August

Listed below by calendar day is a list of important events and people in US and world history.

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August 1 1838 - Slavery was abolished in Jamaica. It had been introduced by Spanish settlers 300 years earlier, in 1509. 1907 - The U.S. Army Signal Corps established an aeronautical division, forerunner of the U.S. Air Force. 1944 - Anne Frank penned her last entry into her diary. "[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." Three days later, Anne and her family were arrested and sent to Nazi concentration camps. Anne died at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945 at age 15. 1944 - The Warsaw Uprising began as the Polish Home Army, numbering about 40,000 Polish patriots, began shooting at Germans in the streets. The Nazis then sent eight divisions to battle the Poles, who had hoped for, but did not receive, assistance from the Allies. Two months later, the rebellion was quashed. 1960 - The Western African country of Dahomey (now Benin) became independent of French rule. 1966 - Charles Joseph Whitman, 25 went on a shooting rampage at the University of Texas in Austin, killing 14 people. Whitman, who had also murdered his wife and mother hours earlier was gunned down by the police. 1981 - The rock music video channel MTV made its debut. Birthday - //Star-Spangled Banner// author Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) was born in Frederick County, Maryland. After witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry on the night of September 13-14, 1814, he was enthralled to see the American flag still flying over the fort at daybreak. He then wrote the poem originally entitled //Defense of Fort McHenry// which became the U.S. National Anthem in 1931. Birthday - //Moby Dick// author Herman Melville (1819-1891) was born in New York.

August 2

1630 - During his fourth voyage to the Western Hemisphere, English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into what is now known as Hudson Bay. 1776 - In Philadelphia, most of the 55 members of the Continental Congress signed the parchment copy of the Declaration of Independence. 1876 - Frontiersman "Wild Bill" Hickok was shot and killed while playing poker at a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota territory by Jack McCall, who was later hanged. 1909 - The original Lincoln "wheat" penny first went into circulation, replacing the "Indian Head" cent. 1923 - President Warren G. Harding died suddenly in a hotel in San Francisco while on a Western speaking tour. His administration had been tainted by the Teapot Dome political scandal and his sudden death prompted many unfounded rumors. He was succeeded the next day by Calvin Coolidge. 1939 - Albert Einstein wrote a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt concerning the possibility of atomic weapons. "A single bomb of this type carried by boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port together with some of the surrounding territory." Six years later, on August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb, developed by the U.S., was dropped on the Japanese port of Hiroshima. 1990 - The Iraqi army invaded Kuwait amid claims that Kuwait threatened Iraq's economic existence by overproducing oil and driving prices down on the world market. An Iraqi military government was then installed in Kuwait which was annexed by Iraq on the claim that Kuwait was historically part of Iraq. This resulted in Desert Shield, the massive Allied military buildup, and later the 100-hour war against Iraq, Desert Storm.

August 3

1492 - Christopher Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, with three ships, Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. Seeking a westerly route to the Far East, he instead landed on October 12 in the Bahamas, thinking it was an outlying Japanese island. 1914 - Germany declared war on France at the onset of World War I. 1981 - U.S. air traffic controllers went on strike, despite a warning from President Ronald Reagan they would be fired, which they were. Birthday - War correspondent Ernie Pyle (1900-1945) was born in Dana, Indiana. His syndicated column offered sympathetic insights into the experiences of common soldiers during World War II. He received a Pulitzer Prize for his reports of the bombing of London in 1940 and later war reports from Africa, Sicily, Italy and France. He was killed by machine-gun fire near Okinawa in the South Pacific on April 18, 1945. Birthday - Gray Panthers founder Maggie Kuhn (1905-1995) was born in Buffalo, New York. After she was forced into mandatory retirement at age 65, she founded the Gray Panthers organization to fight age discrimination and succeeded in the banning of mandatory retirement in most professions.

August 4 1962 - Apartheid opponent Nelson Mandela was arrested by security police in South Africa. He was then tried and sentenced to five years in prison. In 1963, he was placed on trial for sabotage, high treason and conspiracy to overthrow the government and was sentenced to life in prison. A worldwide campaign to free him began in the 1980s and resulted in his release on February 11, 1990, at age 71 after 27 years in prison. In 1993, Mandela shared the Nobel Peace Prize with South Africa's President F.W. de Klerk for their peaceful efforts to bring a nonracial democracy to South Africa. In April 1994, black South Africans voted for the first time in an election that brought Mandela the presidency of South Africa. 1964 - Three young civil rights workers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, were found murdered and buried in an earthen dam outside Philadelphia, Mississippi. They had disappeared on June 21 after being detained by Neshoba County police on charges of speeding. They were participating in the Mississippi Summer Project organized by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to increase black voter registration. When their car was found burned on June 23, President Lyndon Johnson ordered the FBI to search for the men. Birthday - England's Queen Mother, Elizabeth Angela Marguerite, was born in Hertfordshire, England, August 4, 1900. Birthday - Jazz trumpet player Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Known as "Satchmo," he appeared in many films and is best known for his renditions of //It's a Wonderful World// and //Hello, Dolly//. Birthday - Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg (1912-1947) was born in Stockholm. During the Holocaust, Wallenberg saved an estimated 33,000 Jews by issuing thousands of protective documents, by securing the release of Jews from deportation trains, death march convoys, labor service brigades, and by establishing the International Ghetto, a network of 31 protected houses. He was detained by Soviet agents on January 17, 1945, and is believed to have died in prison in 1947.

August 5 1583 - The first English colony in North America was founded by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, an English navigator and explorer. He sighted the Newfoundland coast and took possession of the area around St. John's harbor in the name of the Queen. He was later lost at sea in a storm off the Azores on his return trip to England. 1861 - President Abraham Lincoln signed into law the first Federal income tax, a 3 percent tax on incomes over $800, as an emergency wartime measure during the Civil War. However, the tax was never actually put into effect. 1962 - Film star Marilyn Monroe died at age 36 from an overdose of sleeping pills. She made 29 films during her career and came to symbolize Hollywood glamour. Birthday - John Eliot (1604-1690) was born in Hertfordshire, England. Known as the "Apostle to the Indians," his translation of the Bible into an Indian tongue was the first Bible to be printed in America.

August 6 6-10, 1787 - The Great Debate occurred during the Constitutional Convention. Outcomes included the establishment of a four year term of office for the President, granting Congress the right to regulate foreign trade and interstate commerce, and the appointment of a committee to prepare a final draft of the Constitution. 1945 - The first Atomic bomb was dropped over the center of Hiroshima at 8:15 a.m., by the American B-29 bomber //Enola Gay//. The bomb detonated about 1,800 ft. above ground, killing over 105,000 persons and destroying the city. Another estimated 100,000 persons later died as a result of radiation effects. 1962 - Jamaica achieved its independence after centuries of British and Spanish rule. During 150 years of Spanish rule, African slaves were first brought to the island. The British invaded in 1655 and the slave trade greatly expanded during the 1700s. Following the abolition of slavery in the 1830s, Jamaica remained a British colony. 1965 - The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The Act suspended literacy, knowledge and character tests designed to keep African Americans from voting in the South. It also authorized the appointment of federal voting examiners and barred discriminatory poll taxes. The Act was renewed by Congress in 1975, 1984 and 1991. 2009 - Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed as the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice by a Senate vote of 68 - 31. Birthday - English poet Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England. He was appointed Poet Laureate in succession to William Wordsworth. Memorable poems by Tennyson include //Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington// and //The Charge of the Light Brigade//. Birthday - Penicillin discoverer Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) was born in Lochfield, Scotland. By accident, he found that mold from soil killed deadly bacteria without injuring human tissue. He received the Nobel Prize in 1954.

August 7 1782 - Gen. George Washington created the Order of the Purple Heart, a decoration to recognize merit in enlisted men and noncommissioned officers. 1882 - The famous feud between the Hatfield of West Virginia and the McCoys of Kentucky erupted into full-scale violence. 1942 - U.S. and allied forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II. 1964 - Following the attack on two U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin off North Vietnam, the U.S. Congress approved the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, granting President Lyndon B. Johnson authority "to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression." 1990 - Just five days after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, President George Bush ordered Desert Shield, a massive military buildup to prevent further Iraqi advances. 1998 - - Terrorist bombs at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed 224 people, including 12 Americans. Birthday - International spy Mata Hari (1876-1917) was born (as Margaret Gertrude Zelle) in Leewarden, Netherlands. Arrested by the French in 1917 as a German spy, she was tried, convicted and sentenced to death. At her execution, she refused a blindfold and instead threw a kiss to the French firing squad. Birthday - African American statesman and Nobel Prize recipient Ralph J. Bunche (1904-1971) was born in Detroit, Michigan. In 1949, as a mediator for the United Nations, he helped bring an end to hostilities in the war between Israel and the Arab League.

August 8 1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena to spend the remainder of his days in exile. 1876 - Thomas Edison received a patent for his mimeograph. 1945 - The Soviet Union declared war on Japan and sent troops into Japanese-held Manchuria. U.S. President Harry S. Truman signed the United Nations Charter. 1963 - Britain's "Great Train Robbery" took place as thieves made off with 2.6 million pounds in banknotes. 1973 - Vice President Spiro T. Agnew branded as "damned lies" reports he had taken kickbacks from government contracts in Maryland, and vowed not to resign - which he ended up doing. 1974 - Following damaging new revelations in the Watergate scandal, President Richard M. Nixon announced that he would resign, and that Vice President Gerald R. Ford would succeed him. 2009 - Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as the U.S Supreme Court's first Hispanic and third female justice. Birthday - African American explorer Matthew Henson (1866-1955) was born in Charles County, Maryland. He accompanied Robert E. Peary on several Arctic expeditions and reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909.

August 9

1910 - The U.S. Patent Office granted Alva J. Fisher of the Hurley Machine Co. a patent for an electrically powered motor. 1936 - Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal at the Berlin Olympics as the United States took first placein the 400-meter relay. 1944 - 258 African-American sailors based in Port Chicago refused to load a munitions ship following an explosion on another ship that killed 320 men, two-thirds of them black (fifty sailorswere convicted of mutiny, fined and imprisoned). 1945 - The second Atomic bombing of Japan occurred as an American B-29 bomber headed for the city of Kokura, but because of poor visibility then chose a secondary target, Nagasaki. About noon, the bomb detonated killing an estimated 70,000 persons and destroying about half the city. 1969 - Actress Sharon Tate and four other people were found brutally slain at Tate's Los Angeles home; cult leader Charles Manson and a group of his followers were later convicted of the crime. 1995 - Jerry Garcia, lead singer of the Grateful Dead, died in Forest Knolls of a heart attack at age 53. 1974 - Effective at noon, Richard M. Nixon resigned the presidency as a result of the Watergate scandal. Nixon had appeared on television the night before and announced his decision to the American people. Facing possible impeachment by Congress, he was the first U.S. President ever to resign.

**August 10** 1846 - President James K Polk signed a measure establishing the Smithsonian Institution 1885 - Leo Daft opened America's first commercially operated electric streetcar, in Baltimore. 1921 - Franklin D. Roosevelt was stricken with polio at his Canadian summer home. 1849 - The National Military Establishment was renamed the Department of Defense. 2005 - A defiant Iran resumed full operations at its uranium conversion plant. Birthday - Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) the 31st U.S. President was born in West Branch, Iowa. He was the first President born west of the Mississippi.

**August 11** 1841- Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave, spoke before an audience in the North for the first time. During an anti-slavery convention on Nantucket Island, he gave a powerful, emotional account of his life as a slave. He was immediately asked to become a full-time lecturer for the Massachusetts Antislavery Society. 1934 - The first federal prisoners arrived at the island prison Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay. 1954 - A formal peace took hold in Indochina, ending more than seven years of fighting between the Frenchand Communist Viet Minh. 1960 - The African country of Chad became independent of France. 1965 - Six days of riots began in the Watts area of Los Angeles, triggered by an incident between a white member of the California Highway Patrol and an African American motorist. Thirty-four deaths were reported and more than 3,000 people were arrested. Damage to property was listed at $40 million. Birthday - //Roots// author Alex Haley (1921-1992) was born in Ithaca, New York. His Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, published in 1976, explored seven generations of his family from its origins in Africa through slavery in America and eventual hard-fought freedom. //Roots// was translated into 37 languages and also became an eight-part TV miniseries in 1977 which attracted a record American audience and raised awareness concerning the legacy of slavery.

**August 12** 1676 - King Philip's War ended with the assassination of Metacom, leader of the Pokanokets, a tribe within the Wampanoag Indian Federation. Nicknamed 'King Philip' by colonists, he led a Native American uprising against white settlers which resulted in a war that raged for nearly two years, now known as King Philip's War. 1867 - President Andrew Johnson sparked a move to impeach him as he defied Congress by suspending Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. 1898 - Fighting in the Spanish-American War came to an end. 1970 - President Richard Nixon signed the Postal Reorganization Actthat abolished the U.S. Post Office Department in favor of the independently run United States Postal Office. 1985 - The world's worst single-aircraft disaster occurred as a crippled Japan Airlines Boeing 747 on a domestic flight crashed into a mountain killing 520 people (four people survived). Birthday - Film pioneer Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959) was born in Ashfield, Massachusetts. He produced over 70 major films including //Cleopatra, The Ten Commandments//, and //The Greatest Show on Earth//.

**August 13** Birthday - English film director Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) was born in London. His suspenseful films included classics such as //The 39 Steps, Rebecca, Suspicion, Notorious, Rear Window, The Birds, Psycho// and //Frenzy//, in addition to his American TV series //Alfred Hitchcock Presents//.
 * 1521 -** Spanish conqueror Hernando Cortez captured Tenochtitlan, present day Mexico City from the Aztecs.
 * 1910** - Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, died in London at age 90.
 * 1932** - Adolf Hitler rejected being vice chancellor of Germany, saying he'd hold out "for all or nothing".
 * 1961** - The Berlin Wall came into existence after the East German government closed the border between east and west sectors of Berlin with barbed wire to discourage emigration to the West. The barbed wire was replaced by a 12 foot-high concrete wall eventually extending 103 miles (166 km) around the perimeter of West Berlin. The wall included electrified fences, fortifications, and guard posts. It became a notorious symbol of the Cold War. Presidents Kennedy and Reagan made notable appearances at the wall accompanied by speeches denouncing Communism. The wall was finally opened by an East German governmental decree in November 1989 and torn down by the end of 1990.
 * Birthday** - Women's rights pioneer Lucy Stone (1818-1893) was born near West Brookfield, Mass. She dedicated her life to the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of women and aided in the founding of the American Suffrage Association.
 * Birthday** - Wild West performer Annie Oakley (1860-1926) was born in Darke County, Ohio. Famous for her shooting ability, she joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in 1885 and was one of the star attractions for 17 years.
 * Birthday** - Cuban President Fidel Castro was born in Mayari, Oriente Province, Cuba, August 13, 1927. He led a rebellion in 1959 that drove out dictator Fulgencio Batista, and remains one of the last outspoken advocates of Communism.

**August 14** 1900 - International forces, including U.S. Marines, entered Beijing to put down the Boxer Rebellion aimed at purging China of foreign influence. 1908 - A race riot erupted in Springfield, Ill, as a white mob began setting black-owned homes and businesses on fire; at least two blacks and five whites were killed in the violence. 1935 - President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act establishing the system which guarantees pensions to those who retire at age 65. The Social Security system also aids states in providing financial aid to dependent children, the blind and others, as well as administering a system of unemployment insurance. 1945 - V-J Day, commemorating President Truman's announcement that Japan had surrendered to the Allies.
 * 1941** - After three days of secret meetings aboard warships off the coast of Newfoundland, the Atlantic Charter was issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The charter, a foundation stone for the later establishment of the United Nations, set forth eight goals for the nations of the world, including; the renunciation of all aggression, right to self-government, access to raw materials, freedom from want and fear, freedom of the seas, and disarmament of aggressor nations. By September, fifteen anti-Axis nations signed the Charter.
 * 1945** - Following the two Atomic bomb drops and believing continuation of the war would only result in further loss of Japanese lives, delegates of Emperor Hirohito accepted Allied surrender terms originally issued at Potsdam on July 26, 1945, with the exception that the Japanese emperor's sovereignty would be maintained. Japanese Emperor Hirohito, who had never spoken on radio, then recorded an announcement admitting Japan's surrender, without actually using the word. The announcement was broadcast via radio to the Japanese people at noon the next day. The formal surrender ceremony occurred later, on September 2, 1945, on board the USS //Missouri// in Tokyo Bay.
 * 1969** - British troops went to Northern Ireland to intervene in sectarian violence between Protestants and Roman Catholics.
 * 2005** - Israel sealed the Gaza strip to Israeli civilians, signaling the start of the historic withdrawal from the Gaza strip.

**August 15** 1057 - Macbeth, King of Scots, was killed in battle by Malcolm, eldest son of King Duncan, whom Macbeth had slain. 1914 - The Panama Canal opened to traffic. 1945 - Japan's Emperor Hirohito announced in a pre-recorded radio address that his country had accepted terms of surrender for ending World War II. 1947 - India became independent after some 200 years of British rule. 1969 - Woodstock began in a field near Yasgur's Farm at Bethel, New York. The three-day concert featured 24 bands and drew a crowd of more than 300,000 young people. The event came to symbolized the counter-culture movement of the 60's. Birthday - French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was born on the island of Corsica. Originally an officer in the French Army, he rose to become Emperor amid the political chaos that followed the French Revolution. He built a 500,000 strong Grand Army which used modern tactics and improvisation in battle to sweep across Europe and acquire an empire for France. However, after defeats in Russia and later by the British, he went into exile on the island of St. Helena off the coast of Africa. On May 5, 1821, he died alone on the tiny island abandoned by everyone.

**August 16** 1777 - During the American Revolutionary War, the Battle of Bennington, Vermont, occurred as militiamen from Vermont, aided by Massachusetts troops, wiped out a detachment of 800 German-Hessians sent by British General Burgoyne to seize horses. 1780 - The Battle of Camden in South Carolina occurred during the American Revolutionary War. The battle was a big defeat for the Americans as forces under Gen. Gates were defeated by troops of British Gen. Charles Cornwallis, resulting in 900 Americans killed and 1,000 captured. 1896 - Gold was discovered in Rabbit Creek, a tributary of the Klondike River in Alaska, resulting in the Great Klondike Gold Rush. 1948 - Baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York at age 53. 1954 - Sports Illustrated was first published by Time Magazine. 1960 - Britain ceded control of thw crown colony of Cyprus. 1977 - Elvis Presley was pronounced dead at the Memphis Baptist Hospital at 3:30 p.m., at age 42. Birthday - T.E. Lawrence 'of Arabia' (1888-1935) was born in Tremadoc, North Wales. He led an Arab revolt against the Turks during World War I and served as a spy for the British. He was killed in a motorcycle accident at Dorset, England, on May 19, 1935. Birthday - Israeli leader Menachem Begin (1913-1992) was born in Brest-Litovsk, Poland. He fought for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine in the 1940s, serving as the leader of a militant Zionist group. In 1977, he became Prime Minister of Israel, and is best known for signing the 1979 Camp David Peace Accord between Israel and Egypt with President Jimmy Carter and President Anwar el Sadat of Egypt.

**August 17** 1807 - Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat began heading up the Hudson River on its successful round-trip between New York and Albany. 1943 - During World War II in Europe, the Allies completed the conquest of the island of Sicily after just 38 days. This gave the Allies control of the Mediterranean and also led to the downfall of Benito Mussolini and Italy's eventual withdrawal from the war. However, the Germans managed to evacuate 39,569 troops, 47 tanks, 94 heavy guns, over 9,000 vehicles and 2,000 tons of ammunition back to the Italian mainland from Sicily. 1960 - The newly renamed Beatles (formerly the Silver Beetles), consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and just-hired drummer Pete Best, began their first gig in Hamburg, West Germany at the Indra Club. 1978 - The first transatlantic balloon trip was completed by three Americans, Max Anderson, Ben Abruzzo, and Larry Newman, all from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Starting from Maine on August 11, they traveled in //Double Eagle II// over 3,000 miles in 137 hours, landing about 60 miles west of Paris. 1998 - Bill Clinton became the first sitting President to give testimony before a grand jury in which he, the President, was the focus of the investigation. This resulted from a sweeping investigation of the President by Independent Counsel Ken Starr as well as a private lawsuit concerning alleged sexual harassment by Clinton before he became President. In the evening, President Clinton appeared on national television and gave a speech admitting he had engaged in an improper relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The admission occurred several months after a much publicized denial. Birthday - American frontiersman Davy Crockett (1786-1836) was born in Hawkins County, Tennessee. He was a farmer, scout and politician who perished at age 49 during the final heroic defense of the Alamo.

**August 18** 1587 - Virginia Dave became the first child of English parents to be born on American soil; on what is now Roanoke Island in North Carolina. 1920 - The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, granting women the right to vote. 1969 - The Woodstock Music and Art Fair in Bethel, N.Y. closed after a mid-morning set by Jimi Hendrix. Birthday - American explorer Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) was born near Charlottesville, Virginia. Along with William Clark, he explored the American West, and in 1805, after a journey of over 18 months, reached the Pacific Ocean.

**August 19** 1909 - The first automobile races were run at the just-opened Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 1934 - In Germany, a plebiscite was held in which 89.9 percent of German voters approved granting Chancellor [|Adolf Hitler] additional powers, including the office of president. 1960 - A tribunal in Moscow convicted American U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers of espionage. Although sentenced to 10 year's imprisonment, Powers was returned to the U.S. in 1962 in a prisoner exchange. 1991 - Soviet hard-line Communists staged a coup, temporarily removing Mikhail Gorbachev from power. The coup failed within 72 hours as democratic reformer Boris Yeltsin rallied the people. Yeltsin then became the leading power in the country. The Communist Party was soon banned and by December the Soviet Union itself disintegrated. Birthday - Aviation pioneer Orville Wright (1871-1948) was born in Dayton, Ohio. In 1903, Orville and his brother Wilbur achieved the world's first successful sustained and controlled flight of a motor-driven aircraft, following years of experimentation with kites and gliders. Birthday - [|Bill Clinton], the 42nd U.S. President was born in Hope, Arkansas, August 19, 1946. He was the first President elected who was not alive during World War II.

**August 20** 1866 - President Andrew Johnson formally declared the Civil War over, months after fighting had stopped. 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. 1964 - President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act, a nearly $1 billion anti-poverty measure. 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. 2009 - The only man convicted of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 returned home to Libya after his release from a Scottish prison. Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, said to have only months to live because of prostrate cancer, was freed on compassionate grounds. Birthday - [|Benjamin Harrison] (1833-1901) the 23rd U.S. President was born in North Bend, Ohio. He was the grandson of [|William Henry Harrison], the ninth President.

**August 21** 1609 - Galileo Galilei demonstrated his new telescope to a group of officials atop the Campanile in Venice. 1830 - Nat Turner led a violent slave rebellion in Virginia resulting in the deaths of at least 55 white people (he was later executed). 1858 - The first of seven debates between Illinois senatorial contenders Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas took place. 1863 - During the U.S. Civil War, William Quantrill led 450 irregular Confederate raiders on a pre-dawn terrorist raid of Lawrence, Kansas, leaving 150 civilians dead, 30 wounded and much of the town a smoking ruin. In 1862, Quantrill had been denied a Confederate commission by the Confederate Secretary of War, who labeled Quantrill's notions of war as 'barbarism.' 1911 - Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. The painting turned up two days later in Italy. 1959 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation admitting Hawaii to the Union as the 50th state. 1983 - Filipino opposition leader Benigno S. Aquino, Jr., was assassinated at the Manila airport while leaving his plane. Public outcry over the killing ultimately led to the collapse of the government of Ferdinand E. Marcos and the inauguration of Corazon C. Aquino, widow of the slain man, as president.

**August 22** 1485 - England's King Richard III was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field, effectively ending the War of the roses. 1787 - Inventor John Fitch demonstrated his steamboat on the Delaware River to delegates from the ConstitutionalConvention in Philadelphia. 1851 - The schooner America outraced more than a dozen vessels off the English coast to win a trophy that came to be known as the America's Cup. 1922 - Irish revolutionary Michael Collins was shot to death, apparently by Irish Republic Army members opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty that Collins had co-signed. 1986 - Deadly fumes from a volcanic eruption under Lake Nios in Cameroon killed more than 1,500 persons. 1989 - Black Panthers co-founder Huey P. Newton was shot to death in Oakland (Gunman Tyrone Robinson was later sentenced to 32 years to life in prison). Birthday - French composer Claude Debussy (1862-1918) was born in St. Germain-en-Laye, France. His unusual chords, based on the whole-tone scale, laid the groundwork for a new style of music called impressionism.

**August 23** 1305 - Scottish rebel leader Sir William Wallace was executed by the English for treason. 1014 - Japan declared war against Germany in World War I. 1775 - Britain's King George III proclaimed the American colonies in a state of "open and avowed rebellion." 1926 - Silent film star Rudolph Valentino died in New York at age 31. 1927 - Italian immigrants Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were electrocuted inside a prison at Charlestown, Massachusetts They had been convicted of a shoe factory payroll robbery during which the paymaster and a guard had been killed. Following their convictions, all appeals for a new trial had failed, despite the lack of hard evidence and a later admission by a known criminal that he had participated in the robbery with an organized criminal gang. The days and weeks leading up to their execution aroused worldwide protests amid accusations of unfair treatment because they had radical political views and were Italian. 2005 - Israeli forces evicted militant holdouts from two Jewish settlements, completing a historic withdrawal from the Gaza strip and part of the West Bank.

**August 24** 79 A.D. - Vesuvius, an active volcano in southern Italy, erupted and destroyed the cities of Pompeii, Stabiae and Herculaneum. 1572 - Thousands of Protestant Huguenots were massacred in Paris and throughout France by Catholics, in what became known as the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. 1814 - During the War of 1812, Washington D.C. was invaded by British forces that spent two days burning the Capitol, the White House and most other public buildings along with a number of private homes. The burning was in retaliation for the earlier American burning of York (Toronto). 1932 - Amelia Earhart embarked on a 19-hour flight from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J., making her the first woman to fly solo, nonstop, from coast to coast. 1954 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Communist Control Act, outlawing the Communist Party in the United States. 1968 - France became the world's fifth nuclear power, exploding a hydrogen bomb in the South Pacific.

**August 25** 1875 - Capt. Matthew Webb became the first person to swim across the English Channel, getting from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in 22 hours. 1944 - Allied forces liberated Paris after four years of Nazi occupation. 1985 - Samantha Smith died in an airplane crash in Maine. In 1982, the 11 year old American schoolgirl had written a letter to Soviet leader Yuri Andropov asking, "Why do you want to conquer the whole world, or at least our country?" To her surprise, Andropov replied personally to her and offered an all-expense paid trip to the U.S.S.R. She toured the country for two weeks amid worldwide publicity and came to symbolize American and Soviet hopes for peaceful co-existance. 2009 - Senator Edward M. Kennedy died at age 77 in Hyannis Port, Mass. from a brain tumor. Birthday - American conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Considered one of the finest conductors in American music history, his works included West Side Story, On the Town, and the opera Candide

**August 26** 1883 - One of the most catastrophic volcanic eruptions in recorded history occurred on the Indonesian island of Krakatoa. Explosions were heard 2,000 miles away. Tidal waves 120 ft. high killed 36,000 persons on nearby islands, while five cubic miles of earth were blasted into the air up to a height of 50 miles. Birthday - American inventor Lee De Forest (1873-1961) was born at Council Bluffs, Iowa. He held hundreds of patents for inventions and was also a pioneer in the creation of wireless radio broadcasting and television.

**August 27** 1883 - The island volcano Krakatoa blew up; the resulting tidal waves in Indonesia's Sunda Strait claimed some 36,000 lives in Java and Sumatra 1962 - The United States launched the Mariner 2 space probe, which flew past Venus in December 1962. Birthday - Charles Dawes (1865-1951) was born in Marietta, Ohio. He served as U.S. Vice President from 1925-1929, and is best remembered for his "Dawes Plan" for German reparations following World War I. He received the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize. Birthday - [|Lyndon Baines Johnson] (1908-1973) the 36th U.S. President was born near Stonewall, Texas. He succeeded to the presidency upon the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Johnson served until January 20, 1969. Birthday - [|Mother Teresa] (1910-1997) was born (as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) in Skopje, Yugoslavia. She founded a religious order of nuns in Calcutta, India, called the Missionaries of Charity and spent her life working to help the poor and sick of India.

August 28 1963 - The [|March on Washington] occurred as over [|250,000 persons] attended a Civil Rights rally in Washington DC at which Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made his now-famous I Have a Dream speech. Birthday - German author-philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He is best known for the dramatic poem Faust, completed in 1831. Birthday - The first American-born Roman Catholic saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821) was born (as Elizabeth Ann Bayley) in New York. She founded the Church's first American religious order, the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph. In 1809, she opened an elementary school in Baltimore, marking the beginning of the parochial school system in the U.S.

**August 29** 1792 - In one of the worst maritime disasters, 900 people drowned on the British battleship //Royal George//. As the ship was being repaired, a gust of wind allowed water to flood into open gun ports. The ship sank within minutes. 1957 - The Senate gave final congressional approval to a Civil Rights Act after South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond (then a Democrat) ended a filibuster that had lasted 24 hours. 1966 - The Beatles concluded their fourth American tour with their last public concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. 1991 - Following the unsuccessful coup of August 19-21, the Soviet Communist Party was suspended, thus ending the institution that ruled the Soviet Union for nearly 75 years. 2005 - Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast near Buras, La.; the resulting floodsdevasted the city of New Orleans. More than 1,800 people in the region died. Birthday - Physician and author Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894) was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He once wrote, "A moment's insight is sometimes worth a life's experience." His poem //[|Old Ironsides]// aroused popular sentiment in the 1830s which helped to save the frigate USS Constitution from destruction. Birthday - English philosopher and pioneer in modern political thinking, John Locke (1632-1704) was born in Wrington, England. His ideas greatly influenced American colonists, namely that rulers derive their power only from the consent of the governed - and the doctrine that men naturally possess certain rights, the chief being life, liberty, and property. Birthday - Pop superstar Michael Jackson (1958 - 2009) was born in Gary, Ind.

August 30 Birthday - Frankenstein author Mary Shelley (1797-1851) was born in London. Birthday - Civil rights leader Roy Wilkins (1901-1981) was born in St. Louis, Missouri. The grandson of a Mississippi slave, he was active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

August 31 1786 - Shays' Rebellion began in Massachusetts as ex-Revolutionary War Captain Daniel Shays led an armed mob and prevented the Northampton Court from holding a session in order to prevent debtors, mostly poor farmers, from being tried and put in prison. Following this, in September, Shays' troops prevented Supreme Court sessions at Springfield, Mass. Early in 1787, they attacked the Federal arsenal at Springfield, but were soon routed and fled. Shays was sentenced to death but was pardoned in 1788. 1980 - Solidarity, the Polish trade union, was formed at Gdansk, Poland. Led by Lech Walesa, Solidarity opposed Communist rule and was outlawed in 1981. Seven years later, the re-legalization of Solidarity occurred and the government agreed to hold partially free parliamentary elections. Solidarity candidates scored stunning victories in the elections that followed, gaining power in Poland and paving the way for the downfall of Communism there. 1997 - Britain's [|Princess Diana] died at age 36 from massive internal injuries suffered in a high-speed car crash, reportedly after being chased by photographers. The crash occurred shortly after midnight in Paris inside a tunnel along the Seine River at the Pont de l'Alma bridge, less than a half mile north of the Eiffel Tower. Also killed in the crash were Diana's companion, Dodi Fayed, 42, and chauffeur Henri Paul. A fourth person in the car, bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, was seriously injured.