Sunday, August 18, 2024

August 18th: This Day in History

 






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!







Wow! Today was actually a very busy, but fascinating, day in history! Ghengis Khan died on this day in history. The City of Riga was founded. George Washington signed the Jay Treaty with Great Britain on this day. The Mayor of Tokyo, Yukio Ozaki, presented the city of Washington with 2,000 cherry blossoms, which President Howard Taft decided should be planted near the Potomac. FDR opened the Thousand Islands Bridge between New York State, USA) and Ontario, Canada. Hitler ended the euthanasia program in Nazi Germany. Scheduled protests at the Polo Grounds and Ebbotts Field to end racial segregation in professional baseball were called off (in 1945!). South Africa was banned from participating in the Olympics because of it's official policy of apartheid. Jimi Hendrix closed out the Woodstock Music Festival with his set on the Monday morning, the 18th of August. A couple of years after Woodstock, Australia and New Zealand both pulled out of Vietnam on this day! There was the very brief August Coup against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev back in 1991, an event that I actually remember!



Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:


On this day in 293 BCE, the oldest known Roman temple to Venus was founded, starting the institution of Vinalia Rustica. In 410 on this day, King Alarik I's Visigoten occupied & plundered Rome. The city of Riga (present day Latvia) was founded on this day in 1201. In 1289 on this day, Pope Nicolaus IV published degree "Supra montem." On this day in 1541, a Portuguese ship drifted ashore in the ancient Japanese province of Higo (modern day Kumamoto Prefecture). (Traditional Japanese date: July 27, 1541). Spanish King Philip II joined the Council of Trente on this day in 1564. In 1587 on this day, Saul Wahl was elected King of Poland, according to legend. It was (arguably) on this day (or August 17th) in 1591 that the Governor of Roanoke Island colony returned from England & found everyone in the colony had disappeared, which would remain one of history's great mysteries for many years thereafter. One word, "CROATON," had been carved onto a tree nearby, but evidently, no other clues existed as to the whereabouts of the English colonists in Roanoke. On this day in 1605, the Spanish army under the leadership of General Spinola conquered Lingen. In 1634 on this day, Urbain Grandier, accused and convicted of sorcery, was burned alive in Loudun, France. On this day in 1636, the Covenant of the Town of Dedham, Massachusetts was first signed. Jean Racine's "Iphigénie," premiered in Versailles on this day in 1674. Cassini reported seeing a satellite orbiting Venus on this day in 1686. In 1698 on this day, Russian Czar Peter the Great arrived in Zaandam. Swedish, English & Dutch army landed on Seeland, Denmark, on this day in 1700. On this day in 1759 (and lasting through to the 19th), the second sea Battle of Lagos, pitting England vs France during the Seven Year's War. Gunpowder in Brescia Italy church exploded, killing 3,000, on this day in 1769. In 1795 on this day, Curacao Governor De Veer sent miltia to stop rebellious slaves. On this day in 1817 in Gloucester, Mass, newspapers reported the sighting of a wild sea serpent seen offshore. Mt Vesuvius erupted on this day in 1834. On this day in 1835, the last Pottawatomie Indians left Chicago The first US marine expedition occurred on this day in 1838. The Organization of American Society of Dental Surgeons was founded in New York on this day in 1840. General Stephen W Kearney's US forces captured Santa Fe, New Mexico, on this day in 1846. In 1848 on this day, Camila O'Gorman and Ladislao Gutierrez were executed on the orders of Argentine dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas. On this day in 1858, Netherlands and Japan signed a trade agreement.


1862 - General Lee's adjutant major Stuart captured
1862 - Sioux Indians begin uprising in Minnesota (it is later crushed)
1864 - 6th day of battle at Deep Bottom Run, Virginia: Confederate assault
1864 - Petersburg Campaign-Battle of Weldon Railroad day 1 of 3 days
1868 - Pierre Janssan discovers helium in solar spectrum during eclipse
1870 - Battle at Gravelotte Privat: Prussia beat France, 32,000 casualties
1872 - 1st mail-order catalog issued by A M Ward
1873 - 1st ascent of Mount Whitney, California (14,494')
1886 - Carr Baker Neel & Samuel Neel win US Lawn Tennis Association doubles
1891 - Hurricane hits Martinique, about 700 die
1894 - Congress creates Bureau of Immigration
1896 - Adolph Ochs (39) buys NY Times
1904 - Chris Watson resigns as Prime Minister of Australia and is succeeded by George Reid.
1909 - Mayor of Tokyo Yukio Ozaki presents Washington, D.C. with 2,000 cherry trees, which President Taft decides to plant near the Potomac River.
1914 - Oscar Egg sets new cycling hour record (44,247 km)
1914 - -20] Belgian army withdraws to Antwerp
1914 - French troops under general Dubail occupy Sarrebourg
1914 - Pres Wilson issues "Proclamation of Neutrality"
1915 - Braves Field opens in Boston to see Braves beat Cards 3-1
1917 - Dutch Naval Air Force forms (MLD)
1917 - A Great Fire in Thessaloniki, Greece destroys 32% of the city leaving 70,000 individuals homeless.
1919 - Anti-Cigarette League of America forms in Chicago Illinois
1920 - 1st class debut of Walter Hammond
1920 - 19th Amendment on women's suffrage ratified
1923 - 37th US Womens Tennis: Helen Wills Moody beats Molla B Mallory (62 61)
1924 - France begins retracting troops out of Ruhrgebied
1924 - France begins withdrawing troops from the Ruhr
1925 - Belgian & US sign treaty about war debts
1925 - Cardinal Mercier warns Belgians against socialism/liberalism
1926 - England regain Ashes with 5th Test Cricket win, to take series 1-0
1926 - Weather map televised for 1st time
1930 - Eastern Airlines begins passenger service
1931 - Lou Gehrig hitless in Detroit, his 1,000th consecutively played game
1932 - Auguste Piccard/Max Cosijns reach 16,201m in a balloon
1932 - Englishman James Mollisson is 1st to fly east to west over Atlantic
1934 - 48th US Womens Tennis: Helen Jacobs beats Sarah H Cooke (61 64)
1934 - Bradman scores 244 in 5th Test Cricket, 316 mins, 32 fours 1 six
1934 - Ponsford & Bradman make 451 partnership in 316 minutes v Eng
1936 - 106.5°F-Hottest afternoon ever in Iowa
1937 - 1st FM radio construction permit issued (W1X0J (WGTR) in Boston MA)
1938 - FDR dedicates Thousand Islands Bridge connecting US and Canada
1940 - 71 German aircrafts shot down above England
1941 - German concentration camp Amersfoort opens
1941 - Phillies commit 8 errors in a game
1942 - Carlson's Raiders land on Makin, Gilbert islands, kill 350 Japs
1943 - Carl Hubbell wins his 253rd & final game, all with Giants
1943 - Final convoy of Jews from Salonika Greece arrive at Auschwitz
1943 - Otto Skorzeny's Heinkel-111 shot down at Sardinia
1944 - Paris railroad workers strike against nazi occupiers
1944 - US 15th Army corp reaches Mantes-Gassicourt near Paris
1944 - US 20th Army corp conquers Chartres
1945 - Scheduled demonstrations at Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field to end segregation in organized baseball are called off
1946 - Golf Writers Associaton of America forms
1947 - Naval torpedo & mine factory explodes at Cadiz, Spain killing 300
1949 - Hungary adopts constitution
1949 - Ralph Flanagan & his orchestra records "You're Breaking My Heart"
1950 - Julien Lahaut, the chairman of the Communist Party of Belgium is assassinated by far-right elements.
1951 - Cricket 1st-class debut of Raymond Illingworth
1954 - James E Wilkins is 1st black to attend a US cabinet meeting
1955 - -19] Hurricane Diane, kills 400 in US
1955 - 46.1 cm rainfall at Westfield, Massachusetts (state record)
1955 - Sjukri al-Quwatli re-elected president of Syria
1956 - Cin Reds (8) & Cubs (2) combine to hit 10 HRs in a 9 inning game
Singer & Cultural Icon Elvis PresleySinger & Cultural Icon Elvis Presley 1956 - Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog/Don't Be Cruel" reaches #1
1957 - Amelia Wershoven sets record of female throwing a baseball (252'4½")
1957 - Betty Dodd wins LPGA Colonial Golf Open
1957 - Juan-Manuel Fangio, wins his last auto World Championship at 46
1957 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1958 - "Lolita," by Vladimir Nabokov, published
1958 - Betsy Palmer joins Today Show panel
1958 - Fidel Castro makes a speech on Cuban pirate radio Rebelde
1958 - Floyd Patterson TKOs Roy Harris in 13 for heavyweight boxing title
1958 - Great Britain issues regional stamps (N Ireland, Scotland & Wales)
1958 - Perez Prado "Mambo King," receives one of the 1st gold records
1958 - TV game show scandal investigation starts
1958 - US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak
1958 - Verne Gagne beats Edouard Carpentier in Omaha, to become NWA champ
1959 - Branch Rickey resigns as Pirates' CEO to be pres of Continental League
1960 - 1st commercial oral contraceptive, Enovid 10 debuts in Skokie Ill
1960 - 1st photograph bounced off a satellite, Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Richardson, Texas
1960 - Beatles give their 1st public performance (Kaiserkeller in Hamburg)
1960 - Lew Burdette pitches to just 27 for a 1-0 no-hitter against Phillies
1962 - Peter, Paul & Mary release their 1st hit "If I Had a Hammer"
1963 - James Meredith becomes 1st black graduate from U of Mississippi
1963 - Mickey Wright wins LPGA Albuquerque Swing Parade Golf Tournament
1964 - Beatles arrive in SF, 2nd US visit
1964 - Charles Helu elected president of Lebanon
1964 - South Africa banned from Olympic Games because of apartheid policies
1964 - USSR launch 3 Kosmos satellites
1965 - Hank Aaron loses a HR, because he hit it out of batter's box
1965 - Orioles' Brooks Robinson hits into his record tying (George Sisler)
1967 - Red Sox Tony Conigliaro is beaned by Angels Jack Hamilton
Baseball Player Hank AaronBaseball Player Hank Aaron 1967 - Rolling Stones release "We Love You"
1967 - WCBS radio in NYC goes all-news
1968 - Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Holiday Inn Golf Classic
1969 - Mick Jagger accidentally shot while filming "Ned Kelly"
1969 - Woodstock Music and Art Fair closes with Jimi Hendrix / Band of Gypsys as the final act
1972 - Police fine Paul & Linda McCartney ś800 in Sweden cannabis possession
1973 - Gene Krupa, drummer, plays for final time with Benny Goodman Quartet
1973 - Hank Aaron's record 1,378 extra base hit surpasses Stan Musial record
1974 - Joanne Carner wins LPGA St Paul Keller Golf Open
1976 - USSR's Luna 24 soft-lands on Moon
1976 - In the Korean Demilitarized Zone at Panmunjeom, the Axe Murder Incident results in the death of two US soldiers.
1977 - 2 girls are killed by a runaway car outside of Graceland
1977 - Dodgers pitcher Don Sutton throws his NL record tying 5th one-hitter
1978 - Memphis Tenn settles with striking police officers & firefighters
1979 - Iran Ayatollah Khomeini demands Saint War against Kurds
1979 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1980 - KC Royals' George Brett, batting avg reach .400
1981 - "My Fair Lady" opens at Uris Theater NYC for 119 performances
1981 - Jerry Lewis appears on "Donahue" to defend Telethons
1981 - Football running back, Herschel Walker, of U of Georgia, takes out a Lloyd's of London insurance policy for $1 million
1982 - 1st time NYSE tops 100 M figure, 132.69 M shares traded
1982 - LA Dodgers beat Chicago Cubs, 6-5, in 21 innings (game started 8/17)
1982 - NYSE sets trading record of 132,690,000 shares traded
1982 - Pete Rose sets record with his 13,941st plate appearance
1982 - Longest baseball game at Wrigley Field in Chicago IL, ends after 22 innings - before LA Dodgers beat Cubs 2-1 (game started Aug 17th)
1982 - Japanese election law is amended to allow for proportional representation.
1983 - Hurricane Alicia battered Houston & Galveston, Texas
1983 - Samantha Druce, age 12y 119d is youngest woman to swim English Channel
1983 - USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
1983 - Royals defeat Yanks, 5-4, completing "pine-tar" game (12 minutes). Hal McRae strikes out & Dan Quisenberry retires Yankees in order
Comedian Jerry LewisComedian Jerry Lewis 1984 - Triangle Oil Corp, above-ground storage tank at Jacksonville Fla, spills 2.5 m gallons of oil burned after lightning sparked a fire
1985 - Amy Alcott wins LPGA Nestle World Championship of Women's Golf
1985 - Muffin Spencer-Devlin wins MasterCard International Pro-Am Golf Tourn
1985 - Suisei Launch (Halley's Comet Flyby)
1986 - Crockett's Tavern opens in Fort Wilderness
1986 - Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Philadelphia PA on WYSP 94.1 FM
1986 - Jim Kelly signs with NFL Buffalo Bills ($75 million for 5 years)
1986 - John Tesh's 1st appearance on Entertainment Tonight
1986 - WYSP-FM Philadelphia begins simulcasting Howard Stern Show
1987 - Houston Oiler Earl Campbell, retires from NFL
1987 - Ohio nurse Donald Harvey sentence to triple life (poisoned 24)
1987 - Philip Rush of NZ, set record for triple crossing English Channel his time 28:21, 10 hours faster than 1st man to do it
1987 - Straatsburg: Manuela Stellmach/Astrid Strauss/Anke Mohring/ Heike Friedrich swims female world record 4x200m freestyle (7:55.47)
1988 - FDA approves Minoxidil as a hair loss treatment
1988 - Largest house (130 rooms) on Long Island sold for $22 million
1988 - Republican Convention in New Orleans select Bush-Quayle ticket
1989 - Arturo Barrios of Mexico sets 10K record (27:08.23) in Berlin
1989 - Bucky Dent replaces Dallas Green as NY Yankee manager
1989 - Leading presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galán is assassinated near Bogotá in Colombia.
1991 - Cindy Rarick wins LPGA Northgate Computer Golf Classic
1991 - Hurricane Bob hits NC with 115 MPH wind
1991 - Pan Am games closes in Havana
1992 - "Real Inspector Hound" opens at Criterion NYC for 61 perfs
1993 - Historical Kapelbrug in Luzern Switz, destroyed by fire
1994 - 5.6 earthquake in Algeria, kills 171
1995 - Cards reliever Tom Henke earns his 300th career save
1996 - Emilee Klein wins LPGA Weetabix Women's British Golf Open
1996 - Record 6,654 tap at Macy's Tap-o-mania in NYC
2000 - A Federal jury finds the US EPA guilty of discrimination against Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, later inspiring passage of the No FEAR Act.
2005 - Dennis Rader is sentenced to 175 years in prison for the BTK serial killings.
2005 - Massive power blackout hits the Indonesian island of Java, affecting almost 100 million people.
2008 - President Of Pakistan Pervez Musharaf resigned due to pressure from opposition.
2011 - The West Memphis Three are released from prison after 18 years in imprisonment
2012 - Al-Qaeda militants kill 14 people in an attack in Aden, Yemen
2012 - NATO air strikes kill at least 13 militants in Afghanistan




1840 - The American Society of Dental Surgeons was founded in New York City, NY.   1846 - Gen. Stephen W. Kearney and his U.S. forces captured Santa Fe, NM.   1894 - The Bureau of Immigration was established by the U.S. Congress.   1914 - The "Proclamation of Neutrality" was issued by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. It was aimed at keeping the U.S. out of World War I.   1916 - Abraham Lincoln's birthplace was made into a national shrine.   1919 - The "Anti-Cigarette League of America" was formed in Chicago IL.   1920 - Tennessee ratified the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Amendment guaranteed the right of all American women to vote.   1937 - The first FM radio construction permit was issued in Boston, MA. The station went on the air two years later.   1938 - The Thousand Islands Bridge was dedicated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The bridge connects the U.S. and Canada.   1940 - Canada and the U.S. established a joint defense plan against the possible enemy attacks during World War II.   1958 - Vladimir Nabokov's novel "Lolita" was published.   1963 - James Meredith graduated from the University of Mississippi. He was the first black man to accomplish this feat.   1966 - The first pictures of earth taken from moon orbit were sent back to the U.S.   1980 - George Brett (Kansas City Royal) had his batting average reach the .400 mark.   1981 - Herschel Walker of the University of Georgia took out an insurance policy with Lloyd’s of London. The all-American was insured for one million dollars.   1982 - The volume on the New York Stock Exchange topped the 100-million level for the first time at 132.69 million shares traded.   1982 - The longest baseball game played at Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL, went 21 innings before the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Cubs 2-1.   1987 - Earl Campbell announced his retirement from the National Football League (NFL).   1990 - The first shots were fired by the U.S. in the Persian Gulf Crisis when a U.S. frigate fired rounds across the bow of an Iraqi oil tanker.   1991 - An unsuccessful coup was attempted in against President Mikhail S. Gorbachev. The Soviet hard-liners were responsible. Gorbechev and his family were effectively imprisoned for three days while vacationing in Crimea.   1992 - Larry Bird, after 13 years with the Boston Celtics, announced his retirement.   1997 - Beth Ann Hogan became the first coed in the Virginia Military Institute's 158-year history.   1997 - Patrick Swayze received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.   1998 - Mrs. Field's Original Cookies announced that they would acquire the Great American Cookie Co.   2004 - Donald Trump unveiled his board game (TRUMP the Game) where players bid on real estate, buy big ticket items and make billion-dollar business deals.


1227  Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan died in China.  1587  Virginia Dare became the first child of English parents born in North America.  1894  Congress established the Bureau of Immigration, forerunner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.  1920  When Tennessee ratified the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, the three-quarters of the states necessary was achieved and American women got the right to vote.  1936  Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca was shot and killed by Franco's soldiers during the Spanish Civil War .  1958  Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita was published.  1963  James Meredith became the first African American to graduate from the University of Mississippi.


The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/aug18.htm

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