http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Aug 5, 1974: Congress cuts military aid to South Vietnam
Congress places a $1 billion ceiling on military aid to South Vietnam for fiscal year 1974. This figure was trimmed further to $700 million by August 11. Military aid to South Vietnam in fiscal year 1973 was $2.8 billion; in 1975 it would be cut to $300 million. Once aid was cut, it took the North Vietnamese only 55 days to defeat the South Vietnamese forces when they launched their final offensive in 1975.
This day in history, the NBA merged with the ABA:
Aug 5, 1976: NBA merges with ABA
On this day in 1976, the National Basketball Association (NBA) merges with its rival, the American Basketball Association (ABA), and takes on the ABA’s four most successful franchises: the Denver Nuggets, the Indiana Pacers, the New York (later New Jersey) Nets and the San Antonio Spurs.
Founded in 1967 to fill the basketball void in areas not served by the 10-city NBA, the ABA selected former NBA star George Mikan as its first commissioner. He helped institute a more entertaining, high-scoring brand of basketball than that seen in the NBA, as well as an eye-catching red, white and blue ball, the three-point shot and an emphasis on marketing players with colorful nicknames like Julius "Dr. J" Erving and George "The Iceman" Gervin. Despite these popular innovations, the ABA was plagued by a series of bad business decisions, among them a failure to copyright the red, white and blue ball, which went on to sell wildly in the 1970s. The league also struggled to reach a mass audience, as only one of its cities was a top 20 American market. As a whole, the population in ABA cities was less than half that of the NBA cities, and although the underdog league was popular with what fans it did reach, in the end it could not make enough money to survive on its own.
Seeing the writing on the wall, seven ABA owners agreed to a merger, set for August 5, 1976, with the NBA; it was announced to the public on June 17. Plans were then made to dismantle three of the seven ABA franchises and incorporate their players into the NBA. According to the terms of the deal, the three teams not absorbed into the NBA would be paid a separately negotiated lump sum. One of the three teams, the Virginia Squires, went bankrupt before the merger, but the other two were rewarded with substantial payouts. The owner of the Kentucky Colonels, John Y. Brown Jr., received a payout of $3.3 million dollars, while the Silna brothers, owners of the Spirits of St. Louis, negotiated what many believe to be the best deal in sports history: They received $2.2 million dollars and 1/7 of a share of each of the four remaining ABA (now NBA) teams’ television rights in perpetuity. To date, they have received more than $168 million dollars from the NBA. The NBA’s overtures to buy them out of the merger deal have been politely refused.
Depending on your viewpoint, this next subject of history was either bad news and a portend of things to come, or it was a strong message to greedy unions. This days marks the anniversary that Ronald Reagan fired air traffic controllers:
Aug 5, 1981: Reagan fires 11,359 air-traffic controllers
On August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan begins firing 11,359 air-traffic controllers striking in violation of his order for them to return to work. The executive action, regarded as extreme by many, significantly slowed air travel for months.
Two days earlier, on August 3, almost 13,000 air-traffic controllers went on strike after negotiations with the federal government to raise their pay and shorten their workweek proved fruitless. The controllers complained of difficult working conditions and a lack of recognition of the pressures they face. Across the country, some 7,000 flights were canceled. The same day, President Reagan called the strike illegal and threatened to fire any controller who had not returned to work within 48 hours. Robert Poli, president of the Professional Air-Traffic Controllers Association (PATCO), was found in contempt by a federal judge and ordered to pay $1,000 a day in fines.
On August 5, an angry President Reagan carried out his threat, and the federal government began firing the 11,359 air-traffic controllers who had not returned to work. In addition, he declared a lifetime ban on the rehiring of the strikers by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). On August 17, the FAA began accepting applications for new air-traffic controllers, and on October 22 the Federal Labor Relations Authority decertified PATCO.
as well!
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
135 - Betar last outpost of Bar Kochba falls to Rome
642 - Battle of Maserfield - Penda of Mercia defeats and
kills Oswald of Bernicia.
910 - The last major Viking army to raid England is defeated
at the Battle of Tettenhall by the allied forces of Mercia and Wessex, led by
King Edward and Earl Aethelred.
1071 - Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes captured/Islam advances
through Europe
1100 - Henry I is crowned King of England in Westminster
Abbey.
1264 - Anti-Jewish riots break out in Arnstadt Germany
1305 - William Wallace, who led Scottish resistance to
England, is captured by the English near Glasgow and transported to London for
trial and execution.
1388 - Battle of Otterburn, a border skirmish between the
Scottish and the English in Northern England.
1391 - Castilian sailors fire attack Jewish ghetto of
Barcelona, 100's killed
1399 - Battle at Worskla: Tataren beat Russians &
Litouwers
1420 - Duke John VI of Bavaria visits "Christ's
bride"/virgin Liduina
1435 - Battle at Ponza: king Alfonso V of Aragon captured by
Genuezen
1543 - French & Turkish troops occupy Nice
1583 - Gilbert claims Newfoundland (1st English colony in
North America)
1587 - Spanish troops conquer Lock
1654 - French troops occupy Stenay
1666 - English fleet beats Dutch under Michiel the Ruyter
1667 - State of Holland obtain Eternal Edict
1689 - 1,500 Iroquois attack the village of Lachine, in New
France.
Scottish Patriot William WallaceScottish Patriot William
Wallace 1716 - Battle of Petrovaradin/Peterwardein: Habsburgs under Eugene of
Savoy defeat the Turks
1745 - Skirmish at Laggan: Glengarry beats Royal Scots
1763 - Pontiac's War: Battle of Bushy Run - British forces
led by Henry Bouquet defeat Chief Pontiac's Indians at Bushy Run.
1772 - 1st partition of Poland, between Austria, Prussia
& Russia
1775 - 1st Spanish ship, San Carlos, enters SF Bay
1781 - Battle at Doggers Bank: Dutch fleet vs English fleet
1812 - War of 1812: Tecumseh's Native American force
ambushes Thomas Van Horne's 200 Americans at Brownstone Creek, causing them to
flee and retreat.
1837 - 1st ascent of Mt Marcy (5,344') highest in
Adirondack, NY
1846 - Oregon country divided between US & Britain at
49th parallel
1858 - Cyrus W Field completes 1st transatlantic telegraph
cable
1860 - Carl IV of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Norway,
in Trondheim.
1861 - Enlistment increases from 3 months to 2 years
1861 - Naval Engagement at Fernandina, FL-USS Vincennes ends
rebel blockade
1861 - US Army abolishes flogging
1861 - US levies its 1st Income Tax (3% of incomes over
$800)
1862 - Battle of Baton Rouge, LA
US Civil War Admiral David FarragutUS Civil War Admiral
David Farragut 1864 - US Civil War Battle of Mobile Bay won by the Union led by
Rear Admiral Farragut with the cry "Damn the torpedoes, full speed
ahead!"
1864 - Spectrum of a comet observed for 1st time, by
Giovanni Donati
1874 - Japan launches its postal savings system, modeled
after a similar system in England.
1877 - Henry Morton Stanley's letter in order to aid reaches
Boma at Congo
1882 - Martial law is imposed in Japan.
1882 - Standard Oil of New Jersey is established.
1884 - Cornerstone for Statue of Liberty laid on Bedloe's
Island (NYC)
1890 - British & French accord to divide African
colonization
1891 - 1st travelers checks issued (American Express)
1901 - Peter O'Connor of Ireland, sets then long jump record
at 24' 11 3/4"
1912 - Japan's first taxicab service begins in Ginza, Tokyo.
1914 - 1st traffic light installed (Euclid Ave & E 105th
St, Cleveland)
1914 - Cuba, Uruguay, Mexico & Argentina proclaim
neutrality in WW I
1914 - Dutch Cort Van de Linden government issues silver
bonds as money
1914 - Massive German assault on forts around Luik
1914 - Montenegro declares war against Austria-Hungary in
World War I
1914 - US beats Australia, 3-2, to win Davis Cup
1914 - US, Nicaragua sign treaty granting canal rights to US
1914 - Westerschelde leaves due to German invasion in
Belgium
1915 - German troops over run Warsaw
1915 - Warsaw, evacuated by the Russians, is occupied by
Germans
1917 - British troops attack canal of Ypres in Boesinghe
Belgium
1921 - 1st radio baseball broadcast Pirates-8, Phillies-0
(KDKA, Pitts)
1921 - Treaty of Berlin: US & Germany sign separate
peace treaty
1923 - 1st American to swim English Channel (Henry Sullivan)
1924 - Comic strip "Little Orphan Annie," by
Harold Gray, debuts
1925 - Plaid Cymru is formed with the aim of disseminating
knowledge of the Welsh language, which is in danger of dying out.
1926 - 1st talkie movie "Don Juan" at Warner
Theatre, NY
1926 - French & German trade agreement signed
1926 - Houdini stays in a coffin under water for 1½ hrs
before escaping
1927 - Phillies Cy Williams hits for cycle in just 4 at bats
1931 - Det Tiger Tommy Bridges perfect game is broken up
with 2 outs in 9th
1936 - At Berlin Olympics, Jesse Owens wins his 3rd Olympic
medal
1937 - Ranger (US) beats Endeavour II (England) in 17th
America's Cup
1938 - 33rd Davis Cup: USA beats Australia in Philadelphia
(3-2)
1940 - "Acquaintance" blows-up Zandvoortse
synagouge
1940 - St Louis Brown John Whitehead no-hits Detroit Tigers,
4-0 in 6 innings
1942 - British government cancels agreement of Munich
1942 - German troops cross Kuban River
1943 - Sicily: 3 US A-36's bomb British headquarter
1943 - Soviet forces reconquer Orel & Bjelgorod
1943 - World War II: at around 11 A.M during the Battle of
Troina, Mount Etna erupts sending ash and lava miles into the sky.
1944 - US 79th/90th division occupy Laval/Mayenne
1944 - US troops occupy Vannes Bretagne
1945 - Atom Bomb dropped on Hiroshima (Aug 6th in Japan)
1947 - Netherlands ceases political action in Indonesia, due
to UN pressure
1948 - Cleveland Indians set club record for most double
plays in a game (6)
1949 - 6.75 Earthquake hits Quito; about 6000 die
1950 - Ezzard Charles KOs Freddie Beshore to retain HW
boxing title
1951 - Armed uprising in Ambonezen Camp Middelburg
1953 - Operation "Big Switch" Korean War prisoner
exchanged at Panmunjom
1954 - Boxing Hall of Fame's 1st election selects 24 modern
& 15 pioneers
1954 - Patty Berg wins LPGA World Golf Championshio
1955 - After playing 274 straight games at 2nd base, Nellie
Fox is given a day off he comes back next 798 consecutive games
1956 - KUAM TV channel 8 in Agana, GU (CBS/ABC/NBC) begins
broadcasting
1956 - Louise Suggs wins LPGA All American Golf Open
1956 - WCYB TV channel 5 in Bristol-Kingsport, VA (NBC)
begins broadcasting
1957 - "American Bandstand," begins network TV
(ABC)
1957 - Comic strip "Andy Capp" made its debut
1957 - WJZ-TV in Baltimore MD begins radio transmissions
1957 - Bkln Sports Authority gets an engineering report on
50,000-seat stadium in downtown area for estimated $207 million
1958 - Philip Kapleau, Zen teacher, 1st awakening under
Yasutani Roshi
1959 - 42.4 cm rainfall in Decatur Co, Iowa (state record)
1959 - Chic Cardinals (NFL) beat Toronto Argonauts (CFL)
55-26 in Toronto
1960 - Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta) declares
independence from France
1960 - Detroit trades mgr Jimmy Dykes for Cleve's mgr Joe
Gordon
1961 - 118°F (48°C), Ice Harbor Dam, Washington (state
record)
1961 - Chic Bears (NFL) beat Mont Alouettes (CFL) 34-16 in
Montreal
1962 - 1st quasar located by radio
1962 - Marilynn Smith wins LPGA Waterloo Golf Open
Anti-apartheid activist/South African President Nelson
MandelaAnti-apartheid activist/South African President Nelson Mandela 1962 -
Nelson Mandela arrested for incitement & illeagally leaving S Afr
1962 - UN command forbids flights to Katangese airports
1963 - Britain, US & USSR sign nuclear test ban treaty
1963 - Craig Breedlove sets world auto speed record at
407.45 MPH
1963 - US, USSR & Great Britain agree to discuss banning
nuclear testing
1964 - Beatles record "Leave My Kitten Alone"
1964 - Congo rebellion: Christopher Gbenye/Pierre Mulele
conquer Stanleyville
1964 - Ford Frick says he will not run for another term as
commissioner
1964 - US begins bombing North Vietnam
1965 - Dave Marr wins PGA title
1966 - 33rd NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Green Bay 38,
All-Stars 0 (72,000)
1966 - Jose Torres beats Eddie Cotton to retain light-HW
boxing title
1966 - Martin Luther King Jr stoned during Chicago march
1966 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern
Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1966 - Beatles release "Revolver" album in US
Clergyman and civil rights activist Martin Luther King
Jr.Clergyman and civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. 1966 - Beatles
release "Yellow Submarine" & "Eleanor Rigby" in UK
1967 - 1st time an AFL team beats an NFL team, Broncos beats
Detroit 13-7
1967 - Bobby Gentry releases her only hit "Ode to Billy
Joe"
1967 - Pirate Radio Station 333 (Radio Britain) & Radio
London close down
1968 - WMCV (now WZTV) TV channel 17 in Nashville, TN (IND)
1st broadcast
1969 - Mariner 7 flies past Mars
1969 - Pirate Willie Stargell is 1st to hit a ball out of
Dodger Stadium
1970 - Robert Morley's "How the Other Half Loves,"
premieres in London
1970 - US Black Panther leader Huey Newton let out of jail
1971 - WNPE TV channel 16 in Watertown, NY (PBS) begins
broadcasting
1972 - Moody Blues release "Nights in White Satin"
1972 - Uganda president Idi Amin throws out all 80,000
Asians
1972 - Detroit shortstop Ed Brinkman errors ends record
streak of 72 games & 331 total chances without a miscue
1973 - Arab terrorists open fire at Athens airport, kills 3
injures 55
1973 - Atlanta Braves Phil Niekro no-hits SD Padres, 9-0
1973 - Judy Rankin wins LPGA Pabst Ladies Golf Classic
1973 - USSR launches Mars 6
1974 - Joan Jett forms her rock group Runaways
1974 - Pres Nixon admits he withheld information about
Watergate break-in
1975 - Phillies 1st 8 batters get hits for a record, beat
Cubs 13-5
Singer-Songwriter Stevie WonderSinger-Songwriter Stevie
Wonder 1975 - Stevie Wonder signs $13M contract with Motown
1978 - New Orlean Saints beat Phil Eagles 14-7 in Mexico
City (NFL expo)
1979 - "But Never Jam Today" closes at Longacre
Theater NYC after 7 perfs
1979 - Government of Mauretania signs peace treaty with
Polisario
1979 - Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Colgate European Golf Open
1979 - Phillies Pete Rose collects NL record 2,427th career
single
1979 - Varetta Shankle (Miss), crowned 12th Miss Black
America
1979 - Willie Mays, Warren Giles, & Hack Wilson inducted
in Hall of Fame
1980 - Expos Dick Williams wins his 1,000th career game as a
manager
1980 - NY Met Doug Flynn ties record of 3 triples in a game
1981 - Federal government began firing striking air traffic
controllers
1981 - Pres Regan fires 11,500 air traffic controllers who
struck 2 days ago
1981 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1982 - Stephabue Hix, of Alabama, 18, crowned Miss National
Teen-Ager
1982 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1984 - Alice Miller wins West Virginia LPGA Golf Classic
1984 - Joan Benoit (US) wins 1st Olympic marathon for women
(2:24:52)
1984 - Lou Pinella Day at Yankee Stadium
1984 - Toronto's Cliff Johnson hits record 19th career pinch
HR
1985 - Baseball players go on strike for 2 days
1985 - Establishment of a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is
announced
1985 - Flexible-wing glider altitude record (214,250') set
by Larry Tudor
1986 - Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway sets 5k woman's record
(14:37.33)
1986 - Steve Carlton is 2nd to pitch 4,000 strikeout
1986 - US Senate votes for SDI-project (Star Wars)
1986 - It's revealed Andrew Wyeth had, secretly created 240
drawings & paintings of his neighbor Helga Testorf, in Chadds Ford, Pa
1988 - Mario Biaggi (Rep-D-NY) convicted of racketeering
resigns seat
1989 - General elections are held in Nicaragua with the
Sandinista Front winning a majority.
1990 - Barb Mucha wins LPGA Boston Five Golf Classic
1990 - Jim Palmer & Joe Morgan inducted into hall of
fame
1991 - Sergei Bubka of USSR sets pole vault world record
(6.10m) in Malmö Sweden
Victim of Police Violence Rodney KingVictim of Police
Violence Rodney King 1992 - 4 cops in Rodney King beating case indicted on
civil rights charge
1994 - Antonov-12 crash down at Boda, East-Siberia, 47
killed
1994 - Rocker Billy Idol admitted to the hospital after drug
overdose
1995 - The city of Knin, a significant Serb stronghold, is
captured by Croatian forces during Operation Storm. The date is celebrated as
the day of victory (Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day) in Croatia.
1996 - Dallas Cowboys play KC Chiefs in Monterrey Mexico
1997 - Korean Air 747 with 331 aboard crashes in Guam, 29
survive
1997 - Ramzi Yousef, mastermind of world trade center
bombing goes on trial
1997 - Soyuz TM-26 crew of Anatoly Solovyov & Pavel
Vinogradov, launched
2003 - A car bomb explodes in the Indonesian capital of
Jakarta outside the Marriott Hotel killing 12 and injuring 150.
2011 - Svalbard Polar Bear Attack (2011) - a rogue Polar
Bear attacks and kills a British schoolboy.
2012 - Gunman opens fire on Sikh temple in Oak Creek,
Wisconsin killing six people and committing suicide
2012 - 19 people are killed by Kurdish rebels in Hakk
2012 - General Motors signs a record breaking $559 million
marketing deal with Manchester United
1833 - The village of Chicago was incorporated. The population was approximately 250. 1861 - The U.S. federal government levied its first income tax. The tax was 3% of all incomes over $800. The wartime measure was rescinded in 1872. 1864 - During the U.S. Civil War, Union forces led by Adm. David G. Farragut were led into Mobile Bay, Alabama. 1884 - On Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor, the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid. 1914 - The electric traffic lights were installed in Cleveland, Ohio. 1921 - The first play-by-play broadcast of a baseball game was done by Harold Arlin. KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh, PA described the action between the Pirates and Philadelphia. 1921 - The cartoon "On the Road to Moscow", by Rollin Kirby, was published in the "New York World". It was the first cartoon to win a Pulitzer Prize. 1923 - Henry Sullivan became the first American to swim across the English Channel. 1924 - In the New York "Daily News" debuted the comic strip "Little Orphan Annie," by Harold Gray. 1944 - Polish insurgents liberated a German labor camp in Warsaw. 348 Jewish prisoners were freed. 1953 - During the Korean conflict prisoners were exchanged at Panmunjom. The exchange was labeled Operation Big Switch. 1960 - For the first time two major league baseball clubs traded managers. Detroit traded Jimmy Dykes for Cleveland's Joe Gordon. 1963 - The Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed by the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union. The treaty banned nuclear tests in space, underwater, and in the atmosphere. 1964 - U.S. aircraft bombed North Vietnam after North Vietnamese boats attacked U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. 1969 - The Mariner 7, a U.S. space probe, passed by Mars. Photographs and scientific data were sent back to Earth. 1974 - U.S. President Nixon said that he expected to be impeached. Nixon had ordered the investigation into the Watergate break-in to halt. 1974 - "Tank McNamara", the comic strip, premiered in 75 newspapers. 1981 - The U.S. federal government started firing striking air traffic controllers. 1984 - Toronto’s Cliff Johnson set a major league baseball record by hitting the 19th pinch-hit home run in his career. 1986 - It was revealed that artist Andrew Wyeth had secretly created 240 drawings and paintings of his neighbor. The works of Helga Testorf had been created over a 15-year period. 1989 - In Honduras, five Central American presidents began meeting to discuss the timetable for the dismantling of the Nicaraguan Contra bases. 1990 - U.S. President George H.W. Bush angrily denounced the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. 1991 - An investigation was formally launched by Democratic congressional leaders to find out if the release of American hostages was delayed until after the Reagan-Bush presidential election. 1991 - Iraq admitted to misleading U.N. inspectors about secret biological weapons. 1992 - Federal civil rights charges were filed against four Los Angeles police officers. The officers had been acquitted on California State charges. Two of the officers were convicted and jailed on violation of civil rights charges. 1998 - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein began not cooperating with U.N. weapons inspectors. 1998 - Marie Noe of Philadelphia, PA was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, accused of smothering eight of her children to death between 1949 and 1968. Noe later received 20 years' probation. 1999 - Mark McGwire (St. Louis Cardinals) hit his 500th career homerun. He also set a record for the fewest at-bats to hit the 500 homerun mark. 2002 - The U.S. closed its consulate in Karachi, Pakistan. The consulate was closed after local authorities removed large concrete blocks and reopened the road in front of the building to normal traffic. 2011 - NASA announced that its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter had captured photographic evidence of possible liquid water on Mars during warm seasons. 2011 - Juno was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a mission to Jupiter. It was the first solar-powered spacecraft to go to Jupiter.
1861 For the first time, the U.S. government levied an income tax. 1884 The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid on Bedloe's Island. 1914 The first electric traffic lights were installed in Cleveland, Ohio. 1962 Marilyn Monroe died. 1963 The United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union signed the limited Test Ban Treaty, which prohibited nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere, in outer space, and underwater. 1969 The U.S. space probe Mariner 7 transmitted pictures of Mars. 1984 Joan Benoit won the first Olympic women's marathon. 2002 The gun turret of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor was raised from the ocean floor. 2003 The Rev. Gene Robinson was approved as the first openly gay bishop by the U.S. Episcopal Church. 2012 The plutonium-powered rover Curiosity successfully lands on Mars. Larger than earlier rovers, Curiosity will spend two years examining the land, looking for evidence that conditions on Mars are fit for life.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/aug05.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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