16 August 2018 Interesting tidbits:
16 August 2018
Interesting tidbits:
1841 – U.S. President John Tyler vetoed a bill which called for the re-establishment of the Second Bank of the United States. Enraged Whig Party members riot outside the White House in the most violent demonstration on White House grounds in U.S. history.
1858 – U.S. President James Buchanan inaugurated the new transatlantic telegraph cable by exchanging greetings with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. However, a weak signal forces a shutdown of the service in a few weeks.
1863 – The Dominican Restoration War began when Gregorio Luperón raised the Dominican flag in Santo Domingo after Spain had recolonized the country.
1870 – Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Mars-la-Tour was fought, resulting in a Prussian victory.
1891 – The Basilica of San Sebastian in Manila, the first all-steel church in Asia, was officially inaugurated and blessed.
1896 – Skookum Jim Mason, George Carmack, and Dawson Charlie discovered gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.
1898 - On this day a patent was issued for the Rollercoaster. This is commemorated each year as Rollercoaster Day.
1927 – The Dole Air Race began. It was a tragic air race across the Pacific Ocean from northern California to the Territory of Hawaii in August 1927. Of the 15-18 airplanes entered, only two of the planes successfully landed in Hawaii.
1930 – The first color sound cartoon, called Fiddlesticks, was made by Ub Iwerks.
1942 – The two-person crew of the U.S. naval blimp L-8 disappeared without a trace on a routine anti-submarine patrol over the Pacific Ocean. The blimp drifted without her crew and crash-landed in Daly City, California. The strange disappearance of the crew and subsequent drifting of the airship inspired her to be called The Mary Celest of the air.
1960 – Joseph Kittinger parachuted from a balloon over New Mexico at 102,800 feet (31,300 m), setting three records that held until 2012: High-altitude jump, free fall, and highest speed by a human without an aircraft.
1974 – Punk Rock pioneers The Ramones played their first show in a local New York club named CBGB.
1989 – A solar flare from the Sun created a geomagnetic storm that affected micro chips, leading to a halt of all trading on Toronto's stock market.
2010 – China Overtook Japan as World's Second-Biggest Economy.
Today's birthday crew:
1884 – Hugo Gernsback, Luxembourg-American writer and publisher best known for publications including the first science fiction magazine. Gernsback was noted for sharp (and sometimes shady) business practices, and for paying his writers extremely low fees or not paying them at all. H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith referred to him as "Hugo the Rat."
1888 – T.E. Lawrence, British Army soldier and writer.
1892 – Otto Messmer, American cartoonist and animator, best known for his work on the Felix the Cat cartoons and comic strip produced by the Pat Sullivan studio.
1933 – Julie Newmar, American actress, singer, best known as Catwoman in the Batman television series.
1934 – Diana Wynne Jones, English author of fantasy novels. One of her better-known works is Howl's Moving Castle, made into an anime video by Hayao Miyazaki.
1960 – Timothy Hutton, American actor known for his starring role as Nero Wolfe's assistant and leg-man Archie Goodwin in the television series A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2001–2002).
1962 – Steve Carell, American actor, comedian, voice artist, producer, writer, and director.
1991 – Evanna Lynch, Irish actress best know for playing Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter film series, appearing in four Harry Potter films and their tie-in video games.
Happy birthday guys!