August 28 is:
Race Your Mouse Day aka “Race Your Mouse Around the Icons Day”.
National Cherry Turnovers Day
Darker cherries have higher antioxidant and vitamin levels than lighter ones.
On average, commercially grown cherry trees produce about 7,000 cherries annually.
Over 75% of the cherries sold in the U.S. come from Michigan.
Feast day of Saint Augustine of Hippo, patron saint of students for the priesthood. Famous for praying “Make me pure…but not yet.”
Birthday of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (August 28, 1749), German poet and novelist, author of “Faust”
1830 – The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s new Tom Thumb steam locomotive raced a horse-drawn car, presaging steam’s role in U.S. railroads.
From Today in Science
In 1845, the first issue of the Scientific American was published by Rufus Porter (1792-1884), a versatile if eccentric Yankee, who was by turns a portrait-painter, schoolmaster, inventor and editor. While the paper was still a small weekly journal with a circulation less than 300, he offered it for sale. It was bought for $800 in July 1846 by 20-year-old Alfred Ely Beach (1826-1896) as editor, and Orson Desaix Munn (1824-1907). Together, they built it over the years into a great and unique periodical. Their circulation reached 10,000 by 1848, 20,000 by 1852, and 30,000 by 1853.
August 28 – 1963: The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place; this is where Martin Luther King, Jr. made his “I Have a Dream” speech for Civil Rights in the United States.
From Today in Science
In 1837, pharmacists John Lea and William Perrins of Worcester, England began the manufacture of Worcester Sauce. Its origin was accidental. The two Worcestershire chemists (pharmacists) whose names are on the bottle were asked to make a sauce using a recipe Lord Marcus Sandys, governor of Bengal, had brought from India. The result had a harsh, unpalatable taste. The batch was stored in their cellar, forgotten for a year. At that time, after an aging process, a chance tasting for the sauce was now tasty. Upon selling the new savory sauce, they found a sustained demand, and by 1843 they sold 14,500 per year. The exact ingredients remain a trade secret, but are known to include molasses, tamarins, onions, cloves, chillies and shallots from various countries around the world.
U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond, (D) from South Carolina, began a filibuster to prevent the Senate from voting on Civil Rights Act of 1957; he stopped speaking 24 hours and 18 minutes later, the longest filibuster ever conducted by a single Senator. He changed political parties to become a Republican in 1964 because of his opposition to the Civil Rights Act and his support of Barry Goldwater.
1968 Police and anti-war demonstrators clashed in the streets of Chicago, Illinois, as the Democratic National Convention nominated Hubert H. Humphrey for president.