Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!
Aug 3, 1914: Germany and France declare war on each other
On the afternoon of this day in 1914, two days after declaring war on Russia, Germany declares war on France, moving ahead with a long-held strategy, conceived by the former chief of staff of the German army, Alfred von Schlieffen, for a two-front war against France and Russia. Hours later, France makes its own declaration of war against Germany, readying its troops to move into the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, which it had forfeited to Germany in the settlement that ended the Franco-Prussian War in 1871.
With Germany officially at war with France and Russia, a conflict originally centered in the tumultuous Balkans region—with the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, and the subsequent standoff between Austria-Hungary, Serbia and Serbia’s powerful Slavic supporter, Russia—had erupted into a full-scale war. Also on August 3, the first wave of German troops assembled on the frontier of neutral Belgium, which in accordance with the Schlieffen Plan would be crossed by German armies on their way to an invasion of France. The day before, Germany had presented Belgium and its sovereign, King Albert, with an ultimatum demanding passage for the German army through its territory.
This threat to Belgium, whose perpetual neutrality had been mandated by a treaty concluded by the European powers—including Britain, France and Germany—in 1839, united a divided British government in opposition to German aggression. Hours before Germany’s declaration of war on France on August 3, the British foreign secretary, Sir Edward Grey, went before Parliament and convinced a divided British government—and nation—to give its support to Britain’s entrance into the war if Germany violated Belgian neutrality.
"The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime," Grey famously remarked to a friend on the night of August 3. The next day, Britain sent its own ultimatum to Berlin: halt the invasion of Belgium or face war with Britain as well. A reply was demanded by midnight that night. At noon that day, King Albert finally made a concerted appeal for help to France and Britain, as guarantors of Belgium’s neutrality according to the Treaty of 1839. To do so earlier, to call in the French and British too soon, would have risked violating his country’s neutrality before Germany had done so. When London received no answer to its ultimatum—the first German troops had in fact crossed the Belgian frontier at Gemmerich, 30 miles from the fortress city of Liege, that morning—Britain declared war on Germany.
In August 1914, as the great powers of Europe readied their armies and navies for a fight, no one was preparing for a long struggle—both sides were counting on a short, decisive conflict that would end in their favor. "You will be home before the leaves have fallen from the trees," Kaiser Wilhelm assured troops leaving for the front in the first week of August 1914. Even though some military leaders, including German Chief of Staff Helmuth von Moltke and his French counterpart, Joseph Joffre, foresaw a longer conflict, they did not modify their war strategy to prepare for that eventuality. One man, the controversial new war secretary in Britain, Lord Horatio Kitchener, did act on his conviction that the war would be a lasting one, insisting from the beginning of the war—against considerable opposition—on the need to build up Britain’s armed forces. "A nation like Germany," Kitchener argued, "after having forced the issue, will only give in after it is beaten to the ground. This will take a very long time. No one living knows how long."
Aug 3, 1949: NBA is born
On this day in 1949, after a damaging three-year battle to win both players and fans, the rival Basketball Association of America (BAA) and National Basketball League (NBL) merge to form the National Basketball Association (NBA).
The BAA incorporated in 1946, challenging the hegemony of the nine-year old NBL. The BAA established itself in bigger cities than the NBL, which existed only in small Midwestern cities like Fort Wayne, Sheboygan and Akron. While the NBL held its games in small gymnasiums, the upstart BAA played its games in large major-market arenas such as the Boston Garden and New York City’s Madison Square Garden. By the 1948-49 season, the BAA had begun to attract some of the country’s best players, and four NBL franchises--Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Minneapolis and Rochester--moved to the BAA, bringing their star players with them. George Mikan, the biggest attraction in either league who by himself could virtually assure a team’s success, defected to the new league with the Minneapolis Lakers.
On August 3, 1949, representatives from the two leagues met at the BAA offices in New York’s Empire State Building to finalize the merger. Maurice Podoloff, head of the BAA since its inception, was elected head of the new league. The new NBA was made up of 17 teams that represented both small towns and large cities across the country. Through the 1950s, though, the number of teams dwindled, along with fan support, and by the 1954-55 season, only eight teams remained. That year, the league transformed the game with the creation of the 24-second clock, making play faster-paced and more fun to watch. Fans returned, and the league, now financially solvent, expanded throughout the 1960s and 70s. Today, the NBA has 30 franchises and attracts players—and millions of fans—from countries around the world.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
8 - Roman Empire general Tiberius defeats Dalmatians on the river Bathinus.
435 - Deposed Patriarch of Constantinople Nestorius, considered the originator of Nestorianism, exiled by Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II to a monastery in Egypt.
881 - Battle at Saucourt: French King Louis III beats the Vikings
1108 - Louis VI, "the Fat One," King of France, crowned
1312 - Power of Luik Patriarch murders over 200
1492 - All Jews are expelled from Spain
1492 - Christopher Columbus left Palos, Spain with three ships, headed for the "Indies". The voyage would lead him to what is now known as the Americas. He reached the Bahamas on October 12.
1527 - First known letter was sent from North America by John Rut while at St. John's, Newfoundland.
1529 - "Ladies' Peace" (treaty of Cambrai)-emperor Charles V & King French I
1557 - Dutch States-General meet at Valenciennes
1596 - David Fabricius discovers light variation of Mira (1st variable star)
1635 - The third of the Tokugawa shoguns, Iemitsu, establishes the system of alternate attendance (sankin kotai) by which the feudal daimyō are required to spend one year at Edo Castle in Tokyo and one year back home at their feudal manor, while their families remained in Tokyo as virtual political hostages. (Traditional Japanese Date: June 21, 1635).
1640 - 2,000 men VOC-army surrounds the city of Malakka
1640 - Zorilla's "Bire el Ojo," premieres in Toledo
1645 - Battle of Allersheim: French defeat Bavarians
1650 - Viceroy Willem II & Amsterdam reach accord about standing army
1676 - Nathaniel Bacon publishes "Declaration of People of Virginia"
1678 - Robert LaSalle builds 1st ship in America, Griffon
1692 - Battle at Steenkerke: French beat English/Dutch army
1704 - English/Dutch fleet under Rooke/Callenburgh occupy Gibraltar
1708 - Battle at Trencsén: Austria beats Hungarian rebellion army
1745 - Bonnie Prince Charlie lands on Eriskay, Hebrides
1750 - Christopher Dock completed the first book of teaching methods. It was titled "A Simple and Thoroughly Prepared School Management."
1778 - Teatro alla Scala opens in Milan
1797 - Emperor Francis I permits Jews who served in military in "Countries of Bohemian Crown" to marry non Jews
1829 - Gioacchino Rossini's "William Tell," premieres in Paris
1833 - HMS Beagle reaches river mouth of Rio Negro
1852 - 1st intercollegiate rowing race, Harvard beats Yale by 4 lengths
1855 - Rotterdam-Gouda railway opens
1860 - American Canoe Association founded at Lake George NY
1860 - The Second Maori War begins in New Zealand.
1861 - Federal fleet bombs Galveston Texas
1863 - Governor Seymour asks Lincoln to suspend draft in NY
1863 - Saratoga Racetrack (NY) opens
1864 - Battle of Mobile AL
1880 - The American Canoe Association was formed at Lake George, NY.
1881 - Boers signs Convention of Pretoria: Transvaal semi-autonomous
1881 - US Nation Lawn Tennis Association removes "Nation" from name
1882 - Congress passes 1st law restricting immigration
1897 - John McNally's musical "Good Mr Best," premieres in NYC
Tire Industrialist Harvey FirestoneTire Industrialist Harvey Firestone
1900 - Firestone Tire & Rubber Company founded.
1904 - British journalist Francis Younghusband visits forbidden city Lhasa
1906 - Wash Natl's pitcher Tom Hughes hits HR to win his own game 1-0 in 10th
1913 - Wheatland Hop Riot
1914 - Germany declared war on France. The next day World War I began when Britain declared war on Germany.
1914 - 1st seaworthy ship through Panama Canal
1914 - Belgium rejects demand to allow free crossing for German army
1914 - French fleet sails to North-Africa
1914 - German battle cruiser Goeben leaves Messina
1914 - Germany invades Belgium and declares war on France in WW I
1914 - Great Britain declares war on Germany
1914 - Turkey signs military pact with Germany
1914 - World Alliance for Promoting Intl Friendship through Churches forms
1914 - Yankee catcher Nunamaker throws out 3 would be stealers in 1 inning
1921 - 1st aerial cropdusting (Troy Ohio to kill caterpillars)
1921 - Due to a technicality, 8 Chicago White Sox accused in Black Sox scandal are acquited, however Landis throws them out of baseball
1922 - WGY radio in Schenectady, NY, presented the first full-length melodrama on radio. The work was "The Wolf", written by Eugene Walter.
1923 - Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th president of the U.S. after the sudden death of President Harding.
1923 - Baseball games cancelled following the death of President Harding
1924 - Cyclist Piet Moeskops regains world sprint championist
1925 - Last US troops leave Nicaragua (there since 1912)
1926 - Traffic lights installed on Piccadilly Circus
1928 - Ray Barbuti saves US team from defeat in Amsterdam Olympics track events by winning 400 m (47.8 sec)
1930 - 2nd time in 1930, Chuck Klein of Phillies hits in 26 straight games
1933 - Yanks are shut out for 1st time after 308 games (since Aug 2, 1931)
1933 - The Mickey Mouse Watch was introduced for the price of $2.75.
1936 - The U.S. State Department advised Americans to leave Spain due to the Spanish Civil War.
1936 - Jesse Owens won the first of his four Olympic gold medals.
1939 - Jean Genets "Ondine," premieres in Paris
1940 - German occupiers forbid ritual slaughters & English & French movies
1940 - Italian troops invade British Somalia
1940 - Lithuanian SSR is accepted into USSR
1940 - Seaplane Clare makes 1st British passagiersvlucht to the US
1941 - Benzine sales limited in US
1941 - Gas sales limited in US
1941 - German troops conquer Roslavl USSR
Yankee Clipper Joe DiMaggioYankee Clipper Joe DiMaggio
1941 - Browns pitcher Johnny Niggling gets Joe DiMaggio in 4 at bats to stop DiMaggio's streak of 74 games in reaching base
1943 - Nazi occupiers attack city Orel, leave it in fire
1943 - Gen. George S. Patton verbally abused and slapped a private in a hospital, accusing him of cowardice. Later, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered him to apologize for the incident.
1944 - Allied troops conquer Myitkyina Burma
1944 - Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp gases 4,000 gypsies
1944 - General Montgomery visits general Dempsey's headquarter
1944 - Lt-Gen Stilwells troops occupy Myitkyina Burma
1944 - Tommy Brown, just 16 years & 8 months old, plays shortstop for Dodgers
1946 - Belgian government of Huysmans, forms
1948 - Cleveland's Satchel Paige make his 1st start & goes 7 innings
1948 - FDR advisor Alger Hiss accused to be a "communist"
1949 - Republic Indonesia proclaims cease fire
1949 - The National Basketball Association (NBA) was formed. The league was formed by the merger between the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League.
1951 - William H Jackson, ends term as deputy director of CIA
1952 - 15th Olympic games close in Helsinki Finland
US General George S. PattonUS General George S. Patton 1953 - Frank Blair becomes news anchor of Today Show
1954 - 1st VTOL (Vertical Take-off & Land) flown
1955 - Automobile Association of America ends support of auto racing
1955 - Hurricane Connie begins pounding US for 11 days
1955 - Roger Moens runs world record 800 m (1:45.7)
1956 - Willie Williams of US sets 100 meter record at 10.1
1956 - Bedloe's Island had its name changed to Liberty Island.
1957 - British offensive against imam Galeb Ben Ali of Oman
1958 - The nuclear-powered submarine Nautilus became the first vessel to cross the North Pole underwater. The mission was known as "Operation Sunshine."
1958 - The Billboard Hot 100 is founded
1959 - 27th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 5-3 at Memorial Coliseum, LA
1959 - 50 killed in uprising in Guinea-Bissau
1959 - AL beats NL 5-3 in 27th All Star Game (Dodger Stadium)
1960 - Niger gains independence from France
1962 - 29th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Green Bay 42, All-Stars 20 (65,000)
1962 - NY Met Frank Thomas hits his 6th HR in 3 games
1963 - "No Strings" closes at 84th St Theater NYC after 580 performances
1963 - Allan Sherman releases "Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda"
1963 - Beatles final performance at Cavern Club in Liverpool
1966 - South African government bans Beatle records
1967 - 45,000 US soldiers sent to Vietnam
1967 - James Law rides entire NYC subway in 22 hrs 12 minutes
1968 - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
1969 - Reds beats Phillies 19-17
1969 - Sandra Spuzich wins LPGA Buckeye Savings Golf Invitational
1970 - 4 day NFL strike ends
1970 - Christopher Hampton's "Philanthropist," premieres in London
1970 - Hurricane "Celia" becomes most expensive Gulf storm in history
1970 - Mairiam Hargrave of Yorkshire, passes her driving test on 40th try
Pop Star & Beatle Paul McCartneyPop Star & Beatle Paul McCartney 1971 - Paul McCartney announces formation of his group Wings
1972 - British premier Heath proclaims emergency crisis due to harbor strike
1972 - Chozen-ji/Intl Zen Dojo founded by Omori Sogen Roshi, in Hawaii
1972 - U.S. Senate ratifies the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
1973 - Flash fire kills 51 at amusement park (Isle of Man, UK)
1973 - National People's party wins Dutch Antilles National elections
1974 - "Little Night Music" closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 601 perfs
1974 - "Words & Music" closes at John Golden Theater NYC after 127 perfs
1974 - Guitarist Jeff Baxter quits Steely Dan & joins Doobie Brothers
1975 - 500 drown when 2 river boats collide & sink in China's West River
1975 - Louisiana Superdome is dedicated
1975 - Poland & West germany reach accord about returning ethnic Germans
1975 - Susie Berning wins LPGA Lady Keystone Golf Open
1977 - Radio Shack issues a press release introducing TRS-80 computer 25 existed, within weeks thousands were ordered
1977 - United States Senate Hearing on MKULTRA.
1979 - Fastest jai-alai shot (188 mph), Jose Arieto at Newport Jai Alai, RI
1979 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1979 - "More American Graffiti" was released.
1979 - Johnny Carson, the "Tonight Show" host, was on the cover of the Burbank, CA, telephone directory.
1980 - 22nd Olympic games close at Moscow, USSR
1980 - Kaline, Snider, Klein, & Tom Yawkey inducted into Hall of Fame
1980 - Sandra Post wins West Virginia LPGA Golf Classic
1981 - 13,000 Air Traffic Controllers (PATCO) begin their strike
1981 - France performs nuclear test
1981 - Senegalese opposition parties, under the leadership of Mamadou Dia, launch the Antiimperialist Action Front-Suxxali Reew Mi.
1981 - U.S. traffic controllers with PATCO, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, went on strike, and were fired. U.S. President Reagan had warned them of their fate. The interpretation of this incident has proven controversial since.
1982 - Clyde King replaces Gene Michaels as NY Yankee manager
1983 - John Sain of South Bend, Ind builds 3.91 m house of cards
1983 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1984 - 365.7 million shares traded in NY Stock Exchange
1984 - Bomb attack on Madras India airport, 32 killed
1984 - Mary Lou Retton won a gold medal at the Los Angeles Summer Olympics.
1985 - Mail service returned to a nudist colony in Paradise Lake, FL. Residents promised that they'd wear clothes or stay out of sight when the mailperson came to deliver.
1985 - "Nihilator" set harness pacing mile (1:49.6) in East Rutherford, NJ
1985 - Train crash at Flaujac, France: 35 killed
1986 - Amy Alcott wins LPGA National Golf Pro-Am
1986 - Willie McCovey, Bobby Doerr, & Ernie Lombardi inducted in Hall of Fame
1987 A 22-cent stamp honoring author William Faulkner was issued. Its first-day cancellation was held in Oxford, Miss., where Faulkner had served as postmaster from 1921 until his resignation in 1924 following accusations of negligence.
1987 - Chicago Bears beat Dallas Cowboys 17-6 in London, England (NFL expo)
1987 - Discovery in Orbital Processing Facility is powered up for STS-26
1987 - Jack Morris ties AL record with 5 wild pitches in a 4-2 lose
1987 - Twins Joe Niekro is caught with a file on the mound & is ejected
1988 - The Iran-Contra hearings ended. No official ties were made between U.S. President Reagan and the Nicaraguan Rebels.
1988 - The Soviet Union released Mathias Rust. He had been taken into custody on May 28, 1987 for landing a plane in Moscow's Red Square.
1988 - Skip Storch swims 246 km of Hudson River from Albany to NYC
1989 - 5th jockey to win 6,000 races (Jorge Valesquez)
1989 - Lawrence Delisle drives his 4 kids into river
1989 - Rickey Henderson sets AL mark of 50 steals in 9 seasons
1989 - Cin Reds send record 20 men to bat with a record 16 hits in 1 inning as they score 14 runs in 1st inning
1989 - Hashemi Rafsanjani was sworn in as the president of Iran.
1990 - Thousands of Iraqi troops pushed within a few miles of the border of Saudi Arabia. This heightened world concerns that the invasion of Kuwait could spread.
1990 - "Little Night Music" opens at New York State Theater NYC for 11 perfs
1990 - 98.8°F (37.1°C) in Cheltenham, Glos. (UK record)
1990 - NY Yankee Kevin Mass sets record with 10th HR in 1st 72 at bats
1990 - Radio Kuwait resigns air, due to Iraqi invasion
1990 - US announces commitment of Naval forces to Gulf regions
1990 - For 3rd time in 1990 a no-hitter is broken up with 2 outs in 8th inning. Doug Drabek of Pitts still beats Phila 11-0
1991 - Giant Victory, driven by Jack Moiseyev, wins Hambletonian
1991 - Pan Am games open in Havana
1992 - Dodgers win 3,000th game since moving to Los Angeles (3,000-2,531)
1992 - Paramount inaugurates New York Street on TV/movie lot
1992 - The U.S. Senate voted to restrict and eventually end the testing of nuclear weapons.
1992 - Russia and Ukraine agreed to put the Black Sea Fleet under joint command. The agreement was to last for three years.
1994 - 102.4°F (39.1°C) in Tokyo Japan: record
1994 - 1st Jordanian plane to fly over Israeli airspace (King Hussein pilot)
1995 - CNN en Espanol premieres
1995 - Eyad Ismoil was flown from Jordan to the U.S. to face charges that he had driven the van that blew up in New York's World Trade Center.
1996 - General William F. Garrison accepted responsibility for the outcome of the 1993 raid in Somalia, and he retired from military service.
1997 - 25th du Maurier Golf Classic: Colleen Walker wins
1997 - BankBoston Senior Golf Classic
1997 - Garth Brooks performs a free concert in Central Park NY for HBO
1997 - Phil Mickelson wins golf's Sprint International
1997 - Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre in Algeria; 40-76 villagers killed.
2001 - The Real IRA detonate a car bomb in Ealing, London, U.K injuring seven people. (See 3 August 2001 Ealing bombing).
2004 - In New York, the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty re-opened to the public. The site had been closed since the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.
2004 - NASA launched the spacecraft Messenger. The 6 1/2 year journey was planned to arrive at the planet Mercury in March 2011.
2005 - President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya of Mauritania is overthrown in a military coup while attending the funeral of King Fahd in Saudi Arabia.
2009 - Bolivia became the first South American country to declare the right of indigenous people to govern themselves.
2012 - United Nations General Assembly c reproaches The United Nations Security Council over its lack of action in Syria
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
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