On This Day In History
August 16th
1896 Gold first discovered in Klondike, found at Bonanza Creek in the Yukon, Canada by George Carmack
1930 I British Empire Games open in Hamilton, Canada
1945 Puyi, the last Chinese Emperor and ruler of Manchukuo is captured by Soviet troops
1946 Direct Action Day: Widespread riots erupt in Calcutta between Muslims and Hindus over whether Pakistan should be a separate state, killing over 4,000 and leaving 100,000 homeless
2012 Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange is granted political asylum by Ecuador
August 17th
1590 Governor of Roanoke Island colony, John White, returns from England to find no trace of the colonists he had left there 3 years earlier [or Aug 18, 1591]
1903 Joe Pulitzer donates $1 million to Columbia University & begins the Pulitzer Prizes in America
1945 Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta declare Indonesia (Dutch East Indies) independent from the Netherlands
1945 Korea is divided into North and South Korea along the 38th parallel
1947 The Radcliffe Line, the border between Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan is revealed
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
Did You Know?
Projection in Paris of the very first animated cartoon, Fantasmagorie realized by Émile Cohl
Today in History in 1908
Would You Believe?
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
Today in History in 1957
August 18th
1737 First public admittance to the Salon de Paris art exhibition at the Louvre in Paris
1838 United States Exploring Expedition headed by Charles Wilkes departs for the Pacific Ocean and Antarctica
1914 US President Woodrow Wilson issues “Proclamation of Neutrality”
1919 Anti-Cigarette League of America forms in Chicago, Illinois
1920 22 year old representative Harry T. Burn is deciding vote in Tennessee’s and thus America’s ratification of the 19th Amendment to the constitution allowing women’s suffrage after letter from his mother
1940 Battle of Britain: The air battle known as “The Hardest Day” occurs; Luftwaffe lose approximately 69 aircraft and the RAF lose 68 in one of the largest ever air battles
Did You Know?
French Astronomer Pierre Janssen discovers helium in solar spectrum during eclipse
Today in History in 1868
Would You Believe?
60-70ft sea serpent sightings reported offshore in Gloucester, Massachusetts
Today in History in 1817
August 19th
43 BC Octavian, later known as Augustus, compels the Roman Senate to elect him Consul
1839 Details of Louis Daguerre‘s 1st practical photographic process are released in Paris
1942 World War II: Over 4,000 Canadian and British soldiers killed, wounded or captured raiding Dieppe, France
1988 Iran and Iraq begin a cease-fire in their 8-year-old war (11 PM EDT)
1991 Conservative members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union attempt to depose Mikhail Gorbachev in a coup d’état
2010 Operation Iraqi Freedom ends, with the last of the United States brigade combat teams crossing the border to Kuwait
Did You Know?
The Chinese Community in South Africa is granted ‘White’ status
Today in History in 1970
Would You Believe?
Start of first and only Olympic cricket match in Paris; GB beats France by 158 runs
Today in History in 1900