August 3
1492: Christopher Columbus set sail from Palos de la Frontera, Spain.
1527: The first known letter from North America was sent by John Rut while at St. John’s, Newfoundland.
1678: Robert LaSalle built the Le Griffon, the first known ship built on the Great Lakes.
1900: The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company was founded.
1946: Santa Claus Land, the world’s first theme amusement park, opened in Santa Claus, Indiana. 1958: The nuclear submarine USS Nautilus traveled beneath the Arctic ice cap.
1977: Tandy Corporation announced the TRS-80, one of the world’s first mass-produced personal computers.
August 4
1875: Danish author Hans Christian Andersen (The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Ugly Duckling) died in Copenhagen at age 70.
1944: A tip from a Dutch informer led the Gestapo to a sealed-off area in an Amsterdam warehouse, where they found and arrested Jewish diarist Anne Frank, her family, and four others.
1958: The Billboard Hot 100 was published for the first time.
2015: Muppets Missy Piggy and Kermit the Frog announce the end to their relationship on Twitter.
August 5
1861: In order to help pay for the Civil War, the United States government levied the first income tax, 3 percent of all incomes over US $800. (It was rescinded in 1872.)
1884: The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid on Bedloe’s Island (now Liberty Island) in New York Harbor.
1914: The first electric traffic light was installed, in Cleveland, Ohio.
1957: American Bandstand, a show dedicated to the teenage “baby-boomers” by playing the songs and showing popular dances of the time, debuted on the ABC television network.
1962: Nelson Mandela was jailed in South Africa. (He would not be released until 1990.)
2019: Brazilian drug dealer Clauvino da Silva tries and fails to escape Rio de Janeiro jail by dressing up as his teenage daughter in silicone mask and wig.
August 6
1787: Sixty proof sheets of the U.S. Constitution were delivered to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pa.
1930: Judge Joseph Force Crater stepped into a taxi in New York and disappeared, never to be seen again.
1964: Prometheus, a bristlecone pine and the world’s oldest tree at 4,862 years, was cut down on Wheeler Peak in Nevada by researchers who did not know its record-setting age.
1991: The World Wide Web made its public debut on the internet, introduced by its inventor, Tim Berners-Lee.
August 7
1794: President George Washington invoked the Militia Acts of 1792 to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania.
2018: Swedish furniture brand Ikea opens its first store in India in Hyderabad.
2018: Australia’s population hits 25 million according to Australian Bureau of Statistics.
August 8
1929: The German airship Graf Zeppelin began its around-the-world flight
1969: Photographer Iain Macmillan took a photo of the Beatles at a crosswalk in London that became the cover of the album Abbey Road, one of the most famous record album covers in music history.
2017: The Walt Disney Company announces plans to create its own streaming service, cancelling ties with Netflix.
August 9
1173: Construction began on what is now known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa (it took two centuries to complete).
1892: Inventor Thomas Edison received a patent for a two-way telegraph.
1944: The U.S. Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council released posters featuring Smokey Bear for the first time.
1974: Facing impeachment as a result of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon resigned as 37th president of the United States, the only president ever to do so.
2016: Chinese weightlifter Deng Wei sets a world record of 147kg in the clean & jerk, and another for a total score of 262kg, to win the women’s 63kg gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
ON THIS DAY… AUGUST 3 – AUGUST 9
August 3- NATIONAL
WATERMELON DAY
Did you know that watermelon is 92% water?
August 4- NATIONAL WHITE WINE DAY
Today is the perfect opportunity to enjoy a glass of this very versatile drink.
August 5- NATIONAL
UNDERWEAR DAY
Today, it comes in all colors, sizes, and fabrics. So all hail our underwear today!
August 6- NATIONAL DISC GOLF DAY
Like golf, but not entirely, this sport uses the same general rules and etiquette but requires a disc to play.
August 7- NATIONAL
LIGHTHOUSE DAY
In 1789, the U.S. Congress passed an act securing the protection of all lighthouses under federal support.
August 8- NATIONAL DOLLAR DAY
This day marks the important event in the history of the United States of when the monetary system was established.
August 9 -NATIONAL BOOK
LOVERS DAY
Literature has played a crucial role in preserving cultures, educating the masses, and storytelling.