August 7 is the 220th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 146 days remaining until the end of the year.
National Lighthouse Day
Raspberries ‘n Cream Day
Anniversary of the dedication in 1927 of the International Peace Bridge, honoring the peace that exists between Canada and the United States. Extends from Buffalo, New York, and Fort Erie, Ontario where it crosses the Niagara River.
Construction of the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore begun in Florence in 1420.
On August 7, 1782 General George Washington ordered the creation of the Badge of Military Merit to honor soldiers wounded in battle. It was later renamed to the more poetic Purple Heart.
The United States Department of War was established in 1789. The War Department existed from 1789 until September 18, 1947, when it split into Department of the Army and Department of the Air Force and joined the Department of the Navy as part of the new joint National Military Establishment (NME), renamed the United States Department of Defense in 1949.
1794 – U.S. President George Washington invoked the Militia Acts of 1792 to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania. The so-called “whiskey tax” was the first tax imposed on a domestic product by the newly formed federal government. The “whiskey tax” became law in 1791, and was intended to generate revenue for the war debt incurred during the Revolutionary War.
In 1807, Robert Fulton’s North River Steam Boat (also known as the Clermont) began chugging its way up New York’s Hudson River on its successful round-trip from New York City to Albany – 150 miles apart in 32 hours.
1957 Death of Oliver Hardy at age 65. Comic actor best known as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted 25 years.
1959 – The Lincoln Memorial design on the U.S. penny went into circulation. It replaced the “sheaves of wheat” design, and was minted until 2008 when it was replaced by the Union shield.
