1848 – US Barnburners (anti-slavery) party merges with Free Soil Party nominating Martin Van Buren for president
1859 – Otis Tufts patents the first passenger elevator in the US
1942 – CBS radio broadcasts the debut of wartime series “Our Secret Weapon”
1952 – General strike against overtime conscription in Belgium
1984 – STS 41-D vehicle again moves out to launch pad
1987 – The National Union of Mineworkers begin South Africa’s longest wage strike
1992 – Record temperature in Berlin-Dahlem 99.3°F (37.4°C)
2012 – Women’s Olympic Football Gold Medal won by the USA beating Japan 2-1 in the final
2016 – Chinese weightlifter Deng Wei sets a world record of 147kg in the clean and jerk, and another for a total score of 262kg, to win the women’s 63kg gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics
2020 – Brazil passes 100,000 COVID-19 deaths, the world’s 2nd highest, with over 3 million recorded cases
Author: gil7
Today in History for 9th August 2021
Historical Events
1854 – American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau publishes “Walden”
1862 – Berlioz’ opera “Beatrice et Benedict” premieres in Baden-Baden
1898 – Rudolf Diesel of Germany obtains patent #608,845 for his internal combustion engine, later known as the diesel engine
1908 – Tour de France: French road cyclist Lucien Petit-Breton successfully defends his title beating François Faber of Luxembourg
1936 – Hungarian swimmer Ferenc Csik wins 100m freestyle gold medal in 57.6 at the Berlin Olympics, beating Japanese pair Masanori Yusa and Shigeo Arai
1973 – USSR launches Mars 7
Famous Birthdays
1593 – Izaak Walton, English biographer and author (The Compleat Angler), born in Stafford, England (d. 1683)
1845 – Xavier Mellery, Belgian painter and illustrator, born in Laken, Belgium (d. 1921)
1920 – Enzo Biagi, Italian journalist and writer, born in Lizzano in Belvedere, Italy (d. 2007)
1957 – Melanie Griffith, American actress (Body Double, Working Girl), born in New York City
1969 – Divine Brown [Estelle Marie Thompson], American prostitute (Hugh Grant), born in Oakland, California
1973 – Kevin McKidd, Scottish actor Trainspotting; Grey’s Anatomy -“Owen Hunt”, born in Elgin, Moray, Scotland
Famous Deaths
1652 – John Dirksz Both, Dutch landscape painter and etcher, dies at about 37
1949 – Harry Davenport, American actor and director (Her Unborn Child, My Sin), dies at 83
2003 – Jacques Deray, French film director (b. 1929)
2004 – David Raksin, American composer renown for his work in film and TV (Laura, Modern Times), dies at 92
2008 – Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian prominent poet and writer, dies at 66
2014 – Michael Brown, American shooting victim whose death provoked nationwide protests and civil unrest, shot dead by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson at 18
Famous Deaths for 8th August 2021
869 – Lothair II of Lotharingia (855-869) dies at about 34
1828 – Carl Peter Thunberg, Swedish naturalist, dies at 84
1897 – Jacob Burckhardt, Swiss cultural historian, dies at 79
1898 – Eugène Boudin, French painter (beach scenes), dies at 74
1950 – Nikolai Myaskovsky, Russian composer (Kirov is With Us), dies at 69
1980 – Jacqueline Cochran, US pilot and 1st woman to break sound barrier, dies at 74
1982 – Hermine Heijermans, author (Snikken en Smartlapjes), dies at 80
1988 – Ramón Valdés, Mexican actor (b. 1923)
1996 – George Richard Samways, children’s writer, dies at 101
2005 – Ilse Werner [Ilse Charlotte Still], Dutch-German actress (Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow), dies at 84
Historical Events for 8th August 2021
1844 – Brigham Young chosen as head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints following the death of Joseph Smith
1916 – A’s set AL record with 19th consecutive loss on road
1931 – Washington Senators pitcher Bobby Burke no-hits Boston Red Sox, 5-0 at Griffith Stadium, Washington D. C.
1963 – Great Train Robbery in England, £2.6 million ($7.3 million)
1988 – Discovery of most distant galaxy (15 * 10 ^ 12 light yrs) announced
2006 – Actor Sylvester Stallone and former heavyweight boxing contender Chuck Wepner settle lawsuit out of court for an undisclosed sum; Wepner claims he was the inspiration for the “Rocky” movies
2008 – IXXX Summer Olympic Games open in Beijing, China
2012 – 16 people are killed from flooding from heavy rain in Manilla, Philippines
2013 – 28 people are killed by a suicide bombing in Quetta, Pakistan
2013 – Ben Bradlee is named as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama
Today in History for 8th August 2021
Historical Events
1920 – Tigers beat Yanks 1-0 in shortest AL game, 73 minutes
1988 – Russian troops begin pull out of Afghanistan after 9 year war
1988 – -11] Army in Rangoon, Myanmar fires on pro-democracy students, killing thousands during the “8888 Uprising”
1990 – Pete Rose begins 5-ms prison term at Marion (IL) Federal prison camp
2007 – Carlos Slim overtakes Bill Gates as world’s richest person with estimated net worth of US$59 billion, according to “Fortune”
2016 – Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszú wins the women’s 100m backstroke gold medal in a time of 58.45; her second gold medal of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games
Famous Birthdays
1605 – Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, British colonial Governor of Maryland (d. 1675)
1912 – Daniel Mann [Chugerman], American stage and screen director (The Rose Tattoo; The Teahouse Of The August Moon; Butterfield 8), born in Brooklyn, New York
1944 – Brooke Bundy, American actress
1953 – “Sweet” Lou Dunbar, basketball player (Harlem Globetrotters)
1961 – The Edge [Dave Evans], rock guitarist (U2-I Will Follow), born in London, England
1981 – Bradley McIntosh, British pop singer
Famous Deaths
1684 – George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer (b. 1622)
1940 – Johnny Dodds, American early jazz clarinetist, dies at 48
1982 – Eric Brandon, British racing driver, dies at 62
1993 – Lou van Rees, Dutch impresario, dies at 77
2007 – Ma Lik, Chinese politician (b. 1952)
2009 – Daniel Jarque, Spanish football player (b. 1983)
Famous Deaths for 7th August 2021
1033 – Frederick II, duke of Upper Lorraine
1816 – Dionysius Godefridus van der Keessel, Dutch jurist (Theses Selectae, Select Theses on the Laws of Holland and Zeeland), dies at 77
1959 – Armas Launis, Finnish composer, dies at 75
1961 – Frank Buchman, American theologist (Moral Re-Armament), dies at 83
1976 – Cecil Weston, South African-born actress (Dude Ranch, Huckleberry Finn), dies at 86
1991 – Schottzie Schott, Cincinnati Red dog mascot, dies at 9
1997 – Douglas Gray, Scottish record and film producer, dies at 74
2009 – Louis E. Saavedra, American Mayor of Albuquerque, New Mexico (b. 1933)
2011 – Hugh Carey, American politician and attorney (Gov-D-NY), dies at 92
2012 – Judith Crist, American film critic (TV Guide, Today), dies at 90
Historical Events for 7th August 2021
1820 – 1st potatoes planted in Hawaii
1914 – Engagement between British cruiser HMS Gloucester and German cruisers SMS Breslau and SMS Goeben off Greece
1936 – Argentina wins the polo gold medal beating Great Britain 11-0 in the final at the Berlin Olympics; final time the sport is contested at the Olympics
1947 – Thor Heyerdahl and the crew of the Kon-Tiki crash into a reef in the Tuamotu Islands, French Polynesia after 101 days crossing the Pacific Ocean
1954 – Englishman Roger Bannister beats Australia’s John Landy in the mile at the Empire Games in Vancouver; first time 2 men run sub-4 minute mile in the same race
1964 – Turkey begins air attack on Greek Cypriots
1976 – Scientists in Pasadena, California, announce Viking I found strongest indications to date of possible life on Mars
1983 – Grete Waitz of Norway wins inaugural women’s marathon at the 1st world athletics championships in Helsinki, Finland
1987 – Lynne Cox becomes the 1st woman to swim from the US to the Soviet Union, 4.3 km across the Bering Sea in water temperature averaging 43 to 44 °F (6 to 7 °C)
1997 – STS 85 (Discovery 23) launches into orbit
Today in History for 7th August 2021
Historical Events
1907 – MLB Washington Senators legendary pitcher Walter Johnson wins first of his 416 career wins, 7-2 v Cleveland
1912 – Progressive (Bull Moose) Party nominates Theodore Roosevelt for US President
1914 – Engagement between British cruiser HMS Gloucester and German cruisers SMS Breslau and SMS Goeben off Greece
1942 – Transport 16 departs with French Jews to nazi-Germany
1960 – Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) gains independence from France
2018 – “Crazy Rich Asians” first Hollywood film with all-Asian cast, starring Constance Wu, Henry Golding and Michelle Yeoh premieres in Los Angeles
Famous Birthdays
1906 – Gerhard Frommel, German composer and pedagogue, born in Karlsruhe, Germany (d. 1984)
1926 – John Woodcock OBE, English cricket journalist (‘The Times’ 1954-88; Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 1981-86; President Cricket Writers’ Club 1986-2004), born in Longparish, England (d. 2021)
1951 – Gary Hall, American swimmer (Olympics-bronze/2 silver-1968, 72), born in Cincinnati, Ohio
1957 – Alexander Dityatin, Soviet gymnast (3-time Olympic Champion), born in Leningrad, Russia
1958 – Russell Baze, Canadian Racing Hall of Fame jockey (10-time US champion, 12,844 wins), born in Vancouver, British Columbia
1978 – Vanness Wu, Taiwanese-American singer (F4, Kangta and Vanness), born in Santa Monica, California
Famous Deaths
1916 – Charles E Manning, Australian judge/major, dies in battle at 36
1942 – Janusz Korczak [Henryk Goldszmit], Polish-Jewish educator and pedagogue (ran an orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto), is gassed at Treblinka extermination camp along with the residents of his orphanage at 64
1961 – Frank Buchman, American theologist (Moral Re-Armament), dies at 83
1976 – Cecil Weston, South African-born actress (Dude Ranch, Huckleberry Finn), dies at 86
1995 – Tom Scott, Scottish poet (Sea Dirge: A Mither’s Keenin), dies at 77
1997 – Douglas Gray, Scottish record and film producer, dies at 74
Famous Deaths for 6th August 2021
258 – Saint Sixtus II, bishop of Rome (257-58), beheaded under orders of Emperor Valerian
1914 – Ellen Axson Wilson, US 1st Lady (1913-14), dies during Woodrow Wilson’s 1st term of Bright’s Disease at 54
1924 – John Henry Roberts, composer, dies at 76
1928 – W. H. Grattan Flood, Irish author and composer, dies at 68
1945 – Prince Wu of Korea (b. 1912)
1995 – Youly Algaroff, Russian-French ballet dancer, dies at 77
2001 – Dorothy Tutin, British actress (Importance of Being Ernest, Cromwell), dies at 71
2012 – Marvin Hamlisch, American composer and conductor (The Sting, A Chorus Line), dies at 68
2020 – Wayne Fontana [Glyn Geoffrey Ellis], British rocker (The Mindbenders – “The Game Of Love”), dies at 74
2020 – Wilbert McClure, American boxer (Olympic gold light middleweight 1960), dies at 81
Historical Events for 6th August 2021
1497 – Italian explorer John Cabot returns to Bristol from North America (Newfoundland) – first European to do so since the Vikings
1625 – Earl Earnest Casimir appointed as viceroy of Groningen
1919 – Romanian forces bring down Hungarian Soviet Republic in Budapest
1926 – “Don Juan” starring John Barrymore is released by Warner Bros, the 1st feature-length film to utilize the Vitaphone sound-on-disc sound system with a synchronized musical score and sound effects
1946 – US officially submits to jurisdiction of World Court
1960 – Chubby Checker performs his version of “The Twist” on “The Dick Clark Show” starting a worldwide dance craze
1976 – Zulfikar Ali Bhutto lays the foundation stone of Port Qasim, Karachi
1990 – President Ghulam Ishaq Kahn dismisses Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan
2002 – 32-year old reliever Robb Nen becomes 16th and youngest closer to record 300 career saves as he protects Giants 11-10 lead v Cubs
2019 – The Philippines declares a national dengue epidemic with 622 people killed and 146,000 cases so far in 2019