August 8th Major News Events
- 1974 Richard Nixon Announces his resignation following the Watergate Scandal
- 1962 Polio Mass Immunizations
- 1929 U.S.A. Graf Zeppelin
- 1963 Great Britain "The Great Train Robbery"
- 1976 U.S.A. Legionnaire’s Disease
- 1988 The Burmese 8888 Uprising
- 2000 Brush Fires Worst In 50 Years
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1974 U.S.A. Nixon Resigns
1974 : Richard Nixon Announces his resignation following the Watergate Scandal During a nationally televised broadcast.
1962 Polio Mass Immunizations
1962 : A polio scare brought a decree from the Taylor-Jones County health authorities to do a mass immunization of all residents and encourage surrounding counties to do likewise. According to a spokesperson from the Medical Society, “The Sabin vaccine gives immunity to polio, whereas the Salk vaccine prevents paralytic polio.” They decided that the Sabin vaccine was the best, since it is given orally, not like the Salk vaccine which has to be injected.
1910 Spain Uprising Quelled
1910 : In San Sebastian, uprisings against the Spanish government ruled by King Alfonso XIII were quelled by cavalry, infantry, and other military men. A large bull fight took place on this day, however, some priests shouted, “Death to Spain! Long live the Pope!” One hundred and fifty people were arrested and the rest took flight. Troops were guarding the palace where the queen mother and her children were staying.
1921 Ship Sinks Off Alaska
1921 : Off the coast of Alaska, the ship Alaska bound for San Francisco met with tragedy. In the fog the ship hit a rocky ledge twice. The boilers blew up as a result, blowing a lot of its passengers off the decks and out into the icy ocean. One hundred and sixty-six people were saved off of the vessel, but thirty-one were missing, and 28 were dead. The ship, Anyox, rescued the survivors, but risked the rocky reef in the fog.
1929 U.S.A. Graf Zeppelin
1929 : The airship Graf Zeppelin began its world tour today from Lakehurst, New Jersey, USA.
1st Leg Lakehurst, New Jersey across the Atlantic to Friedrichshafen, Germany
2nd Leg Friedrichshafen, Germany across Siberia to Tokyo, Japan
3rd Leg Tokyo, Japan across Pacific Ocean to Los Angeles, USA
4th Leg Los Angeles, USA to Lakehurst, New Jersey, USA
The total trip flying time between taking off at Lakehurst to landing in Lakehurst took 12 days and 11 minutes and covered 19,500 miles. The overall elapsed times due to stops and refueling was 19 days.
1937 Canada Wife Beating IS Legal
1937 : In Hamilton, Ontario a man who was charged with beating his wife was deemed to be within his legal rights. Canadian judge, William McLeary cited the English Common Law made in 1879 which stated that a man has a right in certain cases to “chastise or confine” his wife.
1942 U.S.A. Operation Pastorius
1942 : Six Members who were part of Operation Pastorius are executed in the electric chair at the District of Columbia jail. Operation Pastorius was a failed plan by German Nazi's to sabotage American economic targets including hydro-electric plants, railway stations, and other key US targets, they were landed in the US by German U-Boats in June and the plan failed because two of the saboteurs (Dasch and Burger) decided they did not wish to proceed with the plan and informed the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The trial was before a seven-member military commission who sentenced all eight to death but President Roosevelt commuted Burger's and Dasch's to prison sentences because of their co-operation with the FBI.
Dr. James Naismith With many sports, it's hard to trace an exact origin; ball games are fairly universal to cultures around the globe, and finding a specific inventor can be difficult to impossible. Basketball, on the other hand, does not have that same problem. The game millions watch today had its definite beginnings in the small town of Springfield, Massachusetts, in the mind of Dr. James Naismith. Naismith was a 30-year-old instructor at the local YMCA training school, and, in 1891 was tasked with coming up with an activity to be played indoors during winter, and given 14 days to do so. Naismith went through indoor versions of soccer, lacrosse and football, and they all failed (with the irony being all three of those sports would eventually have indoor versions), primarily because each try caused damage, particularly to windows. Naismith set out to create a game with less violence, one that was less a contest of strength and more a contest of skill. Late at night on the final before the final day of the two weeks he was given, he created a set of 13 rules for Basket Ball. He established many things still in use today, including the concept of "travelling," "goaltending," fouls, and even the rule that a ball must be thrown in-bounds within five seconds. He set up peach baskets attached to both ends of a gymnasium balcony, and used a soccer ball (using an "Association foot ball" was even part of his original rules). The name "Basket Ball" came from a student who first learned the game.
Growth Through YMCA Basketball's spread was helped a great deal by the YMCA itself; students who learned the game from Naismith took it across the country and even the world on Christian missions. Naismith himself taught the game in Springfield, in Denver at the YMCA there, and then at the University of Kansas, where he taught the game (as a teacher of physical education) from 1898 until shortly before his death in 1939. While Naismith's rules do not cover everything about the modern game, many aspects were picked up almost instantly; one of the key rules (the 3rd) said that no player could run with the ball, but did not introduce the concept of dribbling, fundamental to today's game. However, many of his players soon figured out that dribbling wasn't against Naismith's rules, and adopted it. Naismith himself liked the invention, and dribbling was made part of the official rules in 1898. Wooden backboards were added in 1896, while the number of players on the court was limited to five in 1900, after some games had gotten out of control, with reports of more than 50 people trying to play on the court at once. The game was also one of the first sports to be played by women as well as men; only 15 months elapsed between the invention of the game and the first women's game, played at Smith College in 1893.
1949 Ecuador Earthquake
1949 : Ecuador was rocked by a devastating earthquake in 1949, killing 4,600 people and doing an estimated 20 million dollars damage. To add to the tragedy a plane on a mission of mercy crashed and killed 34 more people. In the plane crash were four government dignitaries, 28 Shell Oil Company employees, and the pilot and crew.
1956 U.S.A. First State Bank Tuscola
1956 : In Tuscola, the First State Bank was burned out, but immediately re-opened the very next morning in a feed store. When the bank opened in 1912 customers made their deposits through chicken wire, this bank had survived the Great Depression when lesser banks went under and fire did not interrupt business much.
1956 Belgium Coal Mine Fire Marcinelle
1956 : A fire in a coal mine in Marcinelle, Belgium leaves 262 miners dead.
1963 Great Britain "The Great Train Robbery"
1963 : The date of "The Great Train Robbery" in United Kingdom when thieves held up a train carrying the Royal Mail and stole 120 mail sacks , the mail sacks contained cash and gems valued in excess of 7 Million.
1976 U.S.A. Legionnaire’s Disease
1976 : In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ten thousand legionnaires who attended a convention from July 21st - July 24th were in a panic after the outbreak of a mystery disease among their ranks. Twenty-four persons have already died and 87 are ill. Doctors are completely baffled as to what virus or fungus could have caused this illness. Also, it is costing $25,000 a day to try and target the culprit. Meanwhile, street names for the mystery diagnosis have arisen. It is dubbed Legionnaire’s disease, Philadelphia fever, or Veteran’s Virus.
1988 The Burmese 8888 Uprising
1988 : Students begin protesting for a return to democracy and are joined Burmese citizens from all walks of life, including Buddhist monks. The demonstrations were peaceful and spread from the Burmese capital to other cities in Burma. As the numbers of protesters grew Burma's military government leader Ne Win put military soldiers on the streets with orders, "That Guns were not to shoot upwards,", it is estimated that the soldiers killed in excess of 2,500 students and Buddhist monks before the uprising ended. In 2007 protests started again and the government response led to the use of force by the military.
1991 Lebanon John McCarthy Released
1991 : John McCarthy a British journalist has been released after being held captive for more than five years by Islamic Jihad. The terrorist militant organisation are still holding a number of American and English hostages including Terry Anderson, Tom Sutherland and Terry Waite.
Born This Day In History August 8
Celebrating Birthdays Today
Esther Williams
Born: August 8, 1921, Inglewood, California, U.S.
Died: June 6th, 2013, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Known For : Esther Williams is best known as an American Movie Actress and Top Class Swimmer, she began her acting career in Billy Rose's Aquacade swimming alongside Olympic swimmer and Tarzan star, Johnny Weissmuller. She was signed under contract by MGM's head, Louis B. Mayer. Her movies included Bathing Beauty (1944), Ziegfeld Follies (1945), Fiesta (1947), Million Dollar Mermaid (1952), and a series of movies starring opposite Howard Keel. Her trademark in many of the movies she was in featured synchronized swimming scenes which combined her acting skill with her passion for swimming. Due to the start of World War II the 1940 Summer Olympics were cancelled and she never had the opportunity to compete.
Dustin Hoffman
Born: August 8, 1937, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Known For : Dustin Hoffman is an American actor who has had more than 40 years starring in major movies beginning in 1967 with his role of Benjamin Braddock in the movie The Graduate which won critical acclaim and was a major box office success. His movies over the 40 years include the award winning The Graduate, John and Mary, Lenny, Midnight Cowboy, All the President's Men, Kramer vs. Kramer, Tootsie, Rain Man, Hook, Wag the Dog, Meet the Fockers and Last Chance Harvey picking up two Academy Awards, five Golden Globes, three BAFTAs, three Drama Desk Awards, and an Emmy Award.
1992 Croatia Children's Charity Foundation
1992 : A Croatian relief foundation has had a flood of calls and donations lately. It started after a news reel showed a load of Croatian children get sprayed with bullets. Prior to this the Croatian Family Funds had received very little notice. However, many people now want to adopt a Croatian child from Bosnia-Herzegovina. Adoptions, will have to wait though, because it is too dangerous to enter the war zone.
2000 Brush Fires Worst In 50 Years
2000 : As the number, intensity and area of the Western United States affected by brush fires increases to more than 1.5 million hectares burned making this the worst year for wild fires in 50 years. Below is an idea and the scale of the problem.
US States Affected: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Firefighters involved in fighting the fires: State, Marines, Army, National Guard, Canadian Assistance, Mexican Assistance. Number of Fires: 60,000 fires so far, Number Of Acres Burnt So Far: Four million acres, Number Of Acres Still Burning: 900,000 acres This has been the worst in 50 years and firefighters see no end to the problems because of more continued high temperatures, low humidity, and rainless thunderstorms causing lightning which ignites most of the fires in the first place. This year may well go down in record books as the worst in history because August and September are traditionally the worst months of the year and this is just the start of August.2001 Bahamas Human Cloning
2001 : In the Bahamas a company called Clonaid has intimated that they might be cloning human beings. Clonaid argues that it is ethical to clone human genetic material and complications like congenital defects or fetal death do not scare Ms. Boisseller, president of the company. She will not confirm or deny whether a human has actually been cloned in her laboratory. On December 27th, 2002, Clonaid's Boisselier, a Raëlian bishop and CEO of Clonaid, announced that a baby clone, named Eve, was born. They have since claimed additional successful cloning of human beings but as of this date (July 2008) no proof has ever been substantiated by outside scientists that could confirm or deny Clonaid's claims.
2001 Golden Hollywood Couple Divorce
2001 : Hollywood Golden Couple superstars Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise who have two adopted children, Isabella, 8, and Conor, 6, divorce.
2002 Brazil IMF Loan
2002 : The (IMF) International Monetary Fund has announced details of an additional $30 billion dollar loan to Brazil to help stabilize the economy, this is in addition to the $15 billion last year. Brazil is the latest of the South American Economies to come under pressure because of super inflation in South America which started in 1999 and went as high as 1,000% to 5,000% per year in the area. IMF loans do come with a price for the country that borrows the money which need to match financial targets set by the International Monetary Fund in order to get the cash which includes targeting inflation and increasing output.
2006 Spain Hundreds of Morocco Migrants Arrested
2006 : A total of 383 migrants, mostly from Morocco, who hid in trucks and fairground rides were arrested in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa on this day. The migrants were headed for the Spanish mainland when they were intercepted by authorities.
2007 Russians Restart Exercises Over Guam
2007 : Russia flew two bomber airplanes to Guam, an island that holds a large US military base on this day. The exercise was said to be the first of its kind since the Cold War ended. The US fighter pilots responded and the pilots exchanged smiles and visual contact.
2007 China Baijis Dolphin Possible Extinct
2007 : Scientists announced that a rare type of dolphin was likely to be extinct. The Yangtze river dolphin, called Baijis, did not show up on researchers’ surveys of the river. The extinction of the Yangtze river dolphin would become the first extinction of the kind in nearly fifty years. It is thought one or two have been spotted since but that would be insufficient to stop the Baijis Dolphin from extinction.
2008 China 2008 Summer Olympics Starts
2008 : Beijing marked the beginning of the 2008 Summer Olympic games with a large opening ceremony lasting four hours that included a light show and fireworks.
2012 Country Star Randy Travis Found Drunk and Naked
2012 : Country musician Randy Travis was charged with driving while intoxicated after being found drunk and naked after having crashed his car near his home in Texas. The musician was arrested and reportedly made threats towards police officers while being transported. He had been arrested for public intoxication earlier in the year as well.
2013 Pakistan Suicide Bomber in Quetta
2013 : A suicide bombing at a funeral killed at least twenty-eight people and wounded at least fifty others in Quetta. The bomber attacked just before services were supposed to start at a funeral for a police officer.
Studebaker 1929 President Eight RoadsterPrice From $1,589 to $1,895
Studebaker 1929 President Eight Roadster seats two in the comfortable front seats and two in the Rumble, 115 Horsepower engine, hydraulic shock absorbers, wire wheels, spare tire and bumpers are additional to the price.
Portable Bathtub With Water Heater
Price: $41.85Many if not most rural homes in the twenties did not have full indoor plumbing so this was your best chance of having a hot bath, the water heater could be a Gasoline or Kerosine based burner, To use the bathtub you first needed to fill the tank with water ( held 12 gallons ), next light the burner and when ready fill the bath, to empty the bath attach the 6ft length of hose to the water outlet and drain out through the nearest window.