August 1st Major News Events

1 Aug, 1936 Germany Olympic Games

1936 : Possibly one of the most controversial Olympic games of modern times opens in Berlin, Germany with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler. The Games of the XI Olympiad were used by Germany as a tool for propaganda. to promote their ideology, and its promotion of the superiority of the "Aryan Race" by only allowing Germans of "Aryan race" to compete for Germany.

1 Aug, 1941 Willy's Jeep Introduced

August 1, 1941 : Willy's Truck Company introduced the Jeep for the U.S. Army who were looking for a fast lightweight all terrain vehicle.

1 Aug, 1944 Polish Home Army

1944 : Following the sustained attack by the Red Army on German Nazi troops the Polish Home army begin the battle to liberate Warsaw from German control. The home army had been fighting the German invasion as an underground movement up to this day, but with the German troops already reeling from Russian attacks the Poles came out into the open to regain control for their beloved country.

1 Aug, 1949 England Atlantic Pact

August 1, 1949 : After World War II strategies for the defense of Europe was to be discussed in London when U.S. chiefs of staff visited. Americans were expected to employ both financial and military support as well as equipment to prevent Soviet political aggression. The Atlantic Pact made up of European countries possessed 2 million troops, but their military budget had been severely curtailed due to reconstruction costs after the ravages of war. Already, The Cold War was shaping up.

1 Aug, 1966 University Of Texas Shootings

1966 : Ex Marine Charles Whitman with a stockpile of guns and ammunition on the observatory platform at a 300 foot tower at the University of Texas proceeds to shoot 46 people, killing 14 people and wounding 31. He had killed both his wife and mother the night before. Charles J Whitman’s name will go on in infamy after he went on a rampage killing 14 people, in Austin Texas. One of the Catholic priests that took his funeral service insisted that for 25 years Whitman had lived a quiet, good, and honest life, before the killer started shooting victims from the university tower.

1 Aug, 1970 Soaring Inflation Worries

August 1, 1970 : President Richard Nixon’s powers to freeze prices, wages, and interest rates were to be voted on in the house amid howls of foul play from Republicans. Soaring inflation prompted this move to give the president more executive powers.

1 Aug, 1971 Space Apollo 15

1971 : During a moon safari on "lunar rover" astronauts David Scott and James Irwin have uncovered a rock ( Genesis rock ) believed to be about 4,500 million years old which may date back to the origin of the Moon.

1 Aug, 1972 U.S.A. George Bush

August 1, 1972 : Future President George W Bush, son of former president George Herbert Walker Bush, is suspended from flying with the Texas Air National Guard for missing an annual medical examination.

1 Aug, 1976 Germany F1 Crash Niki Lauda

1976 : Austrian born Formula 1 racing driver Niki Lauda became trapped inside his Ferrari after an horrific accident at the Grand Prix in Germany. He was trapped inside the burning car until other drivers managed to pull him from his burning Ferrari. Although he was out for some time with his injuries, in 1977 and 1984 he won the F1 World Championship again.

1 Aug, 1994 Michael Jackson Marries

1994 : The king of pop and the daughter of the king of rock confirmed they were secretly married 11 weeks ago. Michael Jackson, 35, and Lisa Marie Presley, 26, announced in a statement.

1 Aug, 1997 U.S.A. Thyroid Cancer

August 1, 1997 : The National Cancer Institute released information that nuclear testing during the 1950s could be a cause of thyroid cancer and as many as 10,000 to 75,000 people, exposed to the 1950s fallout as children, could develop thyroid cancer.

1 Aug, 2000 U.S.A. Titanic

2000 : Judge J. Calvitt Clarke Jr. on his own accord ruled that the R.M.S. Titanic Company, who had salvage rights to the Titanic, was banned from cutting into the sunken ship and plundering the artifacts. The salvage company apparently was searching for $300 million in lost diamonds and had sold chunks of coal from the famous ship wreck.

1 Aug, 2000 UK Concern Over Petrol Prices

2000 : Concern in the UK is growing as petrol goes over the 80p per litre mark making the cost of petrol just over £3.00 per gallon or $5.85 (current US Price is $1.26 per gallon) motorists are unhappy that in the UK 75% of the cost of a gallon or more than £2.00 goes to taxes.

1 Aug, 2001 U.S.A. Ban on Human Cloning

2001 : The United States House of Representatives votes to ban all human cloning but it is not voted into law as the Democratic led Senate votes against it. The current status of cloning around the world is still in disarray as many see the possibilities of (human therapeutic cloning) which could provide great breakthroughs in medical science for regenerative medicine, and tissues and organs for transplantation. But concerns over mad scientists tinkering with the gift of life makes the laws which are needed to allow for medical advances difficult to formulate.

1 Aug, 2006 California and UK Climate Environment Deal

August 1, 2006 : The United Kingdom and the state of California made a deal to reduce their impacts on the environment together. Prime Minister Tony Blair and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger reached the agreement after a visit by Blair to Long Beach.

1 Aug, 2007 Minneapolis I35W Bridge Collapse

2007 : A bridge crossing the Mississippi river on I35W in Minneapolis collapses with cars dropping the 50 ft into the river, due to quick responses by emergency services only 13 people lost their lives in the tragedy. The collapse was believed to be caused by a flaw in the design.

1 Aug, 2008 Brazil Amazon Rain Forest

2008 : The president of Brazil launched a fund aimed at protecting the Amazon rain forest. Luis Inacio Lula de Silva created the fund to fight climate change and come up with alternatives to cutting down the forests. The fund will rely on international donations in order to reach its $21 billion goal.

1 Aug, 2011 Ford Recalls Pick-Up Trucks

2011 : US car-maker Ford announced a recall of 1.2 million F-series pick-up trucks built between 1997 and 2004 because of fears that straps holding the gas tanks could become corroded and let the gas tank fall off the vehicle and cause fires.

1 Aug, 1929 U.S.A. Cows

1929 : A cow in Arkansas met with an unusual calamity while in its pasture. It wasn’t lightening or disease that killed it. Apparently it choked to death on the farmer’s lost wad of money. In this case, being in the dough doomed the dense bovine.

1 Aug, 1939 U.S.A. Alcatraz Crime Writers

1939 : Two prisoners from Alcatraz Penitentiary, whose crimes were all over the newspapers, became story writers themselves it seems. The Federal Bureau of Prisons received 173 entries in their short story contest and the criminal competitors sent in their stories from 14 different intuitions. Two prize winners came from Alcatraz, however their names had to be kept anonymous.

1 Aug, 2012 Authorities Seize Counterfeit US Dollars

2012 : Police seize 2.3 million dollars in counterfeit $50 bills in Peru. Police stated that the Quispe Rodriguez family clan were behind this and had planned to smuggle the counterfeit money into the US with Peruvian souvenirs.

1 Aug, 2013 TV Program Gives Babies Away

2013 : A Pakistani television program gave two abandoned baby girls from Karachi away on live television to their new parents. The host of the show, Dr. Aamir Liaquat Hussain was known for giving away prizes on his show and insists this was not a stunt for ratings but a "noble cause."