On this day thread

[Muteswan]

7th August
1485 Henry Tudor's (Henry VII to be) army lands in Milford Haven, South Wales.
1606 Possible first performance of Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth, performed in the Great Hall at Hampton Court Palace for King James I.
1711 The first race meeting was held at Ascot, established by Queen Anne, thus giving them the status of 'Royal Ascot'.
1782 George Washington creates the Purple Heart medal (original name Badge of Military Merit) as commander of the Continental Army.
1876 Mata Hari [Margaretha Geertruida Zelle], Dutch exotic dancer, courtesan and convicted German WWI spy, born in Leeuwarden, Netherlands (d. 1917).
1925 Britain introduced the Daylight Saving Act - bringing in British summer time so the nation changed clocks by one hour twice a year.
1926 The first British motor racing Grand Prix was staged at Brooklands; 110 laps of the track for a total distance of 287 miles.
1938 Dewi Iorwerth Ellis Bebb, Welsh rugby union player, born in Bangor, Wales, United Kingdom (d. 1996).
1954 Englishman Roger Bannister beats Australia’s John Landy in the mile at the Empire Games in Vancouver; first time 2 men run sub-4 minute mile in the same race.
1955 Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering, the precursor to Sony, begins selling its first transistor radios in Japan.
1957 Oliver Hardy, American comedian (Laurel & Hardy films), dies at 65.
1958 Bruce Dickinson, English heavy metal rocker (Iron Maiden-Run to Hills), born in Worksop, United Kingdom.
1964 Turkey begins air attack on Greek Cypriots.
1976 Scientists in Pasadena, California, announce Viking I found strongest indications to date of possible life on Mars.
1982 Dexy's Midnight Runners were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Come On Eileen'.
1983 1st Athletics World Championships open in Helsinki, Finland.
1987 Javed Miandad becomes first to score 6,000 Test runs for Pakistan as he cracks 260 in drawn 5th Test v England at The Oval.
1990 US deploys troops to Saudi Arabia beginning Operation Desert Shield.
1995 British athlete Jonathan Edwards twice broke his own world triple jump record, becoming the first man to clear 18 metres - whilst winning the gold medal in the World Athletics Championships in Gothenburg.
2005 James Blunt was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘You're Beautiful’.
2005 In one of cricket history's closest Tests, and despite a brave unbeaten 43 from Australian tail-ender Brett Lee, England sneaks a 2-run win in series turning 2nd Test at Edgbaston.
2016 British swimmer Adam Peaty records a world record 57.13 to win the gold medal in the men's 100m breaststroke at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
2017 England breaks 19-year drought in home Test cricket series against South Africa; beat Proteas by 177 in 4th Test at Old Trafford; Moeen Ali 75no and 5/69.
2021 Swansea City lose their opening game of the season 2-1, against Blackburn,under their new head coach Russell Martin.
2021 British and Irish Lions lose third test against South Africa and lose the series 2-1.

 

[Muteswan]

8th August
1296 The Stone of Scone, on which Scottish kings had been crowned for centuries, was seized by King Edward I of England.
1303 Crete earthquake strikes with estimated magnitude of 8, triggering a major tsunami with major damage including ships sweep 2 miles inland in Egypt.
1786 US Congress unanimously chooses the dollar as the monetary unit for the United States of America.
1854 Smith & Wesson patents metal bullet cartridges.
1879 "Dr. Bob" Smith, American physician and co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, born in St. Johnsbury, Vermont (d. 1950).
1898 Will Kellogg invents Corn Flakes.
1918 World War I -The start of the Battle of Amiens - Allied troops advanced against 20 German divisions and took 16,000 prisoners within 2 hours.
1929 German airship Graf Zeppelin begins a round-the-world flight.
1937 Dustin Hoffman, American actor (The Graduate; Tootsie; Kramer vs Kramer; Ishtar), born in Los Angeles.
1940 The German Luftwaffe began a series of daylight air raids on Britain and so began The Battle of Britain which would continue into the following October. 31 German aircraft shot down over England.
1942 "Monty" appointed commander of British 8th Army at Alamein.
1945 US, USSR, Britain and France sign Treaty of London which sets down procedures for the Nuremberg war trials of Nazi leaders.
1953 Nigel Mansell, British auto racer (World F1 champion 1992, Indy Car 1993), born in Upton-upon-Severn, England.
1958 In Britain, Columbia Records signed a 17 year old singer called Cliff Richard.
1961 Born this day in Caerphilly and raised in the nearby village of Nelson, Simon Weston - veteran of the British Army, who suffered severe burn injuries during the Falklands War.
1961 Born on this day in Barking, Essex (to Welsh parents Gwenda and Garvin Evans from Llanelli), David Howell Evans, better known as 'The Edge', the lead guitarist of the rock band U2.
1963 The Searchers were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Sweets For My Sweet', the group's first of three UK No.1's.
1963 The Great Train Robbery, in which over £2.5 million was stolen, took place near Bletchley, Buckinghamshire. The day of the train robbery also happened to be the 34th birthday of Ronnie Biggs, one of the robbers.
1969 The Beatles are photographed by Iain MacMillan crossing the street as they walk away from EMI Studios, for the cover of their "Abbey Road" album.
1974 US President Richard Nixon announces he will resign at 12pm the next day.
1979 Born today in Cwmbran, Danny Gabbidon, former Wales football international.
1981 Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player (20 Grand Slam singles titles), born in Bottmingen, Switzerland.
1988 Ceasefire between Iran & Iraq takes effect after 8 years of war.
1988 Beatrice, Princes of York, British daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, born in London.
1991 John McCarthy, Britain's longest-held hostage in Lebanon, was freed after more than five years in captivity. He had been held hostage since April 17, 1986 - a total of 1,943 days.
2017 The Walt Disney Company announces plans to create its own streaming service, cancelling ties with Netflix.
2017 Glen Campbell, American singer ("By The Time I Get to Phoenix"; "Wichita Lineman"; "Rhinestone Cowboy"), and actor, dies in Nashville, Tennessee at 81.
2020 Music mogul Simon Cowell breaks his back riding an electric exercise bike.
2021 Lauren Price is the Olympic Champion! Price has beaten Li Qian of China for the women's middleweight title and becomes Wales’ first Olympic boxing champion.

 

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[Muteswan]

9th August
1173 Construction of the Tower of Pisa begins, and it takes two centuries to complete.
1483 Opening of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.
1516 Hieronymus Bosch, Dutch painter (Garden of Earthly Delights), dies at 66.
1655 Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell divides England into 11 districts.
1721 Prisoners at Newgate Jail were used as 'guinea pigs' to test vaccines used against disease.
1757 Thomas Telford, Scottish civil engineer (designed and constructed Menai Bridge, Wales in 1819-26), born in Eskdale, Dumfriesshire, Scotland (d. 1834).
1815 Napoleon Bonaparte sets sail for exile on St Helena on board British ship the Northumberland.
1870 The Elementary Education Act was passed. It gave compulsory, free education to every child in England and Wales between the age of five and 13.
1898 Rudolf Diesel of Germany obtains patent #608,845 for his internal combustion engine, later known as the diesel engine.
1902 Following a six-week delay due to an emergency appendectomy, Edward VII was crowned in Westminster Abbey following the death of his mother Queen Victoria.
1907 Robert Baden-Powell's first Boy Scout encampment concluded at Brownsea Island in Dorset.
1918 The first permanent ride erected at Coney Beach was opened today. This was the Figure 8 that had originally been brought to Swansea by the US government to entertain the American troops during the First World War. After the end of the war, the brothers Charlie and Marshall Evans bought it and erected it in Porthcawl.
1936 Jesse Owens is part of the American 4 x 100m relay team that wins gold in world record (39.8) at the Berlin Olympics; his 4th gold medal of the Games.
1938 Rod Laver AC MBE, Australian tennis player (1962, 1969 Grand Slam; 11 x Grand Slam singles titles; 8 x Pro major titles), born in Rockhampton, Queensland.
1945 US drops second atomic bomb "Fat Man" on Nagasaki, Japan, destroying part of the city.
1963 ITV transmitted the first edition of the pop music programme Ready Steady Go to rival the BBC's Top of the Pops. The presenter was Cathy McGowan.
1963 Whitney Houston, American singer ("I Will Always Love You"; "I Wanna Dance With Somebody"), actress (The Bodyguard), and film producer (The Princess Diaries)born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 2012).
1965 Singapore separates from the Federation of Malaysia and gains its independence.
1967 Scott McKenzie was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair).'
1967 The Small Faces entered the singles chart with 'Itchycoo Park', the single peaked at No.3 in the UK chart.
1969 Sharon Tate, American actress (Valley of Dolls), murdered by Manson's gang at 26.
1971 Operation Demetrius (or Internment) is introduced in Northern Ireland allowing suspected terrorists to be indefinitely detained without trial; the security forces arrested 342 people suspected of supporting paramilitaries.
1974 Richard Nixon resigns as President of the United States and Vice President Gerald Ford swears the oath of office to take his place as the 38th US President.
1976 Clive Lloyd scores double-ton in 120 mins, WI v Glamorgan.
1979 English seaside resort Brighton gets 1st British nude beach.
1980 AC/DC scored their first UK No.1 album with Back In Black. It was the first AC/DC album recorded without former lead singer Bon Scott.
1984 Daley Thompson of Great Britain scores 8,797 points to win the Olympic decathlon in Los Angeles; later recognised as a world record.
1986 Queen ended their Magic European tour at Knebworth Park, Stevenage, England, with over 120,000 fans witnessing what would be Queen's last ever live performance.
1991 British radio show "On the Hour" debuts on BBC Radio 4 with first appearance of Alan Partridge character.
1992 Last day of Test Cricket for David Gower.
1999 Charles Kennedy wins the race to succeed Paddy Ashdown as the leader of the Liberal Democrats, UK.
2012 Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt wins the 200m at the London Olympics in 19.32 to become first to win 100/200m double in back-to-back Olympics.
2014 Michael Brown, American shooting victim whose death provoked nationwide protests and civil unrest, shot dead by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson at 18.
2017 Giant inflatable chicken resembling US President Donald Trump placed outside US White House as a political protest.

 

[Muteswan]

10th August
1675 King Charles II and John Flamsteed lay the foundation stone of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London.
1787 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completes his chamber piece "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" (A Little Serenade).
1793 Louvre palace officially opens in Paris as The Museum Central des Arts.
1814 Henri Nestlé, German-Swiss industrialist (founder of Nestlé), born in Frankfurt, Germany (d. 1890).
1833 Chicago incorporates as a village of about 200.
1842 Britain passed the Mines Act - forbidding women and children from working underground.
1856 William Willett, British inventor of Daylight Saving Time, born in Farnham, Surrey, England.
1889 The screw bottle top was patented by Dan Rylands of Hope Glass Works, Yorkshire.
1895 The first Promenade Concert (The Proms) was held at the Queen's Hall, London, conducted by Henry Wood.
1897 The founding of the RAC - the Royal Automobile Club - originally known as the Automobile Club of Great Britain.
1904 Dutch newspaper Volk fires gay journalist Jacob de Cock.
1909 Leo Fender, American inventor, and electric guitar designer (Telecaster; Stratocaster; Precision Bass), born in Anaheim California (d. 1991).
1911 The UK House of Commons votes on a salary - of £400 annually - for its members.
1932 Rin Tin Tin, American Hollywood shepherd dog (Clash of the Wolves), dies at 13.
1942 General Bernard Montgomery appointed commander British 8th Army in North Africa.
1947 Ian Anderson, Scottish rock singer, flute player, guitarist, and songwriter (Jethro Tull - "Bungle In The Jungle"; "Locomotive Breath"), born in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland.
1952 Dylan Thomas made his first and only TV appearance for the BBC reading his story ‘The Outing’, footage of which has never been recovered. 'The Outing' follows the adventures of a group of old men and a young boy on a charabanc pub crawl to Porthcawl. However, due to the effects of alcohol, they never reach their destination.
1960 Los Angeles premiere of Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" starring Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh.
1961 UK applies for membership of the European Common Market.
1968 Tom Jones went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Delilah'.
1975 David Frost purchases exclusive rights to interview Nixon.
1984 Famous Mary Decker-Zola Budd collision during 3,000m at the LA Olympics; Decker falls, Budd finishes 7th; Maricica Puică of Romania wins.
1985 Michael Jackson buys ATV Music (including publishing rights to the Beatles song catalog) for $47.5 million.
1986 English cricketer Ian Botham scored a record 175 in a one day Sunday League match - including 13 sixes.
2000 Gilbert Parkhouse, Welsh cricketer (England batsman in 7 Tests 1950-59), dies at 74.
2003 The temperature in Britain exceeded 100° F for the first time when 101.3 °F (38.5 °C) was recorded in the hamlet of Brogdale near Faversham, Kent.
2008 British cyclist Nicole Cooke wins the road race at the Beijing Olympics; Great Britain's 200th gold in the modern Olympics.
2017 100 year-old fruit cake by Huntley & Palmers deemed "almost eatable" after being discovered in hut used by Captain Scott's expedition in Antarctica.
2019 Financier Jeffrey Epstein found dead of an apparent suicide in his jail cell in New York, while awaiting trail for sex trafficking charges.
2020 Global COVID-19 cases pass 20 million and is accelerating, 1st 10 million took almost 6 months, 2nd 10 million took just 43 days (Reuters).

 

[Muteswan]

11th August
1884 First double-century stand in Test cricket; Percy McDonnell (103) Billy Murdoch (211) for Australia in drawn 3rd Test v England in London.
1897 The birth of Enid Blyton, English author (also known as Mary Pollock). Her work has been translated into nearly 90 languages and her literary output was an estimated 800 books, with 8,000,000 sales, over roughly 40 years.
1909 SOS 1st used by an American ship, Arapahoe, off Cape Hatteras, NC.
1909 Warren Bardsley (136 & 130) 1st to get twin tons in a Test.
1918 World War I: The end of the Battle of Amiens that ultimately led to the end of the First World War.
1919 Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American industrialist, steel tycoon, philanthropist and one of the richest Americans ever, dies of bronchial pneumonia at 83.
1929 Alun Hoddinott, Welsh composer (Floriture), born in Bargoed, Glamorganshire, Wales (d. 2008).
1934 1st federal prisoners arrive at Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay.
1942 Barnes Wallis patented his 'bouncing bomb', used successfully to destroy German dams in the 2nd World War. The 'Dam Busters' practiced their techniques at the Derwent Dam in Derbyshire.
1945 Allies refuse Japan's offer to surrender on the condition that Emperor Hirohito retains his status.
1950 Steve Wozniak, American pioneer of the personal computer revolution of the 1970s and co-founder of Apple Computer, born in San Jose, California.
1956 Jackson Pollock, abstract artist, dies in auto accident (East Hampton).
1962 Neil Sedaka started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Breaking Up Is Hard To Do'.
1964 The High Numbers, (later to become The Who), played at The Railway Hotel in Harrow, England.
1964 "A Hard Days Night" a musical comedy film featuring the Beatles released in the US.
1965 "Help!" a musical comedy film featuring the Beatles released in the US.
1968 The start of National Apple Week in England. The Beatles launched their new record label, Apple.
1975 The Government took ownership of British Leyland, the only major British-owned car company.
1977 Geoff Boycott scores his 100th FC hundred, v Aust at Headingley.
1979 Led Zeppelin played their last ever UK show when they appeared at Knebworth House, England.
1982 The notorious East End gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray were allowed out of prison for the funeral of their mother.
1983 Chris Hemsworth, Australian actor (Thor, Avengers), born in Melbourne, Victoria.
1984 A British 1-2 in the 1,500m at the Los Angeles Olympics with Sebastian Coe edging teammate Steve Cram to become the only man to successfully defend his Olympic 1,500m title.
1989 Geoff Marsh & Mark Taylor complete 329 opening stand v England.
1994 The death of Surrey born actor Peter Cushing, OBE. He is known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the distinguished-looking, but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally Vincent Price.
2003 A heat wave in Paris results in temperatures rising to 112°F (44° C), leaving about 144 people dead.
2008 Airbnb is founded by Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk.
2008 A re-survey of Mynydd Graig Goch in the Moel Hebog group of Snowdonia’s summits, determined its height to be 2,000ft 6in rather than the 1998ft previously recorded, therefore, qualifying it as a mountain. ⛰
2014 Robin Williams, American actor and comedian (Mork & Mindy, Good Will Hunting), commits suicide by hanging himself at 63.
2020 US Democratic candidate for President Joe Biden announces California Senator Kemala Harris is his running mate, the 1st woman of colour selected by a major party.

 

[Muteswan]

12th August
30BC Cleopatra VII Philopator, the last ruler of the Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty, commits suicide allegedly by inducing an asp (Egyptian cobra) to bite her.
1492 Christopher Columbus arrives in the Canary Islands on his first voyage to the New World.
1822 St David's College (now the University of Wales,Trinity Saint David) was founded by Thomas Burgess, Bishop of St David's.
1848 George Stephenson, English engineer known as the "Father of Railways" (Locomotion No. 1, Standard Gauge), dies of pleurisy at 67.
1851 American inventor Isaac Singer patents the sewing machine.
1851 The Hundred Guinea Cup was offered to the winner of a yacht race around the Isle of Wight. It was won by the US schooner 'America', and the trophy became 'the America's Cup'.
1865 Joseph Lister performs 1st antiseptic surgery.
1877 Thomas Edison completes 1st model for the phonograph, a device that recorded sound onto tinfoil cylinders.
1883 The last quagga (zebra subspecies with less slashes) dies at the Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam.
1886 W. G. Grace makes his highest Test Cricket score, scoring 170 vs Australia at The Oval.
1908 Henry Ford's company builds the first Model T car.
1918 Guy Gibson, British aviator who led the Dambusters (Victoria Cross), born in Simla, India (d. 1944).
1922 Fulton Mackay, Scottish actor and playwright (Porridge), born in Paisley (d. 1987).
1930 Clarence Birdseye is granted a patent for method for quick freezing food.
1949 Big Ben ran at its slowest for 90 years as flocks of starlings took roost on the minute hands, slowing it by four and a half minutes.
1949 Mark Knopfler, British singer-songwriter, guitarist (Dire Straits - "Walk Of Life"; "Sultans Of Swing"), and film score composer (Local Hero; Princess Bride), born in Glasgow, Scotland.
1954 Pat Metheny, American jazz and fusion guitarist ("As Wichita Falls, So Falls Wichita"), born in Lee's Summit, Missouri.
1964 The death of Ian Fleming, the English novelist best known for his James Bond series of spy novels.
1968 Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham played together for the first time when they rehearsed at a studio in Gerrard Street in London's West End.
1969 Battle of the Bogside: RUC officers, backed by loyalists, entered the nationalist Bogside in armoured cars and tried to suppress the riot by using CS gas, water cannon and eventually firearms; the almost continuous rioting lasted for two days.
1971 Pete Sampras, American tennis player (14 Grand Slam titles), born in Washington, D.C.
1972 Last American combat ground troops leave Vietnam.
1972 Alice Cooper was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'School's Out'.
1977 Space shuttle Enterprise makes 1st atmospheric test flight.
1978 The Commodores started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Three Times A Lady'.
1981 IBM introduces its first Personal Computer (PC & PC-DOS version 1.0).
1985 520 people die when Japan Airlines Flight 123 crashes in Ueno, Japan, the second-deadliest aviation disaster of all time.
2009 Guitarist Les Paul died in hospital in White Plains, New York at the age of 94 suffering from severe pneumonia. Paul is credited with developing one of the first solid-body electric guitars, which went on sale in 1952 and contributed to the birth of rock. He also developed other influential recording innovations such as multi-track recording and overdubbing.
2012 XXX Summer Olympic Games close in London, England.
2015 In London archaeologists discover a mass grave of 30 bodies from the 1665 plague.
2017 "Unite the Right" march in Charlottesville, Virginia turns violent when car rams protesters killing 1, injuring 19.

 

[Muteswan]

13th August
1422 William Caxton, English printer and translator, 1st to print in the English language (Histories of Troy), born in Kent, England (d. 1492).
1521 Spanish conquistadors under Hernán Cortés capture Aztec Emperor Cuauhtémoc in Tenochtitlan marking the end of the Aztec Empire.
1860 Annie Oakley [Phoebe Ann Moses], American sharp shooter (Buffalo Bill's Wild West), born in North Star, Ohio (d. 1926).
1888 John Logie Baird, Scottish inventor and father of the television, born in Helensburgh, Scotland (d. 1946).
1899 Alfred Hitchcock, British film director (Psycho; The Birds; Rear Window; Vertigo), born in Leytonstone, Essex (now part of London), England (d. 1980).
1902 Felix Wankel, German inventor (Wankel rotary-piston engine), born in Lahr, Germany (d. 1988).
1902 Alan Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury, British business executive, born in London (d. 1998).
1907 1st taxicabs operate in New York City, imported by Harry N. Allen.
1910 The death of Florence Nightingale, English nurse who came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers.
1913 The birth of Fred Davis, English professional snooker and billiards player whose professional career spanned from 1929 to 1993.
1913 The first production in the UK of stainless steel by Sheffield born Harry Brearley.
1918 Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) established as a public company in Germany.
1919 George Shearing, British-American blind jazz pianist (Lullaby of Birdland), born in London, England (d. 2011).
1926 Fidel Castro, Cuban revolutionary, Prime Minister (1959-76) and President (1976-2008), born in Birán, Holguin Province (d. 2016).
1935 Rod Hull, British entertainer, born on Isle of Sheppey, Kent (d. 1999).
1940 Battle of Britain: Hermann Goering's "Adlertag" (Eagle Day) offensive happens, intending to destroy the Royal Air Force; 47-48 German aircraft shot down, the RAF loses 25 planes.
1942 The 'Manhattan Project' commences, under the direction of US General Leslie Groves: its aim - to deliver an atomic bomb.
1945 Born this day in Kenfig Hill, near Bridgend, Howard Marks, author and former drug smuggler, who achieved notoriety as an international cannabis smuggler.
1946 The death of the writer Herbert George Wells (often referred to as H.G. Wells). He is now best remembered for his science fiction novels including The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897) and The War of the Worlds (1898).
1960 Phil Taylor, English darts player (BDO World Champion 1990, 92; PDC World Champion 1995-2002, 04-06, 09-10, 13), born in Stoke-on-Trent, England.
1961 Construction of the Berlin Wall begins in East Germany.
1964 Manfred Mann were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Do Wah Diddy Diddy', the bands first of three UK No.1's.
1964 The last hangings in Britain took place when two men,Gwynne Evans and Peter Allen, were hanged for the murder of John Alan West, a laundry van driver from Seaton, Cumbria. Evans was hanged at Manchester's Strangeways Prison at 8:00 a.m. and at exactly the same time, Peter Allen was hanged at Liverpool's Walton Prison.
1966 “Revolver” The Beatles seventh album release in three years started a seven-week run at No.1 on the UK charts.
1967 Fleetwood Mac made their live debut when they appeared at the National Jazz and Blues Festival in Windsor. Also on the bill Jeff Beck, Cream, Small Faces, The Move, The Pink Floyd, Donovan and Chicken Shack. Niiice.
1970 Alan Shearer, English footballer (Newcastle United, the Premier Leagues' record goal scorer), born in Gosforth, England.
1975 Batsman Viv Richards out for 291 v England for the West Indies, at the cricket Oval, London.
1976 The first observation, by Dean R. Campbell, of the day marked as ‘International Left Handers Day’ which has been celebrated every year since.
1977 Yes scored their second UK No.1 album with their eighth studio album'Going For The One'.
1977 1st test glide of space shuttle.
1981 Last broadcast of "The Waltons" on CBS-TV.
1991 Britain introduced the Dangerous Dog Act in which aggressive dogs must be muzzled and held on a leash in public.
1997 South Park's first episode is aired.
2008 American super-swimmer Michael Phelps wins 3 gold medals, all in world record time, in the one day at the Beijing Olympics.
2016 Kenny Baker, English actor (R2-D2 in Star Wars, Time Bandits), dies at 81.
2016 British super-star Mo Farah wins 1st leg of 5,000/10,000m double (repeat of London 2012) in 27:05.17 in the 10k at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
2019 Measles cases have tripled worldwide in 2019 according to WHO with 364,808 reported against vs 129,239 in 2018.
2020 New details about enormous "Terror Crocodile" (Deinosuchus), the size of a bus, with teeth as big as bananas, that lived during late Cretaceous period (75-84 million years ago) in North America published.

 

[Muteswan]

14th August
1040 King Duncan I of Scotland killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth (not murdered in his sleep as in Shakespeare's play). The latter does succeed him as King.
1281 During Kublai Khan's second Mongol invasion of Japan his invading Chinese fleet of 3,500 vessels disappears in a typhoon near Japan.
1851 John "Doc" Holliday, American dentist, gambler, and gunfighter (Gunfight at the O.K. Corral), born in Griffin, Georgia (d. 1887).
1852 The first public lavatory was opened, on London's Fleet Street.
1885 British Criminal Law Amendment Act raises age of consent from 13 to 16, protects against child prostitution.
1893 France introduces motor vehicle registration, includes a driving test.
1894 Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge demonstrates wireless telegraphy (radio) using Morse code at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Oxford University.
1908 The world's first international beauty contest was held at Folkestone, Kent.
1915 British transport Royal Edward sunk by German U boat kills 1000.
1930 The 'cautious' (!) use of contraceptives was approved by the Church of England.
1937 Brian Curvis, Welsh boxer and British welterweight champion (1960-1964), born in Swansea, Wales (d. 2012).
1945 V-J Day, Japan surrenders unconditionally to end WW II (also August 15 depending on time zone).
1948 XIV Olympic Games close at London, Great Britain.
1948 Australian fast bowler Ray Lindwall takes 6-20 as England dismissed for a record low 52 in 5th cricket Test at the Oval; Don Bradman out for 0 in final Test innings.
1967 All UK offshore pirate radio stations were closed down when the marine broadcasting act came into force. Radio Caroline continued to broadcast until March 68.
1971 The Who released their fifth studio album Who’s Next which featured the classic song 'Won't Get Fooled Again'.
1979 Rainbow seen in Northern Wales for a 3 hours duration.
1984 West Indies complete 5-0 series annihilation of England.
2016 Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt wins coveted 100m Olympic 100m gold medal in 9.81 at Rio de Janeiro Olympics - first man to win the event 3 times.
2016 Justin Rose of Great Britain finishes with a score of 16 under par to win the inaugural men's individual golf gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
2016 Great Britain's Andy Murray wins the men's tennis singles gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics 7–5, 4–6, 6–2, 7–5 over Juan Martín del Potro of Argentina.
2021 Swansea City draw their first home game of the season. 0-0 against Sheffield United.

 

[Muteswan]

15th August
1057 Macbeth, King of Scots, slain in battle by the son of King Duncan.
1620 Mayflower sets sail from Southampton, England, with 102 Pilgrims.
1769 Napoleon Bonaparte, French military leader and Emperor of the French (1804-14, 1815), born in Ajaccio, Corsica, France (d. 1821).
1842 The first regular British detective force was formed as a division of the Metropolitan Police, under the joint command of Inspector Pearce and Inspector John Haynes. In 1878 it became known as the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
1872 The first voting by ballot in Great Britain took place in a by-election at Pontefract, when Hugh Childers, a Liberal MP and minister was re-elected.
1888 T.E. Lawrence, Welsh soldier and writer known as 'Lawrence of Arabia', was born at the Snowdon Lodge Hostel, in Tremadog, Gwynedd.
1903 New Zealand's All Blacks play their first Rugby Test Match against Australia's Wallabies at the Sydney Cricket Ground; New Zealand win 22-3.
1908 Born today in Swansea, Wynford-Vaughan Thomas, newspaper journalist and radio and television broadcaster.
1914 Panama Canal opens (under cost) with the SS Ancon making the 1st official steamship through the canal.
1925 Oscar Peterson, Canadian jazz pianist and composer, born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 2007).
1939 "The Wizard of Oz", American musical fantasy film directed by Victor Fleming and King Vidor, premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, starring Judy Garland (Dorothy).
1941 Corporal Josef Jakobs was executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 7:12 a.m. making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for treason.
1946 Sir Tony Robinson, Baldrick, English actor, comedian and author, born in Homerton, London.
1947 India becomes a sovereign and democratic nation, independent from the United Kingdom.
1950 Princess Anne, Britain's Princess Royal was born.
1952 9 inches of rain fall creates a 20 ft wave in Lynmouth, England, killing 34.
1960 UFO is sighted by 3 California patrolmen.
1960 Elvis Presley started a five week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'It's Now Or Never', also No.1 in the UK.
1962 Unhappy with Pete Best's role in The Beatles, Brian Epstein and the other three members decided to sack him. He played his last gig at The Cavern, Liverpool, two years and three days after he first performed with them.
1962 Lennon and McCartney drove from Liverpool to Skegness, to ask Ringo Starr to join the Beatles.
1964 Fred Trueman takes 300th Test Cricket wicket (Neil Hawke).
1965 Beatles play their to largest crowd of over 55,000 at Shea Stadium, New York City; among those in attending were future wives Barbara Bach and Linda Eastman.
1969 Woodstock Festival opens in Bethel, New York on Max Yasgur's Dairy Farm.
1977 England regain cricket Ashes by taking a 3-0 series lead over Australia.
1977 "Wow" possible alien radio signal from deep space received at "The Big Ear", Ohio State's radio telescope in Delaware.
1979 "Apocalypse Now", directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, and Martin Sheen, is released.
1981 Ian Botham scores a century in 86 balls v Australia at Old Trafford.
1987 Caning was officially banned in British schools (excluding independent schools).
1992 Striker Brian Deane scores both goals for Sheffield United in a season-opening 2-1 home win over Manchester United at Bramall Lane; first of Deane's goals is the first in EPL's inaugural season.
1998 Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland, the worst terrorist incident of The Troubles, kills 29 people and injures about 220.
2015 North Korea creates its own time zone -moving its clocks back half an hour to GMT+8.5.
2017 Barack Obama's tweet "No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or his background or his religion..." in response to Charlottesville violence becomes most-liked tweet ever.

 

[Muteswan]

16th August
1501 Michelangelo awarded the contract to create his statue of David by the Overseers of the Office of Works (the Operai) of the Duomo, Florence's cathedral church.
1743 Champion of England titleholder Jack Broughton publishes 'Rules of the Ring' - earliest boxing code.
1817 The man who introduced rugby into Wales! Born on this day at Halkyn, Flintshire, Rowland Williams vice-principal and Professor of Hebrew at St David’s College, Lampeter, who is credited with establishing Wales' first rugby team at the college around 1850.
1858 Britain's Queen Victoria telegraphs US President James Buchanan for 1st time by transatlantic telegraph cable, he replies "it is a triumph more glorious, because far more useful to mankind, than was ever won by conqueror on the field of battle."
1896 Gold first discovered in Klondike, found at Bonanza Creek in the Yukon, Canada by George Carmack.
1897 Endowed by the sugar merchant Henry Tate, the Tate Gallery, in London, was opened.
1898 Edwin Prescott patents roller coaster.
1899 Robert Bunsen, German chemist who invented the Bunsen Burner, dies at 88.
1930 The first British Empire Games (now the Commonwealth Games) were held at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
1938 Robert Johnson, (Crossroads) US Delta-blues singer/guitarist, poisoned at 27.
1948 Babe Ruth, American Baseball Hall of Fame slugger, dies of Nasopharynx cancer at 53.
1956 Bela Lugosi, actor (Dracula), dies of heart attack at 73. (not a stake though the heart?).
1958 Madonna [Ciccone], American singer and actress (Like a Virgin), born in Bay City, Michigan.
1975 Peter Gabriel announced that he was leaving Genesis.
1977 Elvis Presley, American musician, dies at Graceland at 42, with the official cause of death being cardiac arrhythmia. He was found dead lying on the floor in his bathroom by his girlfriend Ginger Alden, he had been seated on the toilet reading 'The Scientific Search For Jesus'.
1984 John De Lorean was acquitted in Los Angeles of charges that he conspired to import 100 kg of cocaine, and used the proceeds to save his financially-troubled Northern Ireland sports car company.
1986 Rick Allen, drummer with Def Leppard made his first live appearance with the band after losing an arm in a car accident, when they appeared at the Monsters Of Rock Festival, Castle Donington, England.
1992 British Williams driver Nigel Mansell finishes second in Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring to clinch his first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship.
2003 Idi Amin, Ugandan dictator (1971-79) who killed an estimated 100,000 to 500,000 people, dies of kidney failure aged between 75-80.
2008 Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt sets new world record of 9.69 seconds to win the coveted 100m gold medal at the Beijing Summer Olympics.
2008 British swimmer Rebecca Adlington wraps up the 400/800m freestyle double at the Beijing Olympics with a world record 8:14.10 in the 800.
2018 Aretha Franklin, American singer-songwriter known as "The Queen of Soul" (Respect) and first female performer inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1987), dies of pancreatic cancer at 76.

 

[Muteswan]

17th August
1786 Davy Crockett, American frontiersman, adventurer and politician, born in Greene County, Tennessee (d. 1836).
1836 Under the Registration Act, the compulsory registration of births, deaths and marriages was introduced in Britain.
1882 Samuel Goldwyn [Shmuel Gelbfisz], Jewish Polish American movie producer (MGM), born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1974).
1891 1st public bathhouse with showers opens in NYC (People's Bath).
1896 Mrs. Bridget Driscoll of Croydon, Surrey, became the first pedestrian in Britain to die after being hit by a car. It is said she froze in panic at the sight of the oncoming car, which was travelling at just four miles per hour.
1897 W B Purvis patents electric railway switch (aka points).
1908 Projection in Paris of the very first animated cartoon, Fantasmagorie realized by Émile Cohl.
1913 Mark Felt, American FBI official and Watergate secret informant known as "Deep Throat", born in Twin Falls, Idaho (d. 2008).
1926 George Melly, English jazz and blues singer, born in Liverpool, England (d. 2007).
1940 Adolf Hitler orders a total blockade of Great Britain.
1943 Robert De Niro, American actor (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull), born in NYC, New York.
1943 498 British bombers attack Peenemunde (development base for the V weapons).
1945 Korea is divided into North and South Korea along the 38th parallel.
1946 George Orwell publishes "Animal Farm" in the United Kingdom.
1957 Robin Cousins, British figure skater (Olympic gold 1980), born in Bristol, England.
1957 Baseball player Richie Ashburn fouls and hits fan Alice Roth twice in the same game at bat playing for the Philadelphia Phillies, 1st hit breaks her nose, 2nd one hits her while she is on the stretcher. ️
1958 American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis released Kind of Blue which is regarded by many critics as jazz's greatest record, Davis's masterpiece, and one of the best albums of all time. Its influence on music, including jazz, rock, and classical genres, has led writers to also deem it one of the most influential albums ever recorded.
1960 Sean Penn, American actor (Mystic River, Milk), born in Santa Monica, California.
1964 Geoff Boycott scores his 1st Test Cricket century, 113 v Aust at the Oval.
1968 Helen McCrory, English actress (The Queen, Peaky Blinders), born in London (d. 2021).
1969 Woodstock Festival closes with Jimi Hendrix / Band of Gypsys as final act.
1976 Big win for WI at The Oval Michael Holding 14-149 for match.
1977 Thierry Henry, French footballer and manager (Arsenal), born in Les Ulis, France.
1979 "Monty Python's Life of Brian" directed by Terry Jones, starring Graham Chapman, Mickael Palin, & John Cleese, premieres in US theatres.
1982 First Compact Discs (CDs) released to the public in Germany.
1983 Ira Gershwin, American lyricist ('S Wonderful, I Got Rhythm), dies in Beverly Hills at 86.
1989 Electronic tagging was used for the first time in Britain, on Richard Hart, accused of theft.
1990 Phyllis Polander sues Mike Tyson for sexual harassment.
1992 It was announced that 9 pigs were to take part in Britain's first pig race in Bellingham. The favourites in the race were Lester Piglet and Miss Piggy.
1998 Monica Lewinsky scandal: US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony he had an "improper physical relationship" with the intern and on the same day admits before the nation he "misled people" about the relationship.
2017 Terror attack on Las Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain as van rams into crowds killing 16, injuring 120.