August

August 1
1641 The Star Chamber, a tyrannical English court, was abolished.
1819 Author Herman Melville was born in New York City.
1834 Slavery was outlawed in the British Empire.
1933 Comedian Dom DeLuise was born in Brooklyn.

August 2
1776 Members of the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence.
1905 Actress Myrna Loy was born near Helena, Montana.
1933 Actor Peter O'Toole was born in Connemara, Ireland.

August 3
1492 Columbus sailed from Spain seeking a route to India.
1900 Journalist Ernie Pyle was born in Dana, Indiana.
1926 Singer Tony Bennett (Anthony Benedetto) was born in New York City.
1940 Actor Martin Sheen (Ramon Estevez) was born in Dayton, Ohio.
1977 Football star Tom Brady was born.

August 4
1735 Peter Zenger was found not guilty in a freedom of the press case.
1777 The Continental Congress transferred command of the Continental Army of the North from General Schuyler to General Gates.
1854 Mt. Hood, Oregon, was climbed for the first time.
1901 Jazz musician Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong was born in Back O'Town section of New Orleans, Louisiana.
1912 Raoul Wallenburg, who saved tens of thousands of Jews from extermination by Nazis, was born in Stockholm, Sweden.
1962 Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens was born in Dayton, Ohio.

August 5
1620 The Pilgrims left England.
1850 Author Guy de Maupassant was born in France.
1895 Communist theorist Friedrich Engels died.
1906 Film director and actor John Huston was born.
1946 Actress Loni Anderson was born in St. Paul, Minnesota.
1962 Basketball star Patrick Ewing was born in Kingston, Jamaica.

August 6
1775 Daniel O'Connell, champion of rights for the Irish, was born.
1777 Herkimer routed Indians at Oriskany, New York.
1881 Liberty was first published.
1911 Comedienne and actress Diane Belmont (Lucille Ball) was born in Butte, Montana.
1917 Actor Robert Mitchum was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
1926 Gertrude Ederle swam the English Channel.
1927 Roger Macbride, 1976 Libertarian Party presidential candidate, was born.
1981 President Ronald Reagan fired 12,000 federal air traffic controllers.

August 7
1742 Revolutionary War leader Nathaniel Greene was born in Patowomut, Rhode Island.
1794 Western Pennsylvanians took up arms to prevent collection of the excise tax of 1791 (the whiskey tax).
1903 Rudolf Ising was born in Kansas City, Missouri. He was the cocreator with Hugh Harmon of the cartoon companies "Looney Tunes" and "Merry Melodies." 1926 Satirist Stan Freberg was born in Pasadena, California.
1929 Yankee pitcher Don Larson was born in Indiana.

August 8
1694 Moral philosopher Frances Hutchison was born in Ireland.
1897 Actor Fredric March (Frederick Bickel) was born in Racine, Wisconsis.
1923 Swimming movie star Esther Williams was born in Los Angeles.
1937 Actor Dustin Hoffman was born in Los Angeles.
1950 Actor Keith Carradine was born in San Mateo, California.
1981 Tennis champion Roger Federer was born.

August 9
1831 The first steam engine train ran from Albany to Schenectady, New York.
1928 Basketball star Bob Cousy was born in New York City.
1936 Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the Olympic games in Berlin.
1938 Tennis great Rod Laver was born in Rockhampton, Australia.
1942 Comedian and TV talk-show host David Steinberg was born in Winnipeg, Canada
1944 Actor Sam Elliot was born in Sacramento, California.
1963 Singer and actress Whitney Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey.
1974 Richard Nixon became the first man to resign the Presidency of the United States.

August 10
1906 Philo Farnsworth, inventor of the television, was born.
1928 Singer Eddie Fisher was born in Philadelphia.

August 11
1789 Feudalism was abolished in France.
1833 Orator Robert Ingersoll was born in Dresden, New York.
1841 Frederick Douglas delivered his first speech at an anti-slavery convention after having escaped from slavery 3 years earlier.

August 12
1865 Joseph Lister became the first doctor to use disinfectant during surgery.
1867 Mythology expert and author Edith Hamilton was born.
1880 Pitching great Christy Mathewson was born in Factoryville, Pennsylvania.
1881 Movie maker Cecil B. De Mille was born in Ashfield, Massachusetts.
1913 Actress Jane Wyatt was born in New York City.
1939 Actor George Hamilton was born in Memphis, Tennessee.

August 13
1422 William Caxton, the first English printer, was born in Kent.
1888 Television pioneer James L. Baird was born in Scotland.
1895 Comedian Bert Lahr was born in New York City.
1899 Director Alfred Hitchcock was born in London.
1912 Golf champion Ben Hogan was born in Dublin, Texas.

August 14
1765 Sam Adams led the first mob action against the enforcers of the Stamp Act and consecrated a "Liberty Tree" in Boston.
1912 Food expert Julia Child was born in Pasadena, California.
1945 Comedian Steve Martin was born in Waco, Texas.
1959 Basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Jr. was born in Lansing, Michigan.
1968 Actress and model Halle Berry was born in Cleveland, Ohio.

August 15
1727 Economist A.R.J. Turgot was born in Paris, France.
1771 Historical novelist Walter Scott was born in Edinburg, Scotland.
1887 Edna Ferber, novelist, playwright, and short-story writer, was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
1924 Author Phyllis Schlafly was born in St. Louis, Missouri.
1969 The Woodstock music festival began at Yasgur's farm in Bethel, New York.

August 16
1768 American furniture designer Duncan Phyfe was born.
1777 The Green Mountain Boys defeated Hessian mercenaries at Bennington, Vermont.
1787 The Constitutional Convention voted that paper money is unconstitutional.
1922 Yankee outfielder Gene Woodling was born in Akron, Ohio.
1927 Actor Fess Parker was born in Fort Worth, Texas.
1930 Sports announcer and NFL Hall of Fame halfback and end Frank Gifford was born in Santa Monica, California.
1958 Singer, song writer, and exhibitionist Madonna Ciccone was born in Bay City, Michigan.
1958 Actress Angela Bassett was born in New York City.
1960 Actor Timothy Hutton was born in Malibu, California.

August 17
1807 Robert Fulton's steamboat, Claremont, made its first trip on the Hudson River.
1882 Motion picture producer Samuel Goldfish (Samuel Goldwyn) was born in Warsaw, Poland.
1893 Comedic actress Mae West was born in Brooklyn, New York.
1920 Actress Maureen O'Hara was born in Dublin, Ireland.
1943 Actor Robert De Nero was born in New York City.
1958 Singer Belinda Carlisle was born in Hollywood, California.

August 18
1227 Mongol emperor Genghis Khan died.
1872 Montgomery Ward published the first mail-order catalog.
1902 Harry O'Hagen made the first unassisted triple play.
1934 Baseball great Roberto Clemente was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico.
1937 Actor and movie maker Robert Redford was born in Santa Monica, California.
1943 Comedian Martin Mull was born in Chicago.
1958 Actress Madeleine Stowe was born in Los Angeles, California.

August 19
1841 President John Tyler vetoed a bill intended to establish a national bank.
1871 Aviation pioneer Orville Wright was born in Dayton, Ohio.
1902 Humorous poet Ogden Nash was born in Rye, New York.
1935 Yankee second-baseman Bobby Richardson was born in South Carolina.
1965 Actress Kyra Sedgwick was born in New York City.

August 20
1890 Author H. P. Lovecraft was born in Providence, Rhode Island.
1908 Baseball star Al Lopez was born in Tampa, Florida.
1935 Libertarian congressman, author, and physician Ron Paul was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1940 Communist Leon Trotsky was killed with an ice-pick in Mexico City by Frank Jackson.
1942 Musician and songwriter Isaac Hayes was born in Covington, Tennessee.
1944 Yankee third-baseman Graig Nettles was born in San Diego, California.

August 21
1859 Edward Drake discovered oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania.
1872 Illustrator Aubrey Beardsley was born in Brighton, England.
1936 Basketball star Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain was born in Philadelphia.

August 22
1777 The British abandoned the Siege of Fort Stanwix, New York.
1787 John Fitche launched the first steamboat.
1862 Composer Claude Debussy was born in St. Germain-en-Laye, France.
1893 Writer and wit Dorothy Parker was born in New Jersey.
1906 The first Victor Victrola was manufactured.
1939 Baseball star Carl Yastrzemski was born on Long Island at Southhampton.
1948 Yankee slugger Ron Blomberg was born in Atlanta.

August 23
1860 The first hotel elevator began operation (in the 6-story Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York City).
1884 Humorist William Cuppy was born.
1912 Dancer, singer, and movie star Gene Kelly was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

August 24
1759 William Wilberforce, the foremost English opponent of slavery, was born in Yorkshire.
1810 Anti-slavery reformer Theodore Parker was born.
1821 New Mexico became independent of Spain.
1853 The first potato chips were made (in Saratoga Springs, New York).
1960 Baseball iron man Cal Ripkin Jr. was born in Harve de Grace, Maryland.

August 25
1836 Western writer Bret Harte was born in Albany, New York.
1927 Tennis star Althea Gibson was born in Silver, South Carolina.
1930 Movie star Sean Connery was born in Edinburgh, Scotland.
1946 Pitching great Rollie Fingers was born in Ohio.
1982 The Ludwig von Mises Institute was founded.

August 26
1765 Radicals opposed to the Stamp Act gathered around bonfires in Boston and shouted for "Liberty and Property!"
1873 Lee De Forest, inventor of the electron tube and the photoelectric cell, and pioneer in the creation of radio, television, and talking pictures, was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
1906 Albert Sabin, inventor of the oral vaccine against polio, was born in Bailystok, Poland.
1939 Major league baseball games were televised for the first time. A doubleheader between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbet Field was broadcast with play-by-play commentary by Red Barber.

August 27
1871 Novelist Theodore Dreiser was born in Terre Haute, Indiana.
1910 Humanitarian religious leader Mother Teresa was born in Skopje, Yugoslavia.
1912 Tarzan of the Apes was published.
1929 Ira Levin, author of This Perfect Day, was born.
1943 Actress Susan Kerr (Tuesday Weld), was born in New York City.

August 28
1749 Writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in Frankfurt, Germany.
1833 Slavery was outlawed in England and the British Empire as of August 1, 1834.
1925 Actor and dancer Donald O'Connor was born in Houston, Texas.
1943 Yankee outfielder Lou Piniella was born in Tampa, Florida.
1950 Yankee pitching star Ron Guidry was born in Lafayette, Louisiana.

August 29
1632 Natural rights philosopher John Locke was born in England.
1817 The first American abolitionist newspaper was published in Ohio.
1896 Chop suey was concocted in New York City.
1915 Actress Ingrid Bergman was born in Stockholm, Sweden.
1958 Singer, songwriter, and dancer Michael Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana.

August 30
1797 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, author of Frankenstein, was born in London.
1918 Baseball great Ted Williams was born in San Diego, California.
1943 Skiing champion Jean-Claude Killy was born in Saint Cloud, France.
1953 Basketball star Robert Parish was born in Shreveport, Louisiana.
1979 President Jimmy Carter was attacked by a radical rabbit on a canoe trip in Plains, Georgia.

August 31
1918 Lyricist and composer Alan Jay Lerner was born.
1924 Comedian Leonard Hacker (Buddy Hackett) was born in Brooklyn, New York.
1928 Movie star James Coburn was born in Laurel, Nebraska.
1935 Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Frank Robinson was born in Beaumont, Texas.
1949 Movie star Richard Gere was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1955 Track star Edwin Moses was born in Dayton, Ohio.


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