Tidbits of History

August 16 is:

National Tell a Joke Day
National Rum Day Rum was manufactured, distilled, and made long before any other spirit. It’s history is a vast one filled with stories, and fables. It was the first branded spirit made. Rations of rum were given to sailors in the British Army to be mixed with lime juice because it fought off the scurvy.
National Bratwurst Day

1841 – U.S. President John Tyler vetoed a bill which called for the re-establishment of the Second Bank of the United States. Enraged Whig Party members rioted outside the White House in the most violent demonstration on White House grounds in U.S. history.

1858 – U.S. President James Buchanan inaugurated the new transatlantic telegraph cable by exchanging greetings with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. However, a weak signal forced a shutdown of the service in a few weeks.

On August 16, 1896, an American prospector named George Carmack, his Tagish wife Kate Carmack (Shaaw Tláa), her brother Skookum Jim (Keish) and their nephew Dawson Charlie (K̲áa Goox̱) discovered gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush. It is not clear who discovered the gold: George Carmack or Skookum Jim, but the group agreed to let George Carmack appear as the official discoverer because they feared that mining authorities would be reluctant to recognize a claim made by an Indian.

In 1920 – Ray Chapman, shortstop for the Cleveland Indians, was hit on the head by a fastball thrown by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees, and died early the next day. Chapman was the second player to die from injuries sustained in a Major League Baseball game, the first being Doc Powers in 1909. Chapman’s death was one of the examples used to emphasize the need for wearing batting helmets (although the rule was not adopted until over 30 years later).

on August 16, 1927 – The Dole Air Race began from Oakland, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii, during which six out of the eight participating planes crashed or disappeared.

The Dole Air Race, also known as the Dole Derby, was a tragic air race across the Pacific Ocean from northern California to the Territory of Hawaii in August 1927. Of the 15-18 airplanes entered, eleven were certified to compete but three crashed before the race, resulting in three deaths. Eight eventually participated in the race, with two crashing on takeoff and two going missing during the race. A third, forced to return for repairs, took off again to search for the missing and was itself never seen again. In all, before, during, and after the race, ten lives were lost and six airplanes were total losses. Two of the eight planes successfully landed in Hawaii.

The first issue of Sports Illustrated was published in 1954.

August 16, 1977: Elvis Presley died. He was 42 years old.

August 15 is:

National Lemon Meringue Pie Day

Birthday of Florence Harding (August 15, 1860), wife of Warren G Harding; first lady 1921-1923. News of the Teapot Dome scandal began to break as Harding and his wife were returning from a vacation in Alaska. Harding began to show signs of food poisoning and fatigue, developed pneumonia, and died suddenly. His wife, who some speculated had poisoned him, refused to permit an autopsy. After his death, Mrs. Harding burned his papers and correspondence, making a diligent effort to recover and destroy even personal letters he had written.

From Today in Science
Birthday of Thomas Edward (T.E.) Lawrence, (also known as “Lawrence of Arabia,”) a British archaeological scholar. In two of his important projects, he collaborated with Leonard Woolley in the British Museum expedition excavating Carchemish, (1910-14) a Hittite city on the upper Euphrates; and in the survey of the Wilderness of Zin. Later he became best known as a military strategist, and author for his legendary war activities in the Middle East during WW I, and for his account of those activities in The Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1926). He died in England from injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash near his home in Dorset.

From Today in Science
In 1911, Procter & Gamble Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, introduced Crisco, a hydrogenated shortening to provide an economical alternative to animal fats and butter. To emphasize the purity of the product, the Crisco can came inside an additional, removable over-wrap of white paper. Crisco, the first solidified shortening product made entirely of vegetable oil, was the result of hydrogenation, a new process which produced shortening that would stay in solid form year-round, regardless of temperature.

Birthday of Julia Carolyn Child (born McWilliams, (August 15, 1912),
American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

From Today in Science
In 1914, the Panama Canal was officially opened by an American ship sailing from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. The United States fomented a rebellion to get the land for this canal…encouraging Panamanians to break away from Colombia. Before the Panama Canal was built, sea trade had to go all the way around South America’s sometimes stormy Cape Horn. The Panama Canal crosses a small mountain range with a series of huge locks.

From Today in Science
Wiley Post and Will Rogers died in plane crash in Alaska:
Wiley Post was an American aviator, one of the most colorful figures of the early years of U.S. aviation. He set many records. Between 15-22 Jul 1933, Wiley Post completed the first round-the-world solo flight (15,596 miles) in his Lockheed Vega 5B single-engine aircraft Winnie Mae, in 7 days 18-hr 49-min. He had made an accompanied flight around the world in 1931. Wiley Post had made his first solo flight in 1926, the year he got his flying license (signed by Orville Wright) despite wearing a patch over his left eye which he had lost in an oilfield accident.
Will Rogers was an American cowboy, vaudeville performer, humorist, newspaper columnist, social commentator, and stage and motion picture actor. Some of his more famous quotes:

• “Don’t gamble”; take all your savings and buy some good stock, and hold it till it goes up, then sell it. If it don’t go up, don’t buy it.”
• An ignorant person is one who doesn’t know what you have just found out.
• When I die, my epitaph or whatever you call those signs on gravestones is going to read: ‘I joked about every prominent man of my time, but I never met a man I didn’t like.’ I am so proud of that I can hardly wait to die so it can be carved. And when you come to my grave you will find me sitting there, proudly reading it.
• I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.

August 11 is:

National Raspberry Tart Day

Presidential Joke Day
On this day in 1984, during a sound check for a radio broadcast, President Ronald Reagan cracked the following joke:

“My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.”

He didn’t know the mic was already recording, and the tape leaked. Since this little gaffe, August 11th has lived on as Presidential Joke Day.

Son and Daughter Day created so that you can let your children know how special they are.

1866 – World’s first roller rink opened in Newport, RI. The roller skate was invented in 1863 by James Plimpton.

1885 – $100,000 raised in US for pedestal for Statue of Liberty. The statue, designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886, was a gift to the United States from the people of France. The Statue was a joint effort between America and France and it was agreed upon that the American people were to build the pedestal, and the French people were responsible for the Statue and its assembly here in the United States.

Green Bay Packers football club founded on August 11, 1919 by George Calhoun and Curly Lambeau. Lambeau solicited funds for uniforms from his employer, the Indian Packing Company. He was given $500 for uniforms and equipment, on the condition that the team be named for its sponsor. The Green Bay Packers have played in their original city longer than any other team in the NFL.

A formal peace took hold in Indochina on August 11, 1954, ending more than seven years of fighting between the French and the Communist Vietminh.

August 11, 1956 – Elvis Presley released “Don’t Be Cruel”

2015 – For the first time in Major League Baseball history, all 15 home teams won their game. Prior to this happening, the record was 12 which was reached over a century ago in 1914.

August 9 is:

Book Lover’s Day A day for all those who love to read. My kind of day!!
National Rice Pudding Day
Opening of the Sistine Chapel in Rome on August 9, 1483 with the celebration of a Mass.

The Vatican Virtual Tours offers an online 360 degree tour of the Sistine Chapel.

Indian Wars: In 1814 the Creek signed the Treaty of Fort Jackson, giving up huge parts of Alabama and Georgia. The Treaty was signed following the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The U.S. force was led by General Andrew Jackson.
The Upper Creek Natives were led by Chief Menawa, who fled with hundreds of survivors into Florida, where they allied with the Seminole. The surrender ended the Creek War, which the United States was fighting simultaneously with the War of 1812.

The Webster–Ashburton Treaty was signed in 1842, establishing the United States–Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains.

 Henry David Thoreau published Walden in 1854.

Betty Boop made her cartoon debut in Dizzy Dishes in 1930.

The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council released posters featuring Smokey Bear for the first time in 1944.

Nagasaki (Japan) Memorial Day, a memorial observance for the victims of the second atomic bomb (Fat Man) in 1945. 3 days after the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, the city of Nagasaki was destroyed by a 21 kiloton atomic bomb nicknamed Fat Boy. About 40 to 80 thousand people were estimated killed during this American-led attack towards the end of the Second World War. A few days later on August 15, Japan surrendered to the Allies, effectively bringing the War to a close by September, 1945.

Anniversary of the resignation of Richard Nixon as president of the United States in 1974.   His Vice President, Gerald Ford , became president.

August 8 is the 221st day of the year. There are 145 days remaining until the end of the year.

Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day – now that’s nasty!
National Dollar Day
National Frozen Custard Day Frozen custard is a cold dessert similar to ice cream, but made with eggs in addition to cream and sugar. It is usually kept at a warmer temperature compared to ice cream, and typically has a denser consistency.

1844 – After the killing of Joseph Smith on June 27, Bringham Young was chosen to lead the Mormons.
Per Wikipedia: Joseph Smith, the founder and leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother, Hyrum Smith, were killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, United States on June 27, 1844. The brothers had been in jail awaiting trial when an armed mob of about 200 men stormed the facility, their faces painted black with wet gunpowder. Hyrum was killed first, having been shot in the face. As he fell, Hyrum shouted, “I’m a dead man, Joseph!” After emptying the pistol with which he tried to defend himself, Smith was then shot several times while trying to escape from a second-story window and fell from that window as he died.

On August 8, 1863, following his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee sent a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis (which was refused upon receipt). Davis wrote, “To ask me to substitute you by someone… more fit to command, or who would possess more of the confidence of the army… is to demand an impossibility.”

Public Law 62-5, passed in 1911, set the number of representatives in the United States House of Representatives at 435. The law would come into effect in 1913.

Battle of Amiens: – On August 8, 1918, the Allies launched a series of offensive operations against German positions on the Western Front during World War I with a punishing attack at Amiens, on the Somme River in northwestern France.

1950 – Whataburger opened its first restaurant in Corpus Christi, TX.

1966 – Michael DeBakey became the first surgeon to install an artificial heart pump in a patient.

1974 – President Richard Nixon, in a nationwide television address, announced his resignation from the office of the President of the United States, effective noon the next day. Following his resignation, the Nixons flew to their home La Casa Pacifica in San Clemente, California.

On this day in 1988, the Chicago Cubs hosted the first night game in the history of Wrigley Field.

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.