to be cranked by hand and later models were electric. The mimeograph worked by first creating a spirit master which was placed on a large rotating drum. A strong smelling, purple ink would then print out on paper. We used to use these a lot in school back in the 1950s and 1960s. We remember the fumes, especially. → 1898 - Cabinet authorizes CPR to lease the Columbia and Western Railway for 999 years. → 1899 - The United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent to Albert T. Marshall of Brockton, Massachusetts, for his household refrigeration device. It was the first such machine to be patented in the U.S. This and many other innovations in refrigeration revolutionized food distribution, as refrigeration allows perishable food to travel vast distances over a long period of time. → 1900 - On this day in 1900, competition began for the International Lawn Tennis Challenge Trophy at the Longwood Cricket Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. Donating the trophy was America’s Dwight Davis. He had been the runner-up in the 1898 U.S. Championships. From then on, the event, the men’s international team championship, was called the Davis Cup. This first event saw the U.S. team defeat Great Britain 3-0. Rain washed out two matches. A Davis Cup meeting between two countries is referred to as a tie. It is a three-day event consisting of two singles matches, one doubles match and then two more singles matches. The team with the greatest number of wins (30) is the United States. Australia follows with twenty wins. There has been a Davis Cup match every year since 1900 except for 1901, 1910, and the war years of 1915-1918 and 1940-45. Dwight Davis played on the winning team in 1900 and 1902. → 1911 - Membership in the U.S. House of Representatives was established at 435. Every 211,877 residents of the U.S. were represented by one member of Congress. → 1911 - Patent #1,000,000 was issued to Francis Holton for a vehicle tire. → 1918 - World War I - General Sir Arthur Currie, with the Canadian Corps, backed by some Australian and British units, mounts a four day assault with 600 tanks against 20 German divisions along a 14 km front at Amiens; takes 16,000 prisoners in two hours; marks the start of Canadas Hundred Days, a string of almost continuous victories, during which the Canadian Corps played the major role in breaking the German lines and driving them back along the Western Front, culminating in the First World War armistice of Nov. 11. German General Erich Ludendorff called today the black day of the German army. → 1918 - World War I - John Croke becomes the First Newfoundlander to be awarded the Victoria Cross; he had captured a German machine gun nest while severely wounded, London, England. → 1919 - Dino De Laurentiis born, producer: The Bible, Barbarella, Jaws IV. → 1921 - Webb Pierce born, singer: In the Jailhouse Now, Honky Tonk Song, Tupelo County Jail, I’ve Got Leaving on My Mind, Back Street Affair, There Stands the Glass; dies Feb 24, 1991. → 1922 - Rory Calhoun (Francis Durgin) born, actor: Angel, Apache Uprising, River of No Return, Treasure of Pancho Villa; dies Apr 28, 1999. → 1923 - Benny Goodman was 14 years old as he began his professional career as a clarinet player. He took a job in a band on a Chicago-based excursion boat on Lake Michigan. → 1926 - Richard Anderson born, actor: The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Escape from Fort Bravo, The Long Hot Summer, Hit the Deck. → 1929 - A round-the-world flight is begun by the German airship Graf Zeppelin, which was designed (and named after) Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. → 1932 - Mel Tillis born, singer, songwriter: I Believe In You, Coca-Cola Cowboy, Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town, Detroit City, I Ain’t Never, Commercial Affection, Good Woman Blues; autobiography: Stutterin’ Boy. → 1934 - Bing Crosby became the first singer to record for the newly created Decca Records. His songs, ‘Just A-Wearyin’ For You’ and ‘I Love You Truly’, were waxed as Decca number D-100. → 1937 - Dustin Hoffman born, Academy Award-winning actor: Rain Man, Little Big Man, Kramer vs. Kramer; Tootsie, The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy, Dick Tracy, Hook, Search for Tomorrow, Outbreak, Sphere. → 1938 - Connie Stevens (Concetta Ingolia) born, singer: Parrish, Sixteen Reasons, Kookie, Kookie [Lend Me Your Comb]; actress: Hawaiian Eye, The Grissom Gang, Back to the Beach. → 1939 - Phil Balsley born, singer: group: The Statler Brothers: Flowers on the Wall, Bed of Roses. → 1940 - The German Luftwaffe attacks Great Britain for the first time, beginning the Battle of Britain. Heavy air battles over the Channel; Britain claims 80 German losses in a week; Home Secretary announces July civilian air raid casualty figures: 258 killed, 32 seriously injured. → 1941 - Les Brown and His Band of Renown paid tribute to baseball’s ‘Yankee Clipper’, Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees, with the recording of Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio on Okeh Records. From that time on, DiMaggio adopted the nickname, Joltin’ Joe. → 1942 - During World War II, six German saboteurs who secretly entered the United States on a mission to attack its civil infrastructure are executed by the United States for spying. Two other saboteurs who disclosed the plot to the FBI and aided U.S. authorities in their manhunt for their collaborators were imprisoned. → 1944 - In the English Channel, German submarine U-667 torpedoes Royal Canadian Navy corvette Regina, which sinks within 30 seconds. → 1945 - World War II - On this day in 1945, the Soviet Union officially declares war on Japan, pouring more than 1 million Soviet soldiers into Japanese-occupied Manchuria, northeastern China, to take on the 700,000-strong Japanese army. → 1947 - Larry Wilcox born, actor: Lassie, CHiPs, The Dirty Dozen, Mission Manila, National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1. → 1949 - Keith Carradine born, actor: Pretty Baby, The Long Riders, The Moderns, Kung Fu, Will Rogers Follies, Nashville; singer: I’m Easy. → 1953 - Donny Most born, actor: Happy Days, Stewardess School, Dead Man’s Island. Best known for playing the role of class clown, Ralph Malph on the television show, Happy Days. Besides, he was also featured on EdTV and The Love Boat. → 1953 - Vaya Con Dios by Les Paul & Mary Ford topped the charts. → 1955 - Geneva conference held to discuss peaceful uses of atomic energy. → 1956 - A coal-mine fire kills 262 workers in Marcinelle, Belgium, on this day in 1956. This highly publicized disaster was the worst ever in a Belgian mine and led to many policy changes. → 1959 - Lonely Boy by Paul Anka topped the charts. → 1960 – ‘Tell Laura I Love Her’, by Ray Peterson, wasn’t a big hit in Great Britain. Decca Records in England said the song was “too tasteless and vulgar for the English sensibility.” They destroyed 25,000 of the platters this day. → 1960 - Brian Hylands Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini hits number one. → 1961 - CFL Hamilton Tigercats beat the NFL Buffalo Bills, 38-21 in a summer exhibition game in Hamilton. → 1961 - Record 46-kg lake trout caught in Lake Athabasca, Saskatchewan. → 1963 - Seven million dollars was stolen in Britain’s Great Train Robbery by a gang of fifteen thieves. Scotland Yard called the holdup up, “Britain’s biggest robbery ever attempted.” All but three of the gang were identified by fingerprints. → 1963 - Kingsmen release Louie, Louie; radio stations label it obscene. → 1964 - Hard Days Night, A, by the Beatles topped the charts. → 1967 - Chart Toppers – ‘Light My Fire’ - The Doors; ‘All You Need is Love’ - The Beatles; ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ - Procol Harum; ‘I’ll Never Find Another You’ - Sonny James. → 1968 - Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau approves Jarry Park for interim use by the National League Montreal Expos. → 1970 - NY Yankees honor Casey Stengel, retiring his number 37. → 1970 - (They Long to Be) Close to You by the Carpenters topped the charts. → 1974 - Roberta Flack received a gold record for the single, Feel Like Makin’ Love. Flack, born in Asheville, NC and raised in Arlington, VA, was awarded a music scholarship to Howard University in Washington, DC -- at the age of 15. One of her classmates became a singing partner on several hit songs. Donny Hathaway joined Flack on You’ve Got a Friend, Where is the Love and The Closer I Get to You. She had 10 hits on the pop charts in the 1970s and 1980s. → 1974 - President Richard M. Nixon resigns in the wake of the Watergate burglary scandal. He was the first president in American history to resign. → 1976 - John Roselli, hired by US Central Intelligence Agency to kill Cuban leader Fidel Castro, is found murdered. → 1977 - Lindsay Sloane born, actress: Working, Mr. Rhodes, Between Mother and Daughter, The Wonder Years, Dharma & Greg, My So-Called Life. → 1979 - Iraqs president Saddam Hussein executes 22 political opponents. → 1980 - The Project Chess task force at IBM shows a prototype microcomputer to the Corporate Management Committee. Specifications for the proposed computer are: 32 kB ROM, 16 kB RAM (up to 256 kB), six slots, color/mono display, 8-inch floppy disk drives, optional floating-point processor, joystick port, and printer port. Approval is given to build an operational microcomputer, code-named Acorn. They are given a deadline of one year to bring the new computer to market. → 1981 - Jessies Girl by Rick Springfield topped the charts. → 1984 - Carl Lewis won his third gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics. He won the 200-meter sprint. At the same time, Greg Louganis received his first gold medal in diving in the springboard competition. → 1987 - The opening ceremonies of the Pan American Games were held in Indianapolis, Indiana. A two-hour extravaganza called The Magic that’s America was presented at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The big show included some 6,000 volunteer performers and stagehands who joined a 20,000-piece, animated, card section, along with 80 Disney characters and a 1,027-piece band. → 1987 - I Still Havent Found What Im Looking For by U2 topped the charts. → 1988 - Temperature hits high of 88 on 8/8/88 in NYC. → 1988 - Princess Beatrice Of York born, daughter of Sarah, Duchess of York and Prince Andrew who is known to occasionally take on Royal duties such as attending charity events. She is the first female, in the line of succession to the thrones of the sixteen Commonwealth realms but the sixth overall. She was the niece of Princess Diana. → 1989 - Space Shuttle Columbia is sent on a five day secret military mission (STS-28) by the Shuttle Program. → 1990 - This was a watershed day in the Middle East. Iraq announced that it had annexed the kingdom of Kuwait -- moving over 200,000 troops into the tiny, oil-rich country. As Iraq declared Kuwait to be its 19th Providence, U.S. President George Bush (I) warned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, “A line has been drawn in the sand,” and American forces began moving into Saudi Arabia. → 1990 - Pete Rose begins serving a 5 month prison term for filing false income tax forms. → 1991 - Ron Joyce sells Tim Hortons, Canadas No. 1 doughnut chain to Wendys International Inc.; $300-million deal makes Tim Hortons co-founder the U.S. burger giants largest single shareholder. → 1992 - This Used to Be My Playground by Madonna topped the charts. → 1995 - Record - Premiere of Canadian stage production of Walt Disneys ‘Beauty and the Beast’, at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto; at $17 million, the most expensive stage production in Canadian history to date. → 1998 - Ronan Parke born. English singer who placed second on the 2011 season of Britains Got Talent as a teenager. He has released singles like We Are Shooting Stars and Move. He performed Kelly Clarksons song Because of You on the Britains Got Talent finale. → 2000 - Confederate submarine ‘H.L. Hunley’ raised to surface, 136 years after it sank following its successful attack on ‘USS Housatonic’ in the outer harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. → 2002 - The FCC ordered TV manufacturers to install tuners for digital signals in new TV sets by 2007. → 2006 - Nintendo holds a 10th birthday Pokémon Party at the Bryant Park in New York City. Over 25,000 attend. Included is a giant Flying Pikachu from Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. → 2007 - Microsoft drops the price of the Xbox 360 in the USA by $50 to $350. → 1870 – ‘Magic’ (US) defeats ‘Cambria’ (England) in second running of Americas Cup. → 2008 - (8:08 PM) In Beijing, China, the Games of the XXIX Olympiad open. An estimated one billion people worldwide watch the opening ceremonies on TV. → Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end...Ω
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 10:32:21 +0000
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