Rob
@orion64.bsky.social
Human, retired, veteran, inhabitant of the 3rd planet from the sun, self published author, atheist, science fiction fan, lover of Tolkien's works, still believe in the Constitution.
5 August 2019 (7 years ago): Toni Morrison, American author, Pulitzer Prize winner, and Nobel laureate (born 1931).
5 August 2000 (26 years ago): Alec Guinness, English actor (born 1914)
5 August 1984 (42 years ago): Richard Burton, Welsh actor (born 1925)
5 August 1881 (145 years ago): Spotted Tail, American tribal chief (born 1823)
5 August 1962 (64 years ago): Patrick Ewing, Jamaican-American basketball player and coach
5 August 1941 (85 years ago): Bob Clark, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2007)
5 August 1936 (90 years ago): John Saxon, American actor (died 2020)
5 August 1930 (96 years ago): Neil Armstrong, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut, first man to walk on the Moon (died 2012)
5 August 1906 (120 years ago): John Huston, American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1987)
5 August 1974 (52 years ago): Watergate scandal: President Nixon, under orders of the US Supreme Court, releases the "Smoking Gun" tape, recorded on June 23, 1972, clearly revealing his actions in covering up & interfering investigations into the break-in. His political support vanishes completely.
5 August 1962 (64 years ago): Apartheid: Nelson Mandela is jailed. He would not be released until 1990.
5 August 1957 (69 years ago): American Bandstand, a show dedicated to the teenage "baby-boomers" by playing the songs and showing popular dances of the time, debuts on the ABC television network.
5 August 1944 (82 years ago): World War II: The Nazis begin a week-long massacre of between 40,000 and 50,000 civilians and prisoners of war in Wola, Poland.
5 August 1944 (82 years ago): World War II: Polish insurgents liberate a German labor camp (Gęsiówka) in Warsaw, freeing 348 Jewish prisoners.
5 August 1939 (87 years ago): The Thirteen Roses: Thirteen female members of the Unified Socialist Youth are executed by Francoist forces in Madrid, Spain.
5 August 1926 (100 years ago): Harry Houdini performs his greatest feat, spending 91 minutes underwater in a sealed tank before escaping.
5 August 1925 (101 years ago): Plaid Cymru is formed with the aim of disseminating knowledge of the Welsh language that is at the time in danger of dying out.
5 August 1914 (112 years ago): In Cleveland, Ohio, the first electric traffic light is installed.
5 August 1884 (142 years ago): The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe's Island (now Liberty Island) in New York Harbor.
5 August 1864 (162 years ago): American Civil War: The Battle of Mobile Bay begins at Mobile Bay near Mobile, Alabama, Admiral David Farragut leads a Union flotilla through Confederate defenses and seals one of the last major Southern ports.