On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on August 04:
1755 Nicolas-Jacque Conte inventor (modern pencil)
1792 Percy Bysshe Shelley England, romantic poet (Adonais)
1816 Israel Vogdes, Brig General (Union volunteers), died in 1889
1818 Lovell Harrison Rosseau, Major General (Union volunteers)
1859 Knut Hamsun Norway, writer/Nazi (Hunger-Nobel 1920)
1870 Sir Harry Lauder Scotland, comedian/singer (Roamin in the Gloamin)
1897 Joseph Calleia Malta, actor (Jungle Book, Gilda, Touch of Evil)
1901 Louis Armstrong New Orleans, Jazz musician & bandleader, "Hello Dolly" - oldest musician in Billboard history to have a Number One song
1900 Elizabeth Britain's Queen Mother
1910 William Howard Schuman NYC, composer (American Festival Overture)
1912 Raoul Wallenberg, Swedish diplomat in WW II (saved 10,000s of Jews)
1920 Helen Thomas UPI journalist (starts press conferences)(scares little childern)
1921 Maurice "Rocket" Richard Montreal Canadien (MVP-1947)
1934 Jonas Savimbi, Angolian leader of Unita
1939 Frankie Ford Gretna La, rock vocalist (Sea Cruise)
1943 Michael J McCulley San Diego Calif, Cmdr USN/astronaut (STS-34)
1944 Richard Belzer, comedian, actor
1946 Maureen Cox Starkey 1st wife of Beatle Ringo Starr
1952 Bobby Buntrock Denver Colo, actor (Harold Baxter-Hazel)
1955 Andrew M Allen Phila Pa, Captain USMC/astronaut (sk: STS-46)
1955 Charles D "Sam" Gemar Yankton SD, army/astronaut (STS 38, 48)
1955 Billy Bob Thornton Hot Springs, Ark. US. actor, 'Sling Blade','A Family Thing'
Deaths which occurred on August 04:
1060 Henry I, King of France (1027..60), dies at 52
1265 Simon de Montfort English baron, dies in battle
1306 Vclav III, last Premysliden-king of Bohemia (1305-06), murdered
1578 Sebastiaan, king of Portugal (1557-78), dies in battle at about 24
1821 William Floyd, US soldier/signer (Declar of Independence), dies at 86
1891 George Washington Williams dies at 41 in Blackpool England
1892 Andrew & Abby Borden, axed to death in Mass (by Lizzie Borden?)
1938 Pearl White, US actress/stunt woman (Perils of Pauline), dies
1940 Vladimir Jabotinsky, founder of Revisionist Zionism, dies
1973 Eddie Condon jazz guitarist (Eddie Condon's Floor Show), dies at 68
1981 Melvyn Douglas actor, dies at 80
1984 Mary Miles Minter silent screen star, dies at 82 of heart failure
1984 Walter Burke actor, dies at 75 of emphysema
1997 Jeanne Calment, world's oldest person (Feb 21 1875), dies at 122
Reported: MISSING in ACTION
1966 BURNS JOHN R. MEMPHIS TN.
[REMAINS IDENTIFIED 05 FEB 93]
1967 BISZ RALPH C. MIAMI FL.
1971 WALDHAUS RICHARD PITTSBURG CA.
[02/73 RELEASED BY PRG]
POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.
On this day...
1181 Supernova seen in Cassiopia
1265 Battle at Evesham: English prince Edward beats Simon de Montfort
1558 1st printing of Zohar (Jewish Kabbalah)
1578 Battle of Alcazarquivir, Morrocans defeat Portugeese
1693 Dom Perignon invents champagne
1704 War of Spanish Succession, English and Dutch troops occupy Gibraltar
1735 Jury acquits John Zenger (NY Weekly Journal) charged with seditious libel by royal governor of NY (victory for Freedom of press)
1753 George Washington becomes a master mason
1777 Retired British cavalry officer Philip Astley establishes 1st circus
1790 US Coast Guard founded as Revenue Cutter Service
1821 1st edition of Saturday Evening Post (publishes until 1969)
1830 Plans for the city of Chicago laid out
1855 John Bartlett publishes "Familiar Quotations"
1862 US govt collects its 1st income tax
1864 Land & naval action new Brazos Santiago, Texas
1881 122ø F (50ø C), Seville, Spain (European record)
1892 Sunday school teacher Lizzie Borden arrested in Fall River, Mass
1910 A's Jack Coombs & White Sox Ed Walsh pitch a 16 inn scoreless tie
1914 Germany declares war on Belgium; Britain declares war on Germany
1914 Lord Kitchener becomes British minister of War
1914 US declares neutrality in WW I
1916 US agrees to buy Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million
1925 US marines leave Nicaragua after 13-year occupation
1927 Peace Bridge between US & Canada opened
1941 Winston Churchill departs on Prince of Wales to US
1942 1st train with Jews departs Mechelen Belgium to Auschwitz
1944 Anne Frank, 15, (Diary of Anne Frank) is arrested by Nazis
1945 Golfer Byron Nelson records most tournament wins (18) in a season
1948 5 day southern filibuster succeeds in maintaining poll tax
1949 The NBL & NBAA merge into the National Basketball Association
1953 Black families move into Trumbull Park housing project in Chicago
1953 Vic Raschi sets pitcher record by driving in 7 runs & wins 15-0
1956 Elvis Presley releases "Hound Dog"
1956 1st motorcycle rode over 200 mph (Wilhelm Herz-210 mph/338 kph)
1958 Dumont TV Network crumbles
1960 Rocket propelled USAF research aircraft sets record at 2,150 MPH
1961 108ø F, Spokane, WA
1964 Civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman & James Chaney found buried inside an earthen dam in Mississippi
1967 Shortwave group ANARC's 1st convention (Chicago)
1968 100,000 attend Newport Pop Festival, Costa Mesa, Calif
1969 Willie Stargell is 1st to hit a HR outside of Dodger Stadium
1974 Crawford-Butler Act allows Puerto Ricans to elect own governor
1977 Pres Carter establishes Dept of Energy
1981 Oliver North is assigned to White House duty
1982 NY Met Joel Youngblood singles in Chicago day game, then singles for Expos in Philadelphia night game. (He was traded in between)
1983 While warming up before 5th inning Yankee Dave Winfield accidentally kills a seagull
1984 Cliff Johnson sets a record with his 19th pinch hit HR
1984 Republic of Upper Volta becomes Bourkina Fasso (National Day)
1985 Calif Angel Rod Carew gets his 3,000th hit
1985 Phil Rizzuto Day, Yanks retire #10
1987 FCC vote 4-0 to rescind fairness doctrine for broadcasters
1988 Congress votes $20,000 to each Japanese-American interned in WW II
1988 Hertz car rental will pay out $23 million in consumer fraud case
1990 European community proposes a boycott of Iraq (Saddam quakes with fear)
1996 26th Olympic Summer games close in Atlanta, Georgia
Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Norway : Peer Gynt Festival Days
Trinidad & Tobago : Discovery Day (1498)
US : Coast Guard Day (1790)
Virgin Islands : Nicole Robin Day
US : National Smile Week (day 3)
National Psychiatric Technician Appreciation Day
American Artists Appreciation Month
Religious Observances
Old RC : Feast of St Dominic, confessor
RC : Memorial of St John Mary Vianney, patron of priests
Religious History
1874 Methodist clergyman John H. Vincent (1832-1920) and Ohio manufacturer Lewis Miller established the Chautauqua Assembly in northwest New York state a summer retreat center combining recreational activities with the training of Sunday School teachers and other church workers.
1879 Pope Leo XIII issued the encyclical "Aeterni patris," which urged the study of "true" philosophy, especially that of Thomas Aquinas. The injunction led to a great revival of both Thomist studies and scholastic philosophy.
1884 Birth of Sigmund O.P. Mowinckel, Norwegian Old Testament scholar. Associated from 1917-54 with Oslo University, his most influential work was done in the Psalms. In 1951 he published "The Psalms in Israel's Worship" (1963).
1892 English medical missionary Wilfred T. Grenfell, 26, first arrived in Labrador, Newfoundland. For 42 years he labored among the fisherfolk, helping build hospitals and orphanages as well as churches.
1959 Swedish Christian and U.N. Secretary General Dago Hammarskald observed in his journal (Markings): 'We encounter a world where each man is a cosmos, of whose riches we can only catch glimpses.'
Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.
Thought for the day :
"Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom"
Media Reports of the Apocalypse...
National Inquirer:
O.J. AND NICOLE, TOGETHER AGAIN
Letters To God From The Dog...
Dear God,
Is it true that dogs are not allowed in restaurants because we can't make up our minds what NOT to order? Or is it the accident on the carpet thing, again?
You Might Be An Engineer If...
You chuckle whenever anyone says "centrifugal force."
Dumb Laws...
Florida:
Having sexual relations with a porcupine is illegal.
