On This Day in History - August 28 Half a Century Since MLK Jr.'s "I Have a Dreasm Speech" and the March on Washington (incomplete)

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!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history


Aug 28, 1963: King speaks to March on Washington   

On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the African American civil rights movement reaches its high-water mark when Martin Luther King, Jr., speaks to about 250,000 people attending the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The demonstrators--black and white, poor and rich--came together in the nation's capital to demand voting rights and equal opportunity for African Americans and to appeal for an end to racial segregation and discrimination.  

The peaceful rally was the largest assembly for a redress of grievances that the capital had ever seen, and King was the last speaker. With the statue of Abraham Lincoln--the Great Emancipator--towering behind him, King used the rhetorical talents he had developed as a Baptist preacher to show how, as he put it, the "Negro is still not free." He told of the struggle ahead, stressing the importance of continued action and nonviolent protest. Coming to the end of his prepared text (which, like other speakers that day, he had limited to seven minutes), he was overwhelmed by the moment and launched into an improvised sermon.  

He told the hushed crowd, "Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettoes of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair." Continuing, he began the refrain that made the speech one of the best known in U.S. history, second only to Lincoln's 1863 "Gettysburg Address":  

"I have a dream," he boomed over the crowd stretching from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument, "that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.' I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today."  

King had used the "I have a dream" theme before, in a handful of stump speeches, but never with the force and effectiveness of that hot August day in Washington. He equated the civil rights movement with the highest and noblest ideals of the American tradition, allowing many to see for the first time the importance and urgency of racial equality. He ended his stirring, 16-minute speech with his vision of the fruit of racial harmony:  

"When we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'"  

In the year after the March on Washington, the civil rights movement achieved two of its greatest successes: the ratification of the 24th Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished the poll tax and thus a barrier to poor African American voters in the South; and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited racial discrimination in employment and education and outlawed racial segregation in public facilities. In October 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr., was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. On April 4, 1968, he was shot to death while standing on a motel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee--he was 39 years old. The gunman was escaped convict James Earl Ray.




Aug 28, 1879: Zulu king captured

King Cetshwayo, the last great ruler of Zululand, is captured by the British following his defeat in the British-Zulu War. He was subsequently sent into exile. Cetshwayo's defiance of British rule in southern Africa led to Britain's invasion of Zululand in 1879.  

In 1843, Britain succeeded the Boers as the rulers of Natal, which controlled Zululand, the neighboring kingdom of the Zulu people. Boers, also known as Afrikaners, were the descendants of the original Dutch settlers who came to South Africa in the 17th century. Zulus, a migrant people from the north, also came to southern Africa during the 17th century, settling around the Tugela River region. In 1838, the Boers, migrating north to elude the new British dominions in the south, first came into armed conflict with the Zulus, who were under the rule of King Dingane at the time. The European migrants succeeded in overthrowing Dingane in 1840, replacing him with his son Mpande, who became a vassal of the new Boer republic of Natal. In 1843, the British took over Natal and Zululand.  

In 1872, King Mpande died and was succeeded by his son Cetshwayo, who was determined to resist European domination in his territory. In December 1878, Cetshwayo rejected the British demand that he disband his troops, and in January British forces invaded Zululand to suppress Cetshwayo. The British suffered grave defeats at Isandlwana, where 1,300 British soldiers were killed or wounded, and at Hlobane Mountain, but on March 29 the tide turned in favor of the British at the Battle of Khambula.  

King Cetshwayo was subsequently captured and sent into exile, but in 1883 he was reinstated to rule over part of his former territory. However, because of his defeats he was discredited in the eyes of his subjects, and they soon drove him out of Zululand. He died in exile in the next year.  

In 1887, faced with continuing Zulu rebellions, the British formally annexed Zululand, and in 1897 it became a part of Natal, which joined the Union of South Africa in 1910.





Aug 28, 1941: Mass slaughter in Ukraine

On this day in 1941, more than 23,000 Hungarian Jews are murdered by the Gestapo in occupied Ukraine. 

The German invasion of the Soviet Union had advanced to the point of mass air raids on Moscow and the occupation of parts of Ukraine. On August 26, Hitler displayed the joys of conquest by inviting Benito Mussolini to Brest-Litovsk, where the Germans had destroyed the city's citadel. The grand irony is that Ukrainians had originally viewed the Germans as liberators from their Soviet oppressors and an ally in the struggle for independence. But as early as July, the Germans were arresting Ukrainians agitating and organizing for a provisional state government with an eye toward autonomy and throwing them into concentration camps. The Germans also began carving the nation up, dispensing parts to Poland (already occupied by Germany) and Romania.  

But true horrors were reserved for Jews in the territory. Tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews had been expelled from that country and migrated to Ukraine. The German authorities tried sending them back, but Hungary would not take them. SS General Franz Jaeckeln vowed to deal with the influx of refugees by the "complete liquidation of those Jews by September 1." He worked even faster than promised. On August 28, he marched more than 23,000 Hungarian Jews to bomb craters at Kamenets Podolsk, ordered them to undress, and riddled them with machine-gun fire. Those who didn't die from the spray of bullets were buried alive under the weight of corpses that piled atop them.  

All told, more than 600,000 Jews had been murdered in Ukraine by war's end.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. I wrote an entire blog entry on this itself, earlier today.

But there also were other events that took place today. Roman general Orestes forced the western Roman Emperor, Julius Nepos, to flee Ravenna. Jews were barred from military service in New Amsterdam. The Battle of Cooch's Bridge, near Newark, Delaware, took place on this date during the American Revolution. Sir William Herschel discovered one of Saturn's moons, Enceladus. Wagner's Lohengrin premiered on this day in Germany in 1850. Germany declared war on Romania during the First World War. Netherlands began to mobilize on this date in 1939, in anticipation of possible (some might have acknowledged, inevitable) invasion by Germany during the next World War. Cameroon and French Congo declared their support of General Charles De Gaulle on this date in 1940. A general strike against the Nazi occupying forces took place on this date in 1943 in Denmark. The last remaining German troops in Marseilles surrendered on this date in 1944. Six years to the day before the "I Have a Dream" speech, Senator Strom Thurmond spoke for 24 consecutive hours in an attempt to filibuster and block a Civil Rights bill. Five years after the speech, police clashed with protesters in Chicago on this day during the Democratic National Convention. The New York Cosmos won consecutive championships in two straight years on this date in the 1970's. Israeli Prime Minister Begin resigned on this day in 1983. A proposed bill introduced in the Pakistani National Assembly that would have put the "Qu'ran and Sunnah" as the "supreme law" was defeated.

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

475 - The Roman general Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital city, Ravenna.

476 - German ruler Odoacer captures Pavia

476 - West Roman Empire formally disbands/emperor Romulus August ousted

489 - Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths defeats Odoacer at the Battle of Isonzo, forcing his way into Italy.

1189 - Third Crusade: the Crusaders begin the Siege of Acre under Guy of Lusignan

1521 - Turkish sultan Suleiman I's troops occupy Belgrade

1542 - Turkish-Portuguese War (1538-1557) - Battle of Wofla: the Portuguese are scattered, their leader Christovão da Gama is captured and afterwards executed.

1565 - Oldest city in the US, St Augustine Fla, established

1609 - Henry Hudson, discovers & explores Delaware Bay

1619 - Ferdinand II elected Holy Roman Emperor

1632 - Henry Casimir I appointed viceroy of Drenthe

1637 - WIC-colonel Hans Koin conquerors Fort Elmina, West Africa

1640 - Second Bishop's War: King Charles I's English army loses to a Scottish Covenanter force at the Battle of Newburn

1655 - New Amsterdam and Peter Stuyvesant bars Jews from military service

1777 - American Revolutionary War - Battle of Cooch's Bridge takes place near Newark, Delaware.

1789 - Sir William Herschel discovers Saturn's moon Enceladus

1830 - 1st locomotive in US, "Tom Thumb," runs from Baltimore to Ellicotts Mill

1837 - Pharmacists John Lea & William Perrins manufactures Worcester Sauce

1840 - 9 Jewish prisoners are released from Damascus jails

1845 - Scientific American magazine publishes its first issue.

1849 - Venice under Daniele Manin surrenders to Austrians under Radetsky, after been under siege since July 20 after proclaiming independence

1850 - Richard Wagner's opera "Lohengrin" premieres at Weimar Germany

1859 - A geomagnetic storm causes the Aurora Borealis to shine so brightly that it is seen clearly over parts of USA, Europe, and even as far afield as Japan.

1861 - Battle of Fort Hatteras NC

1862 - Battle of Thoroughfare Gap VA

1862 - Battle of Groveton, VA (Manassas Plains) [->AUG 19] US7000 CS7000

1862 - Belle Boyd released from Old Capital Prison in Washington, DC

1867 - US occupies Midway Islands in Pacific

1879 - Battle at Ulundi: Lord Chelmsford beats king Cetshwayo's Zuluz

1884 - 1st known photograph of a tornado is made near Howard SD

1884 - Mickey Welsh strikes-out 1st 9 men he faces

1898 - Caleb Bradham renames his carbonated soft drink "Pepsi-Cola".

1907 - United Parcel Service begins service, in Seattle

1907 - UPS is founded by James E. Casey in Seattle, Washington.

1908 - 14th US Golf Open: Fred McLeod shoots a 322 at Myopia Hunt Club Mass

1911 - 45.7 cm rainfall at St George, Georgia (state record)

1913 - Queen Wilhelmina opens Peace Palace (The Hague)

1914 - 3rd day of battle at Tannenberg: violent German/Russian battles

1914 - Battle at Helgoland: British fleet beats German, 1100 killed

1914 - John French evacuate Amiens

1916 - Germany declares war on Romania

1916 - Italy declares war against Germany during WW I

1917 - 10 suffragists arrested as they picket White House

1918 - Tris Speaker suspended for season due to assault on ump Tom Connolly

1919 - General John Smuts becomes premier of South Africa

1921 - 2nd Pan-African Congress meets (London, Brussels & Paris)

1921 - Babe Ruth starts streak of an extra-base hit in 9 straight games

1922 - 1st Walker Cup: US beats England 8-4

1922 - Albert von Tilzer & Neville Fleesons musical premieres in NYC

1922 - WEAF in NYC airs 1st radio coml (Queensboro Realty-$100 for 10 mins)

1924 - Georgian opposition stages the August Uprising against the Soviet Union.

1925 - Meteorite falls on Ellemeet, Schouwen, Devil Island

1926 - Indian Emil Levsen pitches complete doubleheader victory (Red Sox)

1929 - Frank Woolley scores his 100th first-class hundred

1937 - Toyota Motors becomes an independent company.

1938 - Mauthausen concentration camp opens in Austria

1938 - Northwestern U awards honorary degree to dummy Charlie McCarthy

1938 - On Connie Mack Day at Shibe Park, the A's win a doubleheader

1939 - "Monty" becomes commandant of 3rd "Iron" Infantry division

1939 - Netherlands mobilizes

1939 - Sammy Fain/Jack Yellen's musical "George White's Scandals" premieres

1940 - French colonies Cameroon/Congo-Brazzaville support Gen De Gaulle

1941 - 8th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Chi Bears 37, All-Stars 13 (98,203)

1941 - Last meeting of resistance fighter Comte d'Estienne d'Orves

1942 - 9th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Chi Bears 21, All-Stars 0 (101,100)

1942 - Gunther Hagg (Sweden) sets world record for 3,000m (8:01.2)

1942 - Transport nr 25 departs with French Jews to nazi-Germany

1943 - Denmark, declares a universal strike against Nazi occupiers

1943 - Benito Mussolini transfered from La Maddalena Sardinia to Gran Sasso

1944 - Last German troops in Marseille surrendered, and Toulon cleared

1944 - US air raid on Ambon

1949 - 38th Davis Cup: USA beats Australia in New York (4-1)

1949 - Riot prevents Paul Robeson from singing near Peekskill NY

1950 - Earle & Roy Mack, purchase 54% of A's from Connie Mack Jr

1951 - Braves sell pitcher Johnny Sain to the Yankees for $50,000

1951 - Pirates snap NY Giants 16 game win streak

1952 - German & Israeli reach accord about recovery payments

1952 - Jakob Malik succeeds Zorine as Foreign minister

1953 - "Me & Juliet" opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 358 performances

1955 - 1st NFL preseason sudden death football, Rams beats Giants 23-17

1955 - Marilynn Smith wins LPGA Heart of America Golf Tournament

1956 - England retain cricket Ashes, Jim Laker 46 wickets in the series

1957 - Sen Thurmond begins 24-hr filibuster against civil rights bill

1958 - Nellie Fox sets record for consecutive games without striking out (98)

1960 - White Sox Ted Kluzewski's 3-run HR is disallowed as ump called time

1962 - 55.9 cm rainfall at Hackberry, Louisiana (state record)

1962 - Dr Geza DeKaplany tortures wife with acid

1962 - Tony Sheridan & Beat Brothers record "Ya Ya (Parts 1 + 2)"

1963 - 200,000 demonstrate for equal rights in Washington, DC

1963 - Evergreen Point Floating Bridge connecting Seattle & Bellevue opens

1963 - Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream speech" at Lincoln Memorial

1964 - Race riot in Philadelphia

1964 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1964 - US weather satellite Nimbus 1 launched

1964 - WEWS-TV Channel 5's "Upbeat" debuts in Cleveland

1965 - Bob Dylan booed for playing electric guiter at a concert in New York's Forest Hills

1966 - Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Glass City Golf Classic

1967 - Asif Iqbal & Intikhab Alam make 190 stand for 9th wkt v Eng

1967 - Boston signs 1st free-agent outfielder Ken Harrelson for $75,000 bonus

1968 - Police & anti-war demonstrators clash at Chicago's Dem Natl Conven

1970 - Phillies Larry Bowa steals home for 2nd time in 1970

1971 - The dollar is allowed to float against the yen for the first time.

1972 - USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR

1973 - "Monster Mash" goes gold

1973 - "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple goes gold

1973 - 6.8 quake centered in Oaxaca State in Mexico kills 527

1973 - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island

1973 - India & Pakistan sign POW accord

1973 - USSR performs underground nuclear test

1974 - Soyuz 15 returns to Earth

1976 - NY Cosmos beat Seattle Sounders 2-1 for NASL cup

1976 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

1977 - Bonnie Lauer wins LPGA Patty Berg Golf Classic

1977 - NY Yankee Ron Guidry faces just 28 men & beats Texas Rangers 1-0

1977 - Nolan Ryan strikes out 300 batters for 5th straight year

1977 - NY Cosmos defeat Seattle Sounders, 2-1, at Civic Stadium in Portland Ore, winning their 2nd North American Soccer League championship

1978 - Donald Vesco rode 21'-long Kawasaki motorcycle at 318.598 mph

1978 - Ja'afar Sharif-Emami appointed premier of Iran

1979 - IRA bomb explodes on Brussels Great Market

1979 - Train crash at Nijmegen, 7 die

1981 - John Hinckley Jr pleads innocent in attempt to kill Pres Reagan

1981 - Sebastian Coe of UK sets 1-mi record of 3:47.33 (since broken)

1981 - National Centers for Disease Control announces high incidence of Pneumocystis & Kaposi's sarcoma in gay men

1982 - "Sugar Babies" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 1208 perfs

1982 - USSR performs underground nuclear test

1982 - The first Gay Games are held in San Francisco.

1983 - "Mame" closes at Gershwin Theater NYC after 41 performances

1983 - Greg Luzinski is 1st player to put 3 HRs onto roof at Comiskey Park

1983 - Israeli PM Menachem Begin announces resignation

1983 - Joseph Kreckman sets record of 2,215 clay pigeons shot in an hour

1983 - Pat Bradley wins Columbia Savings Golf Classic

1984 - USSR performs underground nuclear test

1986 - Bolivia president Victor Paz Estensoro calls state of siege

1986 - Largest wrestling crowd in Canada (69,300) at Toronto Stadium

1986 - Tina Turner's star unveiled in Hollywood

1986 - US Navy officer Jerry A Whitworth sentenced to 365 years for spying

1987 - Mike Schmidt passes Ted Williams & Willie McCovey with 522 HRs

1988 - 40th Emmy Awards: 30something, Wonder Years & Richard Kiley

1988 - 70 killed in crash of 3 Italian AF fighters at air show in Germany

1988 - 88th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Eric Meeks

1988 - Italian stunt flyers crashes in flames in West Germany, killing 50

1988 - Patty Jordan wins LPGA Ocean State Golf Open

1988 - Rosie Jones wins LPGA Nestle World Golf Championship

1989 - 1st regular-season matchup of defending Cy Young Award winners

1989 - Frank Viola & Mets outduel Orel Hershiser & Dodgers 1-0

1990 - Cub's Ryne Sandberg is 1st 2nd baseman to hit 30 HRs, consecutively

1990 - Stefan Edberg (#1 seeded player) loses in 1st round to Alex Volkov

1991 - Lexington Ave IRT subway train derails at Union Square, 5 die

1991 - Red Tom Browning vs Expo Dennis Martinez both perfect game pitcher

1992 - Test Cricket debut of Muttiah Muralitharan, vs Australia at Colombo

1993 - Dam breaks in Qinghai West China, 223 killed

1993 - Jakovlev-42 crashes in Tadzjikistan, 76 killed

1993 - Long Beach California beats Panama for little league world championship

1993 - Singapore vice-premier Teng Cheong elected president

1994 - 1st Japanese gay pride parade

1994 - 22nd du Maurier Golf Classic: Martha Nause

1994 - 94th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Tiger Woods

1995 - Last day of Test Cricket for Richie Richardson

1995 - Northants 7-781 decl defeat Nottinghamshire 527 & 157

1996 - Liam Botham takes 5-67 on 1st-class debut Hants v Middlesex

1997 - Belgian amusement park riders were stuck upside down for 90 minutes

1998 - Pakistan's National Assembly passes a constitutional amendment to make the "Qur'an and Sunnah" the "supreme law" but the bill is defeated in the Senate.

2003 - An electricity blackout cuts off power to around 500,000 people living in south east England and brings 60% of London's underground rail network to a halt.

2005 - Hurricane Katrina hammers the south eastern United States, especially New Orleans, Louisiana, and coastal Mississippi

2012 - Mitt Romney is officially nominated as the United States Republican Party's candidate

1609 - Delaware Bay was discovered by Henry Hudson.   1619 - Ferdinand II was elected Holy Roman Emperor. His policy of "One church, one king" was his way of trying to outlaw Protestantism.   1774 - The first American-born saint was born in New York City. Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton was canonized in 1975.   1811 - Percy Bysshe Shelley and Harriet Westbrook eloped.   1830 - "The Tom Thumb" was demonstrated in Baltimore, MD. It was the first passenger-carrying train of its kind to be built in America.   1833 - Slavery was banned by the British Parliament throughout the British Empire.   1907 - "American Messenger Company" was started by two teenagers, Jim Casey and Claude Ryan. The company's name was later changedto "United Parcel Service."   1916 - Italy's declaration of war against Germany took effect duringWorld War I.   1917 - Ten suffragists were arrested as they picketed the White House.   1922 - The first radio commercial aired on WEAF in New York City. The Queensboro Realty Company bought 10 minutes of time for$100.   1922 - The Walker Cup was held for the first time at Southampton, NY. It is the oldest international team golf match in America.   1939 - The first successful flight of a jet-propelled airplane took place. The plane was a German Heinkel He 178.   1941 - The Football Writers Association of America was organized.   1963 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his "I Have a Dream" speech at a civil rights rally in Washington, DC. More than 200,000 people attended.   1972 - Mark Spitz captured the first of his seven gold medals at the Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. He set a world record when he completed the 200-meter butterfly in 2 minutes and 7/10ths of a second.   1981 - "The New York Daily News" published its final afternoon edition.   1990 - Iraq declared Kuwait to be its 19th province and renamed Kuwait City al-Kadhima.   1995 - The biggest bank in the U.S. was created when Chase Manhattan and Chemical Bank announced their $10 billion deal.   1996 - A divorce decree was issued for Britain's Charles and Princess Diana. This was the official end to the 15-year marriage.   1998 - The Pakistani prime minister created new Islamic order and legal system based on the Koran.   2004 - George Brunstad, at age 70, became the oldest person to swim the English Channel. The swim from Dover, England, to Sangatte, France, took 15 hours and 59 minutes.


1609 Henry Hudson discovered Delaware Bay. 1850 Richard Wagner's opera, Lohengrin, premiered at Weimar, Germany. 1922 The first commercial to be broadcast on radio aired on station WEAF in New York City. The ten minute advertisement for the Queensboro Realty Company cost $100. 1955 Emmett Till, a black teenager from Chicago, was abducted and by white men after he supposedly whistled at a white woman in Mississippi. The case was reopened in 2005. 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial to civil rights demonstrators. 1968 Anti-Vietnam war protesters and police clashed in the streets of Chicago while the Democratic National Convention nominated Hubert H. Humphrey for president. 1981 The Centers for Disease Control announced a medical task force had been formed to look into the incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis in homosexual men. AIDS was later found to be the cause.


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/aug28.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory

50th Anniversary of "I Have A Dream..."

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.. To mark the event, there will be speeches from the same place today, with three Presidents speaking as well - Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and sitting President, Barack Obama, who in many respects embodies the spirit of change of that day, being a re-elected black president (the nation's first non-white to hold the office). Surviving ex-Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush will not be in attendance, officially due to health reasons in both cases.

It is interesting on many levels that each of those men have a different angle in terms of the civil rights movement and the Jim Crow segregation of the American South.

Jimmy Carter was born in the 1920's, raised under this segregation in the Deep South of rural Georgia, both formally recognized by law and implied by practices. He writes of it fairly frequently in his books, and how it was something that very few people ever questioned. This, of course, lasted right up to and through much of his adulthood. But he was opposed to this segregation, and faced pressure within his town himself when he began to vocally criticize this system. When elected governor of Georgia, he was hailed as an embodiment of the new spirit of the post-segregation South, and mentioned that there was no turning back, as many segregationists had hoped, to segregation, and firmly establishing it as a thing, and an undesirable thing at that, of the past, and the South, and indeed the nation, needed to move forward. Carter was not deemed a serious candidate when he announced his candidacy for president in the 1976 race, but his early preparations, going much farther than any other candidate on the Democratic side, proved profitable, and he surprised many with early victories that helped to establish him as the early frontrunner,, eventually building an insurmountable lead. And in the 1976 general election, the first in the post-Watergate, he was able to win the general election. As President, Jimmy Carter championed human rights, both in America and around the world, and in his post-presidency, has become, if anything, an even stronger voice for human rights, sometimes placing himself in dangerous areas in order to try and improve the situation, and always to keep the flicker of hope alive. His Carter Center has served to try and involve itself in troubled areas, to alleviate suffering, combat diseases and poverty, trying to establish more sanitary conditions, to educate people, as well as to get involved in conflicts in order to try and ease tensions. Also, it serves a role in monitoring elections, in an attempt to establish fairness. He is a widely respected, and even revered, figure today. I would expect that Jimmy Carter will speak of his own experiences living under Jim Crow segregation in Georgia, and how much the nation has progressed since then.

Bill Clinton was born in the 1940's in the South, and like Carter, also grew up under Jim Crow segregation, in Hope, Arkansas. He was part of the young generation that ushered in much change in the country in the 1960's that saw the culmination of the Civil Rights movement. Clinton was a young student, already with political ambitions, having been photographed with John F. Kennedy in the early sixties, himself a young and energetic looking President that seemed to embody for many a spirit of hope and change. Clinton went on to some of the top universities, including Oxford, before returning to a career in politics that would prove very fruitful. He was elected Governor of Arkansas and held this post for much of the 1980's, when the South was trying to redefine itself in the post-Jim Crow era. He ran for President in 1992, in a year that seemed to have an unbeatable incumbent in office seeking re-election in George H. W. Bush. But Clinton managed to win, and his presidency is credited by many for the generally positive, and some were claiming that he would be the closest thing to a "black president" that the nation would see. In his post-presidency, he set up the Clinton Foundation, which tries to instill hope throughout the world in activism.

Finally, the current, sitting leader in the White House presently, Barack Obama. Born in the 1960's, as the nation was undergoing change, and the opportunities for him growing up were undeniably greater than they would have been at any earlier age in the nation's history. He is the first black president, and his rise to fame began with an inspiring speech in the 2004 Democratic National Convention, supporting John F. Kerry's ill-fated attempt to be the next President. But the speech put Obama's name and face on the public radar screen, as he was elected Senator from Illinois in that same year. His political star was expected to rise, but few could have expected such a quick, meteoric rise. He ran for President in 2008, and quickly established himself as not just a serious candidate, but one of the frontrunners. Surviving a grueling battle with Hillary Clinton, he eventually emerged as the winner, and was the official nominee for the Democratic Party, the first time either party had a non-white as their official nominee. He swept into power under the banner of "hope" and "change", seeming to embody a spirit of necessary change and indeed, injecting much needed hope for many in the nation. Today, he will be the main speaker from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, perhaps a fitting symbol of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s vision of fifty years ago. He will speak of how far the nation has come from that day when King set forth his dream, but will also acknowledge how far America still has to go.

There were celebrations marking the 50th anniversary this past weekend, although the official date was today, August 28th. And it is today that the event will attract the biggest attention, in terms of speakers and such.

I almost was tempted to go down to Washington myself, although I had work obligations (with two jobs) this weekend, and really needed the money. I would actually have loved to have been there on Saturday, and even more so today. I know that it would not have been like being there on that amazing day fifty years ago, but I think it would have been pretty cool, nonetheless.

But alas, that was not possible, with other obligations getting in the way. I just got my car back (it seems to be fixed, at least), and am getting ready to leave for a weekend trip with my son on this final weekend of his freedom of the summer, before school resumes again next week.

So, I was not able to be there today, but I look forward to it, and intend to watch the speeches and celebrations.

And today, I honor Martin Luther King, Jr.'s very memorable and inspiring speech, which was a vision of the nation when it got past the divisions that continued to harm the nation, and looked to a day when those wounds would heal, and the spirit of freedom, of greater opportunity and equality for all would raise everyone in this nation, and make it a better country as a result.

Indeed, we have not gotten to that promised land yet. Sometimes, it seems that for every step forward, we take two steps backward. Today, economic inequality is greater than it has been in a very long time, and the hope for opportunities at individual betterment has been largely compromised. The Voting Rights Act that was one of the key legislative efforts at dismantling Jim Crow is under attack, particularly in the Southern (that is, former "Jim Crow" states) of Texas, Florida, and North Carolina.

We seem to be fighting many of the same battles, over and over again, and it is a reminder that no victory is permanent.

At 3pm today, bells all across the nation will ring, to mark the exact moment that King delivered his famous address. I will try to not only be outside to hear it with my son, but to try and make sure that he understands what it is for, as well.

I myself was born in the mid-1970's, a little more than a decade after MLK gave his famous speech in Washington on that day, fifty years ago. About a decade after the Civil Rights Movement won an undeniable triumph, as legal segregation was finally ended, and the nation was finally traveling on the long road to progress. As a child largely of the 1980's, I grew up under the legacy of the "I Have a Dream" speech, which has grown to almost mythic proportions, and helped to deliver a vision of greater equality and freedom for the nation and, indeed on many respects, for the world. King's words, and the spirit of hope that he inspired, was recognized in South Africa, during the struggle against apartheid there. It continues to inspire to this day, as the celebrations honoring his speech in Washington today attest. I now am an adult, a father. As an American citizen myself, and the father of another American citizen, it is in my interests as well to see that my son lives in a fairer and more just nation. To that end, all Americans should acknowledge a debt of gratitude at the very least not just to Martin Luther King, Jr., but to all those who fought, very often under the threat of arrest and/or intimidation, for a better country.

Yet, still, we have to believe in hope, and we have to not only hope for, but work towards a more equitable and fair society. The official legislative edifice of the Jim Crow segregation may have been dismantled, but the victory was clearly not permanent. The battle rages on.

But we do have a black President, and a more diverse nation than ever before. There have been changes, and positive changes at that. And we need to acknowledge these as positives, and constantly look to creating more such positive changes, in the hopes of creating, some day, a nation worthy of the vision of not only Martin Luther King, Jr., but all great Americans who saw this nation, truly and without cynicism or hypocrisy, as a beacon of hope not just to those living within it's borders, but to the entire world overall.


http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/08/24/50th-anniversary-of-the-march-on-washington-in-photos/

On This Day in History - August 27 Very Powerful Volcano Erupts (incomplete)

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!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history


Aug 27, 1883: Krakatau explodes

The most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history occurs on Krakatau (also called Krakatoa), a small, uninhabited volcanic island located west of Sumatra in Indonesia, on this day in 1883. Heard 3,000 miles away, the explosions threw five cubic miles of earth 50 miles into the air, created 120-foot tsunamis and killed 36,000 people.  

Krakatau exhibited its first stirrings in more than 200 years on May 20, 1883. A German warship passing by reported a seven-mile high cloud of ash and dust over Krakatau. For the next two months, similar explosions would be witnessed by commercial liners and natives on nearby Java and Sumatra. With little to no idea of the impending catastrophe, the local inhabitants greeted the volcanic activity with festive excitement.  

On August 26 and August 27, excitement turned to horror as Krakatau literally blew itself apart, setting off a chain of natural disasters that would be felt around the world for years to come. An enormous blast on the afternoon of August 26 destroyed the northern two-thirds of the island; as it plunged into the Sunda Strait, between the Java Sea and Indian Ocean, the gushing mountain generated a series of pyroclastic flows (fast-moving fluid bodies of molten gas, ash and rock) and monstrous tsunamis that swept over nearby coastlines. Four more eruptions beginning at 5:30 a.m. the following day proved cataclysmic. The explosions could be heard as far as 3,000 miles away, and ash was propelled to a height of 50 miles. Fine dust from the explosion drifted around the earth, causing spectacular sunsets and forming an atmospheric veil that lowered temperatures worldwide by several degrees.  

Of the estimated 36,000 deaths resulting from the eruption, at least 31,000 were caused by the tsunamis created when much of the island fell into the water. The greatest of these waves measured 120 feet high, and washed over nearby islands, stripping away vegetation and carrying people out to sea. Another 4,500 people were scorched to death from the pyroclastic flows that rolled over the sea, stretching as far as 40 miles, according to some sources.  

In addition to Krakatau, which is still active, Indonesia has another 130 active volcanoes, the most of any country in the world.


Today

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

479 BC - Greco-Persian Wars: Persian forces led by Mardonius are routed by Pausanias, the Spartan commander of the Greek army in the Battle of Plataea. Along the with the Greek victory on the same day in the Battle of Mycale, the Persian invasion of Greece is halted.

663 - Remnants of the Korean Baekje Kingdom and their Yamato Japanese allies engage the combined naval forces of the Tang Chinese and Silla Koreans on the Geum River in Korea; the outcome is a significant Tang-Silla victory, while the Japanese would not attempt another invasion of Korea until the Japanese invasions of Korea of the late 16th century.

1232 - The Formulary of Adjudications is promulgated by Regent Hōjō Yasutoki. (Traditional Japanese date: August 10, 1232)

1549 - Battle of Dussindale: John Dudley destroys Robert Kett's army

1569 - Pope Pius names Cosimo I de Medici, grand duke of Toscane

1585 - Duke van Parma's troops occupy Antwerp

1601 - Olivier van Noort completes 1st Dutch exploration of new world

1610 - Polish King Wladyslaw crowned king of Russia

1619 - Monarch Frederik van Palts chosen king of Bohemia

1626 - Battle at Lutter: Catholic League beats Danish king Christian IV

1628 - Java sultan Agung van Mataram attacks Batavia

1634 - Battle of Nordingen-Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar, loses Duchy of Francomia

1665 - "Ye Bare & Ye Cubb" is 1st play, performed in North America (Acomac, Va)

1667 - Earliest recorded hurricane in US (Jamestown Virginia)

1689 - The Treaty of Nerchinsk is signed by Russia and the Qing empire.

1776 - British defeat Americans in Battle of Long Island

1783 - 1st hydrogen balloon flight (unmanned); reaches 900 m altitude

1788 - Jacques Neeker names French minister of Finance

1789 - French National Assembly issues "Declaration of Rights of Man & Citizen"

1798 - Battle at Castelbar, Ireland: French army hunts The English

1799 - English invasion army lands in North-Holland

1813 - Battle of Dresden-Napoleon defeats Austrians

1816 - Lord Exmouth bombs Algiers, a refuge for Barbary pirates

1828 - Uruguay gains independence during Brazil-Argentina peace talks

1828 - The Russians defeat the Turks at the Battle of Akhalzic.

1832 - Black Hawk, leader of Sauk-indians, gives himself up

1859 - 1st successful oil well drilled, near Titusville, Penn by Edwin Drake

1861 - Battle of Cape Hatteras SC-Union troops take Ft Clark

1862 - Battle of Cub Run, VA

1881 - Hurricane hits Florida & Carolinas; about 700 die

1883 - Krakatoa, west of Java, explodes with a force of 1,300 megatons and kills approximately 40,000 people

1892 - NYC Metropolitan Opera House catches fire

1894 - Congress passes Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act, which includes a graduated income tax later struck down by the Supreme Court

1895 - 15th US Mens Tennis: Fred H Hovey beats Robert D Wrenn (63 62 64)

1896 - Britain defeated Zanzibar in a 38-minute war (9:02 AM-9:40 AM)

1897 - Roger Bresnahan debuts as Wash Senator pitcher (later HOF catcher)

1900 - Battle of Bergendal: Gen Buller beats Boer general Botha

1903 - 23rd US Mens Tennis: Hugh L Doherty beats William A Larned (60 63 108)

1908 - Calgary City Rugby Foot-ball Club re-organizes as the Tigers

1909 - Jack Chesbro's final Yankee game

1910 - Using twenty 137,000 candlepower arc lights, 2 amateur baseball teams play a night game at White Sox Park

1910 - Wash Red Killefer sacrifices record 4 times against Detroit

1911 - Chicago White Sox Ed Walsh no-hits Boston, 5-0

1912 - Edgar Rice Burroughs publishes "Tarzan of the Apes"

1913 - Lt Peter Nestrov, of Imperial Russian Air Service, performs a loop in a monoplane at Kiev (1st aerobatic maneuver in an airplane)

1914 - Second day of battle at Tannenberg: German bombs Usdau

1914 - US war reporter Richard H Davis visits Leuven

1916 - Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary

1917 - Indians set club record by stealing eight bases in a game

1918 - Christy Mathewson resigns as Reds manager to accept a commission as a captain in chemical warfare branch of Army

1918 - Dr Joseph L Johnson named minister to Liberia

1921 - J E Clair of Acme Packing Co of Green Bay granted an NFL franchise

1922 - Paavo Nurmi runs world record 3000m (8:28.6)

1927 - Parks College, America's oldest aviation school, opens

1928 - 16 die in a NYC subway's 2nd worst accident

1928 - 42nd US Womens Tennis: Helen W Moody beats Helen Hull Jacobs (62 61)

US Secretary of State Frank KelloggUS Secretary of State Frank Kellogg 1928 - Kellogg-Briand Pact, where 60 nations agree to outlaw war

1932 - 200,000 English textile workers strike

1932 - Intl anti-war congress opens in Amsterdam

1933 - Earl Averill becomes 2nd Cleveland ballplayer to hit for cycle Moody defaults in 3rd set, trailing 3-0

1934 - Arlen, Ira Gershwin & Harburgs musical premieres in NYC

1937 - Brooklyn Dodger Fred Frankhouse no-hits Cin, 5-0 in 7 2/3 inn game

1937 - George E T Eyston sets world auto speed record at 345.49 MPH

1938 - Two NYC subway trains collide at 116th Street killing 2 and injuring 51

1938 - Yanks Monte Pearson no-hits Indians 13-0, DiMaggio hits 3 triples

1939 - Erich Warsitz makes first jet-propelled flight (in a Heinkel He-178)

1939 - Heinkel He-178 makes first manned flight with rocket/jet propulsion

1939 - Nazi Germany demands Danzig & Polish corridor

1939 - Queen Wilhelmina receives German ambassador Grave Zech

1940 - Caproni-Campini CC-2, experimental jet plane, maiden flight (Milan)

1941 - Shah of Iran abdicates throne to his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

Last Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza PahlaviLast Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi 1942 - Cuba declares war on Germany, Japan & Italy

1944 - 200 Halifax bombers attack oil installations in Hamburg

1945 - US troops land in Japan after Japanese surrender

1948 - 102°F highest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in August

1950 - 1st transmission of a TV program from continental Europe shown on BBC

1950 - General Foods blacklists Jean Muir of Aldrich Family as a communist

1952 - Emil Zatopek wins 12th olympics marathon (2:23:03.2)

1955 - "Guinness Book of World Records" 1st published

1955 - Sandy Koufax fans 14 Reds, both teams combine for record 23 strikeouts

1956 - Curt Robert of Columbus (Intl League) hits 4 HRs in 7 inning game

1957 - Hickory Smoke wins Hambletonian Stakes

1957 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1957 - The Constitution of Malaysia comes into force.

1958 - Clark Griffith says Senators will prob accept offer to move to Minn

1958 - US performs nuclear test at South Atlantic Ocean

1958 - USSR launches Sputnik 3 with two dogs aboard

1960 - Anita Lonsbrough swims world/olympic record 200m (2:49.5)

1960 - Mickey Wright wins LPGA Grossinger Golf Open

1961 - Francis the Talking Mule is mystery guest on "What's My Line"

1961 - Mickey Wright wins LPGA Spokane Women's Golf Open

1962 - Mariner 2 launched; first probe to fly by Venus

1962 - USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR

1965 - The Beatles spend an evening with Elvis Presley

1965 - WTVI TV channel 42 in Charlotte, NC (PBS) begins broadcasting

1966 - Francis Chichester begins 1st solo sail around world

1966 - Oakland Pitcher Paul Lindblad begins a 385 cons errorless streak

1966 - Race riot in Waukegan Illinois

1967 - Naomi Sims is 1st black model on US cover (Fashion of the Times)

1967 - Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Amarillo Ladies' Golf Open

1969 - Lindy's Pride win Hambletonian Stakes

1969 - Mike Procter hits six consecutive sixes (across two overs)

1972 - Sandra Haynie wins LPGA National Jewish Hospital Golf Open

1972 - US bombs Haiphong, North Vietnam

1974 - NY Met Benny Ayala hits a HR in his 1st at bat

1975 - 1st night match at US Tennis Open (Parun defeats Smith)

1975 - Veronica & Colin Scargill (England) complete tandem bicycle ride, a record 18,020 miles around the world

1976 - Transsexual Renee Richards barred from competing in US Tennis Open

1977 - "Chicago" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 947 performances

1977 - Army shoots on market vendor women in Conakry, Guineau

1977 - Toby Harrah & Bump Wills hit back-to-back inside-the-park-homers off Yankee Ken Clay at Yankee Stadium, Rangers won 8-2

1978 - Gerrie Knetemann becomes world cyclist champion

1978 - Reds Joe Morgan is 1st to hit 200 HRs & have 500 stolen bases

1978 - Shelley Hamlin wins LPGA Patty Berg Golf Classic

1978 - Yankee Catfish Hunter's 6-2 win gives him a perfect 6-0 in Aug 1978

1979 - Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Queen Elizabeth II's cousin, is killed by an IRA bomb on his boat in Ireland.

1979 - 18 British soldiers die in ambush/bomb attack in Northern Ireland

1980 - Chon Doo Hwan elected pres of South Korea

1981 - Divers begin to recover a safe found aboard Andrea Doria

1981 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1982 - Rickey Henderson steals 119th base of season breaks Lou Brock's mark

1982 - Soyuz T-7 returns to Earth

1983 - Haiti adopts constitution

1983 - US performs nuclear test

1984 - US President Ronald Reagan announces Teacher in Space project

1984 - USSR performs underground nuclear test

1985 - 20th Space Shuttle Mission (51-I)-Discovery 6-launched

1985 - Mary Joe Fernandez, 14 years & 8 days old is youngest to win a US Tennis Open match (beats Sara Gomer in 1st round)

1986 - Emmy News & Documentaries Award presentation

1988 - Dodger Tommy Lasorda wins 1,000th game as manager tops Phila, 4-2

1989 - 100 march through Bensonhurst protesting racial killings

1989 - 89th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Chris Patton

1989 - Betsy King wins LPGA Nestle World Golf Championship

1989 - Tina Barrett wins LPGA Mitsubishi Motors Ocean State Golf Open

1990 - 52 Americans arrive in Turkey from Iraq

1990 - Brewers-Blue Jays game is delayed 35 minutes due to gnats

1990 - Rosa Mota wins female marathon (2:31:27)

1990 - WWF Summer Slam-Ultimate Warrior beats Rick Rude

1991 - Moldavia declares independence from USSR

1992 - CFL revokes BC Lions franchise

1992 - Mets trade David Cone to Toronto for Jeff Kent & Ryan Thompson

1993 - Yak-40 crashes in Tadzjikistan, 79 killed/1 lives

1993 - The Rainbow Bridge, connecting Tokyo's Shibaura and the island of Odaiba, is completed.

1994 - "Laughter on the 23rd Floor" closes at R Rodgers NYC after 320 perfs

1995 - "Arcadia" closes at Vivian Beaumont Theater NYC after 204 performances

1995 - 23rd du Maurier Golf Classic: Jenny Lidback

Golfer Tiger WoodsGolfer Tiger Woods 1995 - 95th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Tiger Woods

1995 - Worst fire in NY in 80 years ends after 4 days

2000 - 540-metre (1,772 ft)-tall Ostankino Tower in Moscow catches fire, three people are killed.

2003 - Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing 34,646,418 miles (55,758,005 km) distant.

2006 - Comair Flight 5191 crashes on takeoff from Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky bound for Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. Of the passengers and crew, 49 of 50 are confirmed dead in the hours following the crash.

2008 - Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to be nominated by a major political party for President of the United States

2012 - First interplanetary human voice recording is broadcast from the Mars Rover Curiosity

1660 - The books of John Milton were burned in London due to his attacks on King Charles II.   1789 - The Declaration of the Rights of Man was adopted by the French National Assembly.   1828 - Uruguay was formally proclaimed to be independent during preliminary talks between Brazil and Argentina.   1858 - The first cabled news dispatch was sent and was published by "The New York Sun" newspaper. The story was about the peace demands of England and France being met by China.   1859 - The first oil well was successfully drilled in the U.S. by Colonel Edwin L. Drake near Titusville, PA.   1889 - Charles G. Conn received a patent for the metal clarinet.   1889 - Boxer Jack "Nonpareil" Dempsey was defeated for the first time of his career by George LaBlanche.   1892 - The original Metropolitan Opera House in New York was seriously damaged by fire.   1894 - The Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act was passed by the U.S. Congress. The provision within for a graduated income tax was later struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.   1921 - The owner of Acme Packing Company bought a pro football team for Green Bay, WI. J.E. Clair paid tribute to those who worked in his plant by naming the team the Green Bay Packers. (NFL)   1928 - The Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed by 15 countries in Paris. Later, 47 other nations would sign the pact.   1938 - Robert Frost, in a fit of jealousy, set fire to some papers to disrupt a poetry recital by another poet, Archibald MacLeish.   1939 - Nazi Germany demanded the Polish corridor and Danzig.   1945 - American troops landed in Japan after the surrender of the Japanese government at the end of World War II.   1962 - Mariner 2 was launched by the United States. In December of the same year the spacecraft flew past Venus. It was the first space probe to reach the vicinity of another planet.   1972 - North Vietnam's major port at Haiphong saw the first bombings from U.S. warplanes.   1981 - Work began on recovering a safe from the Andrea Doria. The Andrea Doria was a luxury liner that had sank in 1956 in the waters off of Massachusetts.   1984 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced that the first citizen to go into space would be a teacher. The teacher that was eventually chosen was Christa McAuliffe. She died in the Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986.   1984 - Diane Sawyer became the fifth reporter on CBS-TV's "60 Minutes."   1984 - The Menetta Lane Theatre in Greenwich Village opened. It was the first new off-Broadway theater to be built in 50 years in New York City.   1985 - The Space Shuttle Discovery left for a seven-day mission in which three satellites were launched and another was repaired and redeployed.   1986 - Nolan Ryan (Houston Astros) earned his 250th career win against the Chicago Cubs.   1989 - The first U.S. commercial satellite rocket was launched. A British communications satellite was onboard.   1990 - The U.S. State Department ordered the expulsion of 36 Iraqi diplomats.   1991 - The Soviet republic of Moldavia declared its independence.   1996 - California Governor Pete Wilson signed an order that would halt state benefits to illegal immigrants.   1998 - James Brolin received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.   1999 - The final crew of the Russian space station Mir departed the station to return to Earth. Russia was forced to abandon Mir for financial reasons.   2001 - The U.S. military announced that an Air Force RQ-1B "Predator" aircraft was lost over Iraq. It was reported that the unmanned aircraft "may have crashed or been shot down."   2001 - Work began on the future site of a World War II memorial on the U.S. capital's historic national Mall. The site is between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.


1859 Edwin Drake drilled the first successful U.S. oil well near Titusville, Pa. 1883 A massive volcanic eruption on the island of Krakatoa blew up most of the island and resulted in tsunamis that killed over 36,000 people. 1928 The Kellogg-Briand Pact, outlawing war, was signed. 1945 U.S. troops began landing in Japan after Japan's surrender in World War II. 1962 The U.S. launched the Mariner II space probe. 2003 Mars made its closest approach to earth in 60,000 years.


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/aug27.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory

Some Thought-Provoking Articles to Check Out on Bill Moyer's Webpage

Bill Moyers is a well known journalist of strong repute. He has long been known as such, and is a serious man with serious stories and opinions.

I have appreciated him as such for a long time, perhaps stretching back to the days of the "Power of Myth" series that he did with Joseph Campbell.

When you read something by him, you know it is a serious work that will delve quite deeply into an issue, and try to reveal something about it that you very well might not have thought of before. In general, I think it is fair to assume that in the process, he reveals something about our society at large, overall.

Moyers is serious, indeed. Always has been, and always will be. In this day and age, when the media chooses to focus on Miley Cyrus or the Royal Family, instead of on the real news that affects the lives of the people watching, they are doing their own viewership a disservice, and contributing to the dumbing down of America.

But then again, we have access to more information today than ever before. We can read stories from newspapers and blogs from around the world. We can easily, quickly, and conveniently research things that would have taken considerably more effort not very long ago. There is the internet, and with cable, many of us have access to more stations from around the world than ever before. There is radio, as well. we can choose what we pay attention to.

Personally, I try to listen to National public Radio (NPR), and the BBC. Sometimes, I like to listen to the Canadian Broadcast Station (CBC), as well as the French news (I am French, and have access to a French station providing news from various French-speaking nations). I can tell you straight off, that the news from other countries (and the NPR as well) tends to be unflinching, and to address actual, real news stories of the day, and not on fluff. They do not focus on the personalities providing the news stories, but rather on the content of the stories themselves. Substance over style, the exact opposite of what we see in the mainstream media in the United States.

So it is that I have been quite impressed with the subject matter of his articles lately, and I know that I have been sharing them with some degree of frequency on this blog site. But there is good reason for that. Again, Moyers provides and endorses solid journalism, the way it is meant to be. He challenges, he probes, and he reports. It is not good news, generally speaking. In fact, it should serve as an eye opener for some troubling trends that the United States has been taking for some time now.

He has a job to do, and he does his job well. He reports the news as he sees it, and does not flinch away from controversy, or worry what critics might think, or anything like that. He hires people that feel the same way, and report the news in an equally serious and analytic manner. No fluff here. These articles are unapologetic looks at some perennial issues in this society that deal with fairness, with wealth distribution and attitudes towards poverty presently. They are important articles and, even if you do not agree with them, I think that it is important simply to expose yourself to other points of view, and challenge yourself from time to time. I try to do this myself, although I succeed some times more than others.




I placed this article first, not necessarily because it is the most recent (although it is), but because it features Andrew Bacevich, the author of a phenomenal book that I reviewed on this blog some time ago - I think it was late last year. Bacevich wants Obama to examine the situation and ask some serious and challenging questions before he commits to military intervention in Syria. Bacevich has an incredible (and I personally think, fair) approach towards foreign affairs, and he is a man who should be listened to and taken seriously. This might make you understand some issues, realities and limitations that you might not have thought of before. This is the type of media coverage that we are missing, while the mainstream media instead chooses to focus on Miley Cyrus shaking her ass on stage, because that is such an important event that touches the lives of us both, right? As the horrors of the situation in Syria are growing ever more apparent everyday, we need to start asking ourselves some tough questions, and the media's obsession with whether or not Miley upstaged Lady Gaga is just so clearly a comfortable and convenient distraction, that it almost makes you wonder if they plan this type of stuff themselves. That kind of journalism is a joke. This, by contrast, is serious journalism, and it tackles the tough issue head on. Decide for yourself on the issues, but at least try and read something that takes a serious approach, and does not place frivolous glam stories ahead of a developing tragedy. Here is the article, with the link:

"Questions for President Obama — Before He Pulls the Trigger on Syria" August 26, 2013 by Andrew Bacevich

http://billmoyers.com/2013/08/26/questions-for-president-obama-before-he-pulls-the-trigger-on-syria/


Here is an interesting article about the rather curious, and often self-serving, argument far too often employed, blaming the poor for their own problems, and almost seemingly flirting with the possibility of making it even more difficult on the poor because, as the title of this piece suggests, they have it "too good". Perhaps this could be seen as tough love, if one believes the arguments. Or, if you look at the larger picture and what is actually being advocated, it is an argument for increasing to a more extreme level the policies of trickle down economics that this country has grown ever more attacked to. Here is the link:

"Think Tank Report Says Poor Americans Have It Too Good" August 21, 2013 by Joshua Holland

http://billmoyers.com/2013/08/21/cato-institute-report-says-poor-americans-have-it-too-good/


An examination of the Republicans current Golden Boy, Paul Ryan, and whether or not he will actually advocate for the people that he is supposed to be representing, or will rather help the hands that feed his rising political star by advocating policies that favor the very wealthy and major corporations. Here is the link to the article:

"Paul Ryan’s Choice: Constituents or Koch Brothers?" August 22, 2013 by John Nichols

http://billmoyers.com/2013/08/22/paul-ryans-choice-constituents-or-koch-brothers/


This article deals with a topic that I find particularly worrisome, because it is a growing trend that seems to be all the rage these days: the emphasis on part-time positions. When a company hires part-timers, the commitment in terms of pay and benefits and almost everything else tends to be greatly reduced, as do the worker rights in general. Some companies seem to almost have only part-time positions available. Like the growing "temp" positions trend, where workers are expected to assist companies while receiving less pay and virtually no benefits that they otherwise would be entitled to if they were employees of the company outright, part-time workers also tend to be at the mercy of their employers. this article delves into and explores this issue further, and I think it deserves a look. Here is the link to the article:

"Abracadabra: You’re a Part Timer" August 20, 2013 by Barbara Garson

http://billmoyers.com/2013/08/20/abracadabra-you%E2%80%99re-a-part-timer/


This is a link to an episode that explores the money centered focus on Washington, and it's transformation from a relatively small, and relatively decent, capital city, to a monstrous place of financial wheeling and dealing behind the scenes, with back room deals and high level corruption controlling the empire. Hard to believe that it was ever different, but I think that it must have been on a far smaller scale not all that long ago. But now, reflecting the enormous power of the country in general, the levels of this over the top wealth and power that Washington represents has corrupted the town beyond all previous measure, and makes the "old days' of decades past look downright quaint and idyllic by way of comparison. Here is the link:

"Full Show: America’s Gilded Capital" August 23, 2013

http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-mark-leibovich-on-americas-gilded-capital/



Another exploration of America's capital city, from the humble roots, to the monstrosity that it has clearly grown into presently. Here is the link:

"O Little Town of Washington" August 23, 2013 by Michael Winship

http://billmoyers.com/2013/08/23/o-little-town-of-washington/

Mark Leibovich on Glitz and Greed in Washington August 23, 2013

I thought this would be an interesting article to share as well, about the ridiculous state of affairs these days in Washington. It's from Bill Moyers website, so you know it has to be good, and well thought out.



http://billmoyers.com/segment/mark-leibovich-on-glitz-and-greed-in-washington/

Last Hurrah For Federer?

So, the US Open begins today, and I figured that an entry on tennis was in order.

And if we're going to discuss tennis, it should be noted that not long ago, you could hardly discuss tennis, at least on the men's side, without mentioning Roger Federer, one way or the other.

I mean, just look at the list of his accomplishments: he ended up the top ranked man five times in a six year span, and during that time, he had the longest unbroken run at Number 1 of any man in history. Collectively, he spent more weeks enjoying this top ranking than any other man in history. He compiled an incredible resume during this time, with jaw dropping accomplishments that made most people stand up and take notice. He reached more consecutive Grand Slam Finals - ten - than any moan in history, and earned a 7-3 record during that stretch. He won over twenty consecutive tournament finals once he qualified for them. In 2005, he compiled an 81-4 overall record, second only to John McEnroe's 82-3 record in 1984 - and that final loss came in the final match that year, after breaking his hand with a two sets to none lead over David Nalbandian. And the biggest accomplishment of all: the seventeen Grand Slam championships, significantly more than Pete Sampras's previous record of fourteen Grand Slam championships, as well as seven other Grand Slam Finals appearances, making a total of 24 so far. Ivan Lendl had held the old mark for most Grand Slam Finals appearances with 19, so Roger Federer easily eclipsed that.

In 2009, he became only the sixth man in history to have won the career Grand Slam (Nadal has since joined this exclusive club). Last year, he narrowly missed becoming only the third man in history to have won the career Golden Slam, making it all the way to the Olympic Gold Medal Match, before losing to a red-hot Andy Murray that was on the rise. So, he had to settle for the silver medal. But he still did manage to win an Olympic Gold Medal in 2008, in doubles tennis. Just not in singles.

Last year, after seemingly falling to obscurity for a couple of years, which had many people prematurely calling an end to his storied career, he managed to surprise everyone by not just winning another Grand Slam (Wimbledon), but reaching the number one ranking again. He almost was able to get finish the year with the number one ranking, although that distinction ultimately went to Djokovic.

How good is he? Well, so lofty have his accomplishments been, that people are claiming that his career is basically at an end, and that he is well past his prime, even though he is still a top ten player! Most professional tennis players dream of breaking into the top ten, and some very talented players either never do, or break into it very briefly. Federer is currently ranked seventh in the world, yet after such a storied career, this looks almost insignificant. He is 32 years old, and still in the top ten, though! That's saying something.

Still, the inevitable calls for him to finally step down are growing. Below, there are a couple of articles that suggest this growing expectation for Federer to step down from the sport. One is from none other than fellow tennis great John McEnroe, who insists that Federer's days of winning Grand Slams are over. He did say that another Grand Slam Finals appearance or two is not out of the question, however. That seemed strange to me, that Federer could make it to another Final, yet McEnroe seems to be saying that he would have no chance of winning.

Of course, McEnroe has been wrong before. I remember him claiming that Patrick Rafter of Australia was a "One Slam Wonder". This was in 1998, just before he successfully defended his 1997 US Open title. He would also qualify for a couple of other Grand Slam Finals, and even reach the number one ranking in 1999, albeit for only a couple of weeks. Still, McEnroe was dead wrong about Rafter, and he acknowledged this, as well. He was wrong before, and he could be wrong again. And if there has ever been a man in professional tennis that should not be written off or underestimated, it would be Federer.

Yet, the chorus of naysayers is growing. He won the Wimbledon last year, and started to enjoy another resurgence in his career. One year ago, he was the number one ranked player in the world, although admittedly, not with the same level of dominance that he enjoyed earlier in his career.

Whether or not this is the end for Federer, I for one feel privileged to have been able to watch him. He has had some incredible performances and accomplishments over the years, and I have enjoyed them. I remember them well, and that is the reason that I, for one, am not writing him off. In fact, let me go out on a limb and predict that he will still amaze everybody and win another Grand Slam!



After stellar career, Roger Federer's next challenge might be to figure out how to leave the game by Martin Rogers, Fri, Aug 23, 2013 2:19 PM EDT

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/tennis--after-legendary-career--roger-federer-s-next-challenge-might-be-to-figure-out-how-to-leave-the-game-181917490.html


John McEnroe says Roger Federer won’t ever win another grand slam event By Jay Busbee | Busted Racquet – Thu, Aug 22, 2013 11:01 AM EDT

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/tennis-busted-racquet/john-mcenroe-says-roger-federer-won-t-ever-150135065.html

On This Date in History - August 26 DeGaulle Enters Liberated Paris (incomplete)

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!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

Aug 26, 1944: DeGaulle enters a free Paris

On this day in 1944, French General Charles de Gaulle enters Paris, which had formally been liberated the day before. As he entered the Place de l'Hotel, French collaborationists took a few sniper shots at him. "There are many moments that go beyond each of our poor little lives," he was quoted at the time. "Paris outraged! Paris broken! Paris martyrized! But Paris liberated!"  

For de Gaulle, the liberation of Paris was the end of a long history of fighting Germans. He sustained multiple injuries fighting at Verdun in World War I. He escaped German POW camps five times, only to be recaptured each time. (At 6 feet, 4 inches tall, it was hard for de Gaulle to be inconspicuous.)  

At the beginning of World War II, de Gaulle was commander of a tank brigade. He was admired as a courageous leader and made a brigadier general in May 1940. After the German invasion of France, he became undersecretary of state for defense and war in the Reynaud government, but when Reynaud resigned, and Field Marshal Philippe Petain stepped in, a virtual puppet of the German occupiers, de Gaulle left for England. On June 18, de Gaulle took to the radio airwaves to make an appeal to his fellow French not to accept the armistice being sought by Petain, but to continue fighting under his command. Ten days later, Britain formally acknowledged de Gaulle as the leader of the "Free French Forces," which was at first little more than those French troops stationed in England, volunteers from Frenchmen already living in England, and units of the French navy.  

De Gaulle would prove an adept wartime politician, finally winning recognition and respect from the Allies and his fellow countrymen. He returned to Paris from Algiers, where he had moved the headquarters of the Free French Forces and formed a "shadow government" in September 1943. On the eve of the Normandy invasion, de Gaulle demanded that his government be regarded as the "official" government of all liberated areas of France. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, commander of the D-Day invasion, agreed to "not recognize" any government entity other than de Gaulle's. De Gaulle went on to head two provisional governments before resigning. In 1970, he died suddenly of an aneurysmal rupture at the age of 79.

So, today is an important date in French history. The English defeated the French at the Battle of Crécy, which also stands out in history as the first time cannons were used in battle. It was on this day in 1789 that the last article of the Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen (Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen) were adopted. Also during the French Revolution, French troops occupied Lock. Also, as you just saw above, this was the date in 1944, General Charles De Gaulle entered the newly liberated Paris, the rightful capital of France.

This date was important for other reasons, as well. China invented toilet paper on this date in history. Liberia gained it's independence on this day in history. the first kindergarten in the United States opened outside of St. Louis, Missouri. this marks the anniversary of the Battle of Tanninberg, when the Germans defeated the Russians. Charles Lindbergh became the first man to fly across the Atlantic non-stop. Chad became the first colony to join the Allied cause during World War II. George Orwell published Animal Farm. A new pope took over, Pope John Paul I, although he died one month later. The Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria took place on this day in 1997.

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

580 - Chinese invents toilet paper

1071 - Battle of Manzikert, Byzantine Armenia (modern Malazgirt, Turkey). Fought between Byzantine Empire and Seljuq Turks.

1278 - Battle of Marchfeld: Rudolf van Habsburg defeats Ottokar II

1303 - Ala ud din Khilji captures Chittorgarh.

1346 - Battle at Crécy-England's longbows defeat France, cannons used for 1st time in battle

1466 - A conspiracy against Piero di Cosimo de Medici in Florence, led by Luca Pitti, is discovered.

1498 - Michelangelo is commissioned to carve the Pietà.

1541 - Turkish sultan Suleiman occupies Buda/annexes Hungary

1545 - Pope Paul III names his son Pierluigi Farnese, duke of Parma

1549 - Battle at Dussingdale: John Dudley beats rebels

1629 - Cambridge Agreement, Mass Bay Co stockholders agree to emigrate

1634 - Battle at Nordlingen Bavarian: emperor Ferdinand II & Spain beat Sweden & German protestants

1641 - West India Company conquerors Sao Paulo de Loanda, Angola

1648 - People's uprising against Anna of Austria & Cardinal Mazarin

1652 - Sea battle at Plymouth: Ayscue vs De Ruyter

1745 - England, Prussia and Hannover sign treaty

1748 - The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium, is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1778 - The first recorded ascent of Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia.

1791 - John Fitch grants US patent for his working steamboat

1794 - French troops occupy Lock

1839 - The ship Amistad is captured off Long Island.

1843 - Charles Thurber patents a typewriter

1846 - Felix Mendelssohn's "Elijah," premieres

1846 - W A Bartlett appointed 1st US mayor of Yerba Buena (SF)

1858 - First news dispatch by telegraph.

1863 - Battle of Rocky Gap WV (White Sulphur Springs)

1873 - 1st free kindergarten in the U.S. started by Susan Blow in Carondelet, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri

1874 - 16 blacks lynched in Tennessee

1894 - Netherlands Social-Democratic Worker's party (SDAP) forms

1895 - Electric central at Niagara Falls gives 1st steam

1896 - Armenian revolutionairy assault on Ottoman Bank Constantinople

1903 - Phillies walk 17 Dodgers in a game

1907 - Houdini escapes from chains underwater at Aquatic Park in 57 sec

1909 - Frank Tarrant scores cricket 145 & 13-67 for Middlesex v Gloucs

1909 - Middlesex beat Gloucs (Bristol) by Inn & 31 in a single day

1912 - 32nd US Mens Tennis: M E McLoughlin beats W F Johnson (36 26 62 64 62)

1912 - Walter Johnson's 16-game winning streak ends

1913 - 33rd US Mens Tennis: M E McLoughlin beats R N Williams (64 57 63 61)

1914 - -9/10] Russian army attacks Austrian army in Galicia

1914 - Battle of Tannenberg - 8th German army defeats Russian Narev army

1915 - German troops over run Brest-Litovsk, Russia

1916 - Phila A's Bullet Joe Bush no-hits Cleve, 5-0

1916 - Yanks turn triple-play beating Browns 10-6

1918 - W Smith & F Bacons "Lightnin'," premieres in NYC

1920 - Percy Fender (Surrey v Northants) scores 100 in 35 mins

1922 - Japanese cruiser Niitaka leaves in storm at Kamchatka, 300 killed

1924 - (August 13 Old Style) The Catastrophe of Smyrna, known as the Asia Minor Catastrophe to Greeks, occurs. The Ottoman army expels Greeks and other non-Turks from Asia Minor.

1929 - 1st US roller coaster built

1930 - Hack Wilson hits his 44th HR, breaks Chuck Klein's NL record

1933 - Jan van Houten bicycles world record time (44,588 km)

1935 - CCC camp opens in Brecksville Reservation of Cleveland Metroparks

1937 - Franco's troops conquer Santander

1937 - Pumping to build Treasure Island in SF Bay is finished

1938 - British leaders & Arabians fight in Palestine

1938 - Montreal Maroons dropped from NHL

1939 - 1st major league baseball telecast-Reds beat Bkln Dodgers (W2XBS NY)

1939 - Belgium mobilizes

1939 - Kroatia gets autonomous status

1940 - RKC soccer team forms in Waalwijk

1940 - Chad is the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration of Félix Éboué, France's first black colonial governor.

1942 - 7,000 Jews are rounded up in Vichy-France

1942 - Japanse troops lands on New-Guinea, Milne Bay

1942 - Russian counter offensive begins in Moscow

1942 - Transport nr 24 departs with French Jews to nazi-Germany

1944 - Bulgaria announces withdrawal & German troops are to be disarmed

1944 - De Gaulle marches to Champs-Elysees

1944 - US 12nd Army Corps crosses river Seine East of Paris

1945 - Japanese diplomats board Missouri to receive instructions on Japan's surrender at the end of WW II

1946 - George Orwell published "Animal Farm"

1947 - 1st black baseball pitcher Don Bankhead (Hit a HR on 1st at bat)

1950 - 39th Davis Cup: Australia beats USA in New York (4-1)

1951 - Jongbloed in Paris demonstrates artificial heart

1952 - Fluoridation of SF water begins

1955 - 1st color telecast (NBC) of a tennis match (Davis Cup)

1956 - KREY TV channel 10 in Montrose, CO (CBS/NBC) begins broadcasting

1956 - Marlene Bauer wins LPGA Denver Golf Open

1956 - Yankees announce purchase of outfielder Enos Slaughter from KC

1957 - USSR announces successful test of intercontinental ballistic missile

1961 - Official Intl Hockey Hall of Fame opens in Toronto

1962 - Mickey Wright wins LPGA Salt Lake City Golf Open

1962 - Minnesota Twins Jack Kralick no-hits KC A's, 1-0

1963 - W I beat England 2-1 in series, 1st holders of Wisden Cricket Trophy

1964 - Italians CP selects Luigi Longo as chairman

1964 - LBJ nominated at Democratic convention in Atlantic City, NJ

1966 - Balt Orioles Roznovsky & B Powell are 4th to hit consecutive pinch HRs

1966 - KLOC (now KCSO) channel 42 in Charlotte, NC (PBS) begins broadcasting

1967 - Beatles, Mick Jagger & Marienne Faithful meet Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

1967 - Dean Chance pitches a 2-1 no-hitter, & Twins sweep Cleveland

1967 - Dutch 2nd Chamber demands US stop bombing North Vietnam

1971 - Dutch Queen Juliana & Prince Bernhard visit Indonesia

1971 - NY Giant football team announces they're leaving Bronx for NJ in 1975

1971 - Orioles' Don Buford struck out 5 times in a game

1972 - 20th Olympic games open at Munich German FR

1972 - Leo Durocher replaces Harry Walker as manager of Astros

1972 - NY Cosmos beat St Louis Stars, 2-1 to win NASL championship

1972 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

1973 - David Eisenhower writes his last sports column

1973 - Sandra Palmer wins LPGA National Jewish Hospital Golf Open

1973 - U of Tx (Arlington) is 1st accredited school to offer belly dancing

1973 - 10-year-old Mary Boitano is 1st woman to win 6.8-mile Dipsea Race in Marin County, CA, beating a field of 1,500 runners

1974 - Guinee-Bissau becomes independent of Portugal

1974 - Soyuz 15 carries 2 cosmonauts to space station Salyut 3

1977 - Frank Martinus Arion forms Surinamese Writers group 77

1978 - Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice becomes Pope John Paul I

1978 - Soyuz 31 carries 2 cosmonauts (1 East German) to Salyut 6

1979 - Beth Daniel wins LPGA Patty Berg Golf Classic

1980 - Pete Comita replaces Tom Peterson as bassist of Cheap Trick

1980 - John Birges plants a bomb at Harvey's Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada.

1981 - Space Shuttle vehicle moves to Launch Complex 39A for STS-2 mission

1981 - Voyager 2 takes photo's of Saturn's moon Titan

1982 - NASA launches Telesat-F

1983 - Flooding destroys most of the old town of Bilbao, Spain.

1984 - Betsy King wins LPGA Columbia Savings Golf Classic

1984 - Tatyana Kazankina of USSR sets 3k woman record (8:22.62) in Leningrad

1984 - Zdena Silvaha (Cz) throws discus 74.55 m (women's world record)

1985 - Balt Oriole Eddie Murray knocks in 9 RBIs in a game vs California Angels

1985 - French government claims no knowledge of assault on Rainbow Warrior

1986 - Rosa Mota wins Stuttgart female marathon (2:28:38)

1987 - Paul Molitor goes 0-for-4 ends hitting streak at 39 consecutive games

1988 - Mehran Karimi Nasseri arrives at Charles de Gaulle International Airport.

1989 - Trumbull Conn, is 1st US team since 1983 to win Little League WS

1990 - 2 slain college students found in Gainesville Florida

1990 - Beth Daniel wins LPGA Northgate Golf Classic

1990 - Bo Jackson hits 4th of 4 consecutive HRs

1991 - Royal Brett Saberegen no-hits White Sox 7-0

1992 - "Anna Karenina" opens at Circle in Sq Theater NYC for 46 performances

1995 - Andrew Symonds hits 20 sixes in match for Gloucs v Glamorgan

1995 - Lara completes 7th Test Cricket century, 179 at The Oval

42nd US President Bill Clinton42nd US President Bill Clinton 1996 - Bill Clinton signs welfare reform into law, representing major shift in US welfare policy

1997 - Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria; 60-100 people killed.

1999 - Michael Johnson breaks the 400 metres world record with a time of 43.18 seconds.

2002 - Earth Summit 2002 begins in Johannesburg, South Africa.

2003 - The Columbia Accident Investigation Board releases its final reports on Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

2008 - Russia unilaterally recognizes the independence of the former Georgian breakaway republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

2011 - The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Boeing's all-new composite airliner, receives certification from the EASA and the FAA

2012 - 15 year-old New Zealand golfer, Lydia Ko, becomes the youngest LPGA Tour event winner and the first amateur winner since 1969

2012 - 36 people are killed in a bus crash in Yan'an,China

2012 - 17 villagers in Afghanistan's Kajaki district are beheaded by an unknown organization

2012 - A Legionellosis outbreak in Quebec City, Canada, kills 8 and infects 104

55 B.C. - Britain was invaded by Roman forces under Julius Caesar.   1498 - Michelangelo was commissioned to make the "Pieta."   1842 - The first fiscal year was established by the U.S. Congress to start on July 1st.   1847 - Liberia was proclaimed as an independent republic.   1873 - The school board of St. Louis, MO, authorized the first U.S. public kindergarten.   1896 - In the Philippines, and insurrection began against the Spanish government.   1920 - The 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect. The amendment prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex in the voting booth.   1934 - Adolf Hitler demanded that France turn over their Saar region to Germany.   1937 - All Chinese shipping was blockaded by Japan.   1939 - The first televised major league baseball games were shown. The event was a double-header between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers.   1939 - The radio program, "Arch Oboler’s Plays", presented the NBC Symphony for the first time.   1945 - The Japanese were given surrender instructions on the U.S. battleship Missouri at the end of World War II.   1947 - Don Bankhead became the first black pitcher in major league baseball.   1957 - It was announced that an intercontinental ballistic missile was successfully tested by the Soviet Union.   1957 - The first Edsel made by the Ford Motor Company rolled out.   1961 - The International Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto opened.   1973 - A U.S. Presidential Proclamation was declared that made August 26th Women's Equality Day.   1978 - Sigmund Jahn blasted off aboard the Russian Soyuz 31 and became the first German in space.   1981 - The U.S. claimed that North Korea fired an antiaircraft missile at a U.S. Surveillance plane while it was over South Korea.   1987 - The Fuller Brush Company announced plans to open two retail stores in Dallas, TX. The company that had sold its products door to door for 81 years.   1990 - The 55 Americans at the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait left Baghdad by car and headed for the Turkish border.   1991 - Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev promised that national elections would be held.   1992 - A "no-fly zone" was imposed on the southern 1/3 of Iraq. The move by the U.S., France and Britain was aimed at protecting Iraqi Shiite Muslims.   1998 - The U.S. government announced that they were investigating Microsoft in an attempt to discover if they "bullied" Intel into delaying new technology.


1847 Liberia was proclaimed an independent republic. 1920 The 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote went into effect. 1939 The first televised major league baseball game was televised: a double-header between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds. 1974 Aviator Charles Lindbergh, the first man to fly solo, nonstop across the Atlantic, died. 1978 John Paul I became Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He died one month later.      

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/aug26.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory