On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on August 23:
1593 Fulvio Testi Italian poet (Pianto d'Italia)
1754 Louis XVI Versailles, king of France (1774-92); guillotined
1785 Oliver Hazard Perry naval hero
1818 Rufus Ingalls Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1893
1832 Alexander Chambers Brig General (Union volunteers), died in 1888
1869 James (Sunny Jim) Rolph SF mayor (1912-31), MUNI backer
1903 William Primrose Glasgow Scot, violist (Method for Violin & Viola)
1911 Birger Ruud Norway, 90m ski jumper (Olympic-gold-1932, 36)
1912 Gene Kelly Pitts, dancer/actor (An American in Paris, Going My Way)
1913 Bob Crosby Spokane Wa, Bing's brother, orch leader (Bob Crosby Show)
1932 Mark Russell Buffalo NY, political satirist/pianist (Real People)
1933 Pete Wilson (Sen/Gov.-R-Calif)
1934 Barbara Eden [Huffman]Tucson Az, actress (Dream of Jeannie, Amazing Dobermans)
1934 Christian "Sonny" Jurgensen NFL QB (Eagles, Redskins)
1940 Richard Sanders Harrisburg Pa, actpr (Les-WKRP)
1943 Bobby Diamond LA Calif, actor (Duncan Gillis-Dobie Gillis)
1944 Antonia Novello US Surgeon General
1947 Keith Moon rocker The Who (True Story of 200 Motels)
1947 Rex Allen Jr Chicago, country singer (Nashville on the Road)
1948 Ron Blomberg NY Yank, 1st designated hitter
1949 Rick Springfield Australia, (General Hospital, Jessie's Girl)
1949 Shelley Long Fort Wayne Indiana, actress (Diane-Cheers, Money Pit)
1951 Queen Noor of Jordan
1956 Gerry Cooney heavyweight boxer
1967 Nancy Jane Cox Campbellsville Kentucky, Miss Kentucky-America-1991
1970 River Phoenix Madras Ore, actor (Little Nikta, Stand By Me)
Deaths which occurred on August 23:
0408 Flavius Stilcho, Roman general, beheaded
0634 Aboe Bekr Abd Allah, [al-Siddik], friend/successor of Mohammed, dies
1305 William Wallace, Scottish patriot, hanged, disemboweled & beheaded
1819 Oliver Hazard Perry naval hero, dies on 34th birthday
1926 Rodolpho Alfonzo Rafaello Pietro Filiberto Guglieimi Di Valentina D'Antonguolla (Rudolph Valentino), silent movie idol, dies in NY at 31
1927 Nicola Sacco & Bartolomeo Vanzetti executed in Mass
1960 Oscar Hammerstein II Broadway librettist, dies at 65
1962 Hoot Gibson silent screen cowboy actor, dies at 70
1975 Hank Patterson actor (Fred Ziffel-Green Acres), dies at 87
1989 Yusef Hawkins shot by 30 whites in Bensonhurst because he's black
1995 Alfred Eisenstaedt, photojournalist
Reported: MISSING in ACTION
1967 BAKER ELMO C. KENNETT MO.
p03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 BRASWELL DONALD R.
[08/24/67 ESCAPED]
1967 CARRIGAN LARRY E. PHOENIX AZ.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 99]
1967 GERNDT GERALD L. OCONTO FALLS WI.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 HOLT DEWEY T.
[08/24/67 ESCAPED]
1967 LANE CHARLES YANKTON SD
1967 MIDNIGHT FRANCIS B. GARY IN
1967 NESS PATRICK L. MINNEAPOLIS MN.
[REMAINS RETURNED 04/10/86]
1967 SITTNER RONALD NICHALIS SOUTH EUCLID OH.
[REMAINS RETURNED 12/30/97]
1967 SAWHILL ROBERT R. CARNEGIE PA.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1967 SITEK THOMAS W. NIAGARA FALLS NY.
1967 TYLER CHARLES R. GLOBE AZ.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1968 BERGEVIN CHARLES L. TORRINGTON CT.
[RADIO CONTACT LOST]
1968 FERGUSON WALTER JR. NEW YORK NY.
1968 SETTERQUIST FRANCIS L. CLOQUET MN.
POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.
On this day...
0406 Battle at Florence: Stilicho's Roman army defeats the Vandals
0476 Odoacer elected King of Byzantine
1244 Turks expel the crusaders under Frederick II from Jerusalem.
1328 Battle at Kassel: French troops stop uprising of Flemish farmers
1328 King Philip VI of France, crowned
1617 1st one-way streets established (London)
1813 Battle of Grossbeeren - Prussians under Von Bulow repulse French
1833 Britain abolishes slavery in colonies; 700,000 slaves freed
1838 Mt Holyoke Female Seminary (South Hadley, Mass) 1st graduating class
1839 British take Hong Kong
1862 Skirmish at Big Hill, Kentucky (2 Federal regiments)
1864 Fall of Fort Morgan at Mobile
1866 Treaty of Prague ends Austro-Prussian war
1869 1st carload of freight (boots & shoes) arrives in SF, from Boston
1872 1st Japanese ship visits SF, carrying tea
1889 1st ship-to-shore wireless message received in US (SF)
1900 National Negro Business League organizes (Boston)
1903 6th Zionist Congress, Theodor Herzl declares Jewish state
1904 Automobile tire chain patented
1914 Battle at Mons: general von Klucks troops beat Britten
1914 Gen von Hausen executes 612 inhabitants of Dinant Belgium
1914 Japan declares war on Germany in World War I
1917 Race riot in Houston Texas (2 blacks & 11 whites killed)
1919 "Gasoline Alley" cartoon strip premiers in Chicago Tribune
1924 Mars' closest approach to Earth since the 10th century
1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop-pact (Soviet Union neutral/Poland divided)
1939 John Cobb (Britain) drives 365.85 MPH (593.48 KPH) at Bonneville Flats
1940 German Luftwaffe begins night bombing on London
1942 Battle of Stalingrad: 600 Luftwaffe bomb Stalingrad (40,000 die)
US B-24 crashes into school in Freckelton England, 76 killed
1944 Romania liberated from Nazi occupation (National Day 1944-1990)
1947 Pres Truman's daughter, Margaret's 1st public singing concert
1948 World Council of Churches formed by 147 churches from 44 countries
1950 West Germany & Japan readmitted to Intl Amateur Athletic Federation
1952 Giants Bob Elliot is ejected for arguing a strike, Bobby Hoffman complete his at bat, he strikes out & is also ejected for arguing
1953 Phil Grate sets record for throwing a baseball (443'3")
1958 Marie Ashton completes playing piano a female record 133 hours
1960 World's largest frog (3.3 kg) caught (Equatorial Guinea)
1961 US lunar probe Ranger 1 reaches 190 km from Earth, falls back
1963 Beatles release "She Loves You" in the UK
1963 Ringo admits he wrote a song "Don't Pass Me By"
1964 St Louis Cards are 11 games back in NL, & win the World Series
1966 Lunar Orbiter 1 takes 1st photograph of Earth from Moon
1968 Ringo quits the Beatles over a disagreement, temporarily
1968 Yanks & Tigers play 3-3 tie in 19 due to 1 AM curfew
1969 Audrey McElmory (US) wins World Cycling Championships, Brno, Czechoslovakia (1st American to win cycling race title since 1912)
1972 Republican convention (Miami Beach, Fla) renominates VP Agnew but not unanimous-1 vote went to NBC newsman David Brinkley)
1973 Intelsat communications satellite launched
1975 Communists take over Laos
1977 1st man-powered flight of a mile (Bryan Allen in Gossamer Condor)
1978 Iranian students occupies Iranian embassy at Wassenaar
1979 Bolshoi Ballet dancer Alexander Godunov defects in NYC
1985 Said Aouita of Morroco sets the 1.5k record (3:29.46) in Berlin
1985 Paul Hornung awarded $1,160,000 by a Louisville court against NCAA who barred him as a college football analyst for betting on games
1988 Mike Tyson & Mitch Green brawl at 4 A.M. in Harlem
2001 Democratic Rep. Gary Condit of California denied any involvement in the disappearance of intern Chandra Levy; his comments came during an interview with Connie Chung on ABC.
Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
[Ancient Rome] Volcanalia (Festival of Vulcan)
Romania : Liberation Day (1944-1990)
Swaziland : Umhlanga Day
National Aviation Week (Day 6)
Foot Health Month
Religious Observances
RC : Mem of St Rose of Lima, patron of Latin America (opt)
Christian] Feast of St Astrius & Claudius
[Christian] Feast of St Eugene/Eoghan of Ardstraw
[Christian] Feast of St Philip Benizi
[Christian] Feast of St Tydfil
Religious History
1572 In France, late this night, Catholic conspirators began massacring thousands of Huguenots (French Protestants), under orders of Catherine de Medici, advisor to her son, Charles IX, King of France.
1823 Karl F. A. GÀGÀtzlaff, 20, first arrived in Bangkok the first missionary ever to reach Thailand. Representing the Netherlands Missionary Society, GÀGÀtzlaff and his wife later translated the complete Bible into Siamese, and portions of it into the Lao and Cambodian languages.
1882 Death of Charles W. Fry, 45, English Salvation Army worker. It was Fry who penned the words to the lyric hymn, "I Have Found a Friend in Jesus" (a.k.a. "Lily of the Valley").
1948 During its Amsterdam Assembly (Aug 22 Sept 4), the newly-formed World Council of Churches officially ratified its Constitution.
1952 Death of Frederick George Kenyon, 89, British archaeologist and language scholar. Kenyon devoted his life to discovering biblical parallels in ancient Greek papyri, convincing critics that science does not disprove the Bible.
Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.
Thought for the day :
"Beware the man who can't be bothered with details."
Excuses For Missing Work...
I prefer to remain an enigma
Top 10 Difference Between Cats & Dogs...
6. Dogs will play Frisbee with you all afternoon. Cats will take a three-hour nap.
You Might Be An Engineer If...
You can name all the cards in your PC without looking.
Dumb Laws...
Sweden:
It is illegal to repaint a house without a painting license and the government's permission.
Today's classic warship, USS Astoria (CL-90)
Cleveland class light cruiser
Displacement: 10,000 t.
Length: 610’1”
Beam: 66’6”
Draft: 20’
Speed: 33 k.
Complement: 992
Armament: 12 6”; 12 5”
The USS Astoria (CL-90) was laid down on 6 September 1941 at Philadelphia, Pa., by the William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 6 March 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Robert Lucas, the wife of the editor of the Astorian-Budget; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 17 May 1944, Capt. George C. Dyer in command.
The light cruiser conducted shakedown training in the vicinity of Bermuda between 6 June and 23 July and returned to Philadelphia on the latter day for post-shakedown overhaul. She departed Philadelphia on 19 September, bound for the Pacific. Steaming via the Panama Canal, Astoria arrived in San Diego on 3 October. Later in the month, she moved to the Mare Island Navy Yard and got underway for Hawaii on the 25th. She arrived at Oahu on the 31st and remained at Pearl Harbor until 16 November. On that day, she got underway for Ulithi Atoll in the Western Carolines. She made a stop at Eniwetok in the Marshalls before entering the lagroon at Ulithi on 25 November. There, the warship reported for duty with Task Group (TG) 38.2 of the Fast Carrier Task Force.
Astoria sortied with Task Force (TF) 38 on 11 December 1944 for her first war cruise. Her mission was to serve in the antiaircraft screen of the carriers while their planes supported the landings of Mindoro. The flattops launched air strikes between 14 and 16 December. Weather began turning bad on the 17th and, that night and the next day, Astoria steamed with TF 38 through the infamous typhoon that sank destroyers Spence (DD-512), Hull(DD-350), and Monaghan (DD-354). However, the cruiser weathered the storm fairly well. After two days of searches for the survivors of the three lost destroyers, TF 38 headed back to Ulithi for a Christmas rest. She departed Ulithi again on the 30th, when TF 38 got underway to provide air support for the Luzon landings scheduled for 9 January 1945. The carriers' direct support for that operation lasted from 6 to 9 January. On the night of the 9th, Admiral Halsey led TF 38-including Astoria-into the South China Sea to begin raiding Japan's inner defenses. For the next two weeks, the carriers pounded military targets in Japanese-held southern China and French Indochina pausing periodically to harass Formosa. While Astoria steamed in the screen, the carrier air groups bombed shipping and shore installations in the vicinity of Camranh Bay, Hong Kong, Canton, Formosa, and Hainan Island, before the task force returned to Ulithi on 25 January.
Early in February, the cruiser again sortied with the carriersnow redesignated TF 58 with Admiral Spruance's assumption of command-to launch the first strikes against the Japanese home islands since the Halsey-Doolittle raid of 1942. The force arrived off Honshu on 16 February and began two days of air raids on the Tokyo Area. On the 18th, TF 58 headed south, took a passing punch at Chi Chi Jima in the Bonins, and arrived off Iwo Jima by mid-afternoon the next day. While the carrier aircraft provided air support for the landings, Astoria moved in close to shore on the 21st to begin a 26-hour period of gunfire support for the troops ashore. She then steamed north to support the carriers in further strikes against Tokyo before returning to Ulithi by 3 March.
On 14 March, she returned to sea with TF 58 to begin support of the pending campaign to capture Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands. During that operation, Astoria remained at sea with the fast carriers for 80 days while their planes struck at shipping, airfields, and other installations on an around Kyushu, Shikoku, and Honshu as well as on Okinawa and the surrounding islands. The cruiser supplied antiaircraft defense for the carriers of her task group and claimed to have splashed 11 enemy planes and to have assisted in downing numerous others. She concluded her cruise in support of the conquest of Okinawa when she arrived at Leyte in the Philippines on 1 June.
There, she remained for a month of repairs with some opportunity for her crewmen to enjoy rest and relaxation. On 1 July, she returned to sea for her final combat of the war. She screened the carriers once more as they launched their planes at the Japanese home islands. During that time, she and Cruiser Division (CruDiv) 17 conducted two unsuccessful antishipping sweeps along the coast of Honshu. The first came on the night of 17 and 18 July while the second occurred on the night of 24 and 25 JulyThe carriers continued strikes on Japan throughout July and during the first two weeks of August.
After the Japanese agreed to capitulate and hostilities ceased on 15 August, she continued to patrol off Honshu with TF 38. She remained on that assignment until 3 September when she received orders to return to the United States. The warship arrived in San Pedro, Calif., on 15 September and remained there until 24 November. On the latter day, she got underway for Hawaii. Astoria arrived in Pearl Harbor on the 30th and conducted type training for several days. She headed back to San Pedro on 10 December and arrived there on the 15th.
For the next 10 months, she ranged up and down the Pacific coast of North America from San Diego in the south to Vancouver, British Columbia, in the north. On 15 October 1946, Astoria departed San Pedro on her way to the Central Pacific. Steaming via Pearl Harbor, she arrived at Guam in the Mariana Islands on 2 November. She operated in the Marianas, frequently visiting both Guam and Saipan, until mid-February 1947. On the 19th, she departed Guam. Sailing by way of Kwajalein in the Mar- shalls and Pearl Harbor, the cruiser entered port at San Diego on 24 March. There, she resumed duty along the Pacific coast until October of 1948.
On 1 October, the ship headed for the Far East. She made a three-day stop at Pearl Harbor before continuing on to Tsingtao, China, where she arrived on the 29th. For almost four months, she cruised Asian waters, visiting such ports as Inchon and Pusan in Korea, Sasebo and Yokosuka in Japan, and Shanghai and Tsingtao in China. On 16 February 1949, Astoria departed Yokosuka to return to the United States. After the customary stop at Pearl Harbor, the warship arrived in San Francisco on 8 March. On 1 July 1949, Astoria was placed out of commission and was berthed with the San Francisco Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet. There, she stayed until 20 May 1958 when she was transferred to the San Diego Group. The light cruiser remained in reserve for another 11 years. On 1 November 1969, her name was struck from the Navy list. She was sold on 12 January 1971 to the Nicolai Joffe Corp., of Beverly Hills, Calif., for scrapping.
Astoria (CL-90) earned five battle stars during World War II.
Hmmmm......sounds like it might be worth a try. Never used cinnamon on my beef before.
