On This Day

Monday August 5, 2013

This is the 217th day of the year, with 148 days remaining in 2013.

Fact of the Day: mustard

Mustard is a herbaceous plant originating in the Mediterranean. Of the numerous species of mustard, several have edible leaves, some produce edible oil, and a few provide seeds which are used to make the condiment of the same name. The seeds contain myronate and myrosin, which release a volatile and piquant essence when crushed in the presence of water, giving mustard its distinctive flavor. The condiment made from mustard seeds can be flavored with tarragon, garlic, mixed herbs, horseradish, honey, chili, paprika, or fruit.

Holidays

Feast day of St. Afra, St. Nonna, and Saints Addai and Mari.
Bahamas: Emancipation Day.
Burkina Faso: Republic Day.
Croatia: Homeland Thanksgiving Day.
Jamaica: Independence Day.

Events

1775 - The Spanish ship San Carlos, commanded by Juan Manuel de Ayala, entered San Francisco Bay and let off the first 200 settlers to the area.
1858 - The first transatlantic cable was completed.
1858 - Julia Archibald Holmes became the first woman on record to reach the summit of Pike's Peak.
1861 - The U.S. federal government levied an income tax for the first time, to finance the Civil War.
1884 - The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor. 
1914 - The first electric traffic lights were installed, in Cleveland, Ohio, at Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street.
1924 - The comic strip "Little Orphan Annie," by Harold Gray, debuted. 
1957 - "American Bandstand," hosted by Dick Clark, started its television run. 
1962 - ANC leader Nelson Mandela was arrested and given a life sentence on charges of attempting to overthrow the South African government.
1963 - The United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union signed the Test Ban Treaty in Moscow which banned nuclear tests in the atmosphere, in space, and underwater. 
2002 - The gun turret of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor was raised from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.

Births

1850 - Guy de Maupassant, French author.
1906 - John Huston, American Academy Award-winning director.
1911 - Robert Taylor (Spangler Brugh), American actor.
1930 - Neil Armstrong, American astronaut and first person to set foot on the Moon.

Deaths

1962 - Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jean Mortenson, Norma Jean Baker), American film actress and sex symbol.
1984 - Richard Burton, British stage and film actor.

Tuesday August 6, 2013

This is the 218th day of the year, with 147 days remaining in 2013.

Fact of the Day: English Channel

Anyone swimming the English Channel usually crosses the Strait of Dover (the narrowest portion of the English Channel) and covers approximately 21 miles from England to France. Some people swim more than 21 miles because the tides are very strong and the surface of the sea can move many miles from side to side. Swimming the English Channel is one of the more difficult long-distance swims, because the swimmer encounters many rough conditions along the way. The water is cold, waves can reach up to six feet, and the wind can be quite strong. The English Channel is also one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, so the swimmer must watch out for sea vessels. The first male to swim across the English Channel was Matthew Web on August 25, 1875; the first female to do so was Gertrude Ederle on August 6, 1926.

Holidays

Ecuador: National Day.
Bolivia: Independence Day.

Events

1787 - Delegates to the Constitutional Convention began debating the first complete draft of the proposed Constitution of the United States of America, in Philadelphia.
1806 - The Holy Roman Empire ceased to exist as Emperor Francis I abdicated. 
1825 - Bolivia declared its independence from Peru. 
1889 - The screw bottle top was patented by Dan Rylands of Hope Glass Works, Yorkshire.
1890 - At Auburn Prison in New York, the first execution by electrocution in history was carried out against William Kemmler, who had been convicted of murdering his lover, Matilda Ziegler, with an axe.
1890 - Cy Young pitched his first professional game, and won it.
1926 - Gertrude Ederle of New York became the first American woman to swim the English Channel, in about 14.5 hours. 
1926 - Warner Brothers premiered its "Vitaphone" talking movie system in New York.
1945 - The United States dropped an atomic bomb from the Enola Gay on Hiroshima, Japan, killing an estimated 140,000 people in the first use of a nuclear weapon in warfare. 
1962 - Jamaica became an independent dominion within the British Commonwealth. 
1965 - President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act.
1992 - Tim Berners-Lee put the first website online; it explained the World Wide Web and described how to use it.

Births

1809 - Alfred Lord Tennyson, English poet laureate.
1881 - Sir Alexander Fleming, Scottish Nobel Prize-winning bacteriologist, discoverer of penicillin.
1881 - Louella Parsons (Oettinger), American gossip columnist.
1911 - Lucille Ball, American Emmy Award-winning comedienne, actress.
1917 - Robert Mitchum, American actor.
1928 - Andy Warhol (Warhola), American pop artist.

Deaths

1623 - Anne Hathaway, wife of William Shakespeare.
1973 - Fulgencio Batista, Cuban dictator whose regime was toppled by Fidel Castro.

Wednesday August 7, 2013

This is the 219th day of the year, with 146 days remaining in 2013.

Fact of the Day: Hatfield-McCoy feud

The Hatfield-McCoy feud began in 1882 and went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The feud took place between two Appalachian families who lived on opposite sides of Tug Fork, the stream forming the border between West Virginia and Kentucky. The Hatfields lived in West Virginia and the McCoys lived in Kentucky. While the cause of the feud has never been determined, it probably originated over land ownership or property lines. The feud gained tremendous national attention and continued for many years with much loss of life. It went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court when Kentucky authorities sought to detain eight feud murder suspects for indictment and trial in Kentucky, provoking a complaint by West Virginia authorities. In 1888, the Supreme Court ruled that Kentucky had the legal right to detain the accused for trial. The eight men were found guilty; one was hanged in public and seven were sentenced to life in prison. The feud ended during the beginning of the 20th c entury.

Holidays

Feast day of St. Donatus of Arezzo, St. Victricius, Saints Agapitus, Sixtus II and Felicissimus, St. Dogmetius the Persian, St. Albert of Trapani, St. Claudia, and St. Cajetan or Gaetano.
Colombia: Battle of Boyaca.
Cote d'Ivoire: National Day.

Events

1782 - George Washington created the Order of the Purple Heart.
1789 - The U.S. War Department was established by Congress. 
1794 - The Whiskey Rebellion took place, a fight over excise taxes imposed on whiskey-making.
1807 - The first serviceable steamboat, the Clermont (called by some "Fulton's Folly," made its first journey, traveling from New York City toAlbany.
1934 - In Washington, D.C., the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the government can neither confiscate nor ban James Joyce's novel "Ulysses."
1942 - U.S. forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II.
1959 - The U.S. launched Explorer 6, which sent back a picture of the Earth.
1960 - The Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) achieved independence from France.
1964 - Congress overwhelmingly passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which allowed the President to use unlimited military force to prevent attacks on U.S. forces.
1998 - A massive truck bomb exploded outside the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, and another truck bomb detonated outside the U.S. embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 224 people, including 12 Americans, and wounding more than 5,500. The United Statesaccused Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, a proponent of international terrorism against America, of masterminding the bombings.
2000 - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore selected Connecticut senator Joseph Lieberman to be the first Jewish vice-presidential candidate on a major party ticket.

Births

1742 - Nathanael Greene, general American Revolutionary War.
1876 - Mata Hari (Gertrud Margarete Zelle), Dutch-born dancer, courtesan, double agent.
1903 - Louis Leakey, British archaeologist.
1942 - Garrison Keillor, American humorist, radio host.

Deaths

1957 - Oliver Hardy, American film comedian who teamed up with Stan Laurel to form the comic team of Laurel and Hardy.