On This Day In History
15 August 1843. The Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest amusement parks in the world, opened in Copenhagen, Denmark. From its beginning, Tivoli included a variety of attractions including flower gardens and amusement rides. After dark, coloured lamps illuminate it. pic.twitter.com/0SqxzpVxNI
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 15, 2022
15 August 1914. The Panama Canal opened to commercial traffic. It’s a 51-mile long artificial waterway that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit for maritime trade. pic.twitter.com/qFRxj7x4Mo
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 15, 2022
15 August 1935. Popular cowboy star, Will Rogers, and famous pilot, Wiley Post, were killed in a plane crash. They were flying together in a Lockheed hybrid airplane when they crashed just 15 miles outside of Point Barrow, Alaska. pic.twitter.com/OF9Xv3TpNx
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 15, 2022
15 August 1947. India became independent from British rule, when the provisions of the Indian Independence Act 1947, as passed by the United Kingdom Parliament, transferred legislative sovereignty to the Indian Constituent Assembly. India became a republic in 1950 pic.twitter.com/uoWUxTEI75
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 15, 2022
15 August 1965. Stadium rock was born when The Beatles appeared before a record 55,600 crowd at New York’s Shea Stadium. The venue was the home of the New York Mets baseball team. The concert was filmed and became the documentary, The Beatles at Shea Stadium. pic.twitter.com/Qa4iEZR6RD
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 15, 2022
15 August 1969. The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opened on Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, New York, 40 miles southwest of Woodstock. It attracted an audience of 400,000. Thirty-two acts performed, despite sporadic rain, including: Jimi Hendrix, Santana and Joe Cocker. pic.twitter.com/otLy7U4Wq7
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 15, 2022
15 August 1986. Corporal punishment was officially banned in British state schools. It was not ended in private schools until 1998 in England and Wales, 2000 in Scotland and 2003 in Northern Ireland. pic.twitter.com/jk0efDlAJN
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 15, 2022
15 August 1998. A terrorist bomb blast in Omagh killed 29 people. It’s the deadliest single incident of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. It was carried out by the Real Irish Republican Army, a splinter group from the IRA, opposed to the IRA ceasefire and Good Friday Agreement. pic.twitter.com/erLcjKShvH
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 15, 2022
15 August 2021. Football legend, Gerd Müller, died (aged 75). He played 453 league games for Bayern Munich from 1964 and 1979 and scored 398 goals. He appeared in 62 games for West Germany and scored 68 times. Most of his goals came inside the penalty area. pic.twitter.com/Dp8bUyi0er
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 15, 2022
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
Did You Know?
A solar flare from the Sun creates a geomagnetic storm that affects micro chips, leading to a halt of all trading on Toronto's stock market.
Today in History in 1989
Would You Believe?
Morocco King Hassan II's B727 shot during failed coup attempt by General Mohamed Oufkir. Reportedly, King Hassan grabbed the radio and told the rebel pilots "Stop firing! The tyrant is dead!", fooling pilots to break off attack
Today in History in 1972
This day 38 years ago – 16 August 1982 – the Attorney General of Ireland, Patrick Connolly, resigned, after wanted murderer Malcolm MacArthur was found on his property.
Taoiseach Charles Haughey described the events as “bizarre... unprecedented... grotesque... unbelievable”. pic.twitter.com/rkxixqrFW2
— This Day in Irish History (@ThisDayIrish) August 16, 2020
#OTD in 1655, famed scholar Bathsua Makin lost a claim to Oliver Cromwell's government for a pension due to her as tutor to Charles I's daughter. She wrote, ‘Had God intended women only as a finer sort of cattle, he would not have made them reasonable.’ https://t.co/NYbSAngerM pic.twitter.com/En6lYWap6P
— On This Day She (@OnThisDayShe) August 16, 2022
On this day in 1904, a mob of white men in Marengo County, Alabama, lynched Rufus Lesseur, a 24-year-old Black man, for allegedly frightening a white woman. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history. https://t.co/9zU26pEf3O
— Equal Justice Initiative (@eji_org) August 16, 2022
16 August 1819. A number of people were killed at “The Peterloo Massacre”, at St Peter’s Field, Manchester, after militia charged a crowd demanding democratic reform. The exact death toll has never been conclusively established, but is estimated to be between 15 and 18 killed. pic.twitter.com/CHqhggLNj0
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 16, 2022
16 August 1948. “Babe Ruth” died (aged 53). He’s regarded as the greatest baseball player of all time. His career spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 to 1935. He was pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, but achieved his greatest fame with the New York Yankees. He hit 714 career home runs. pic.twitter.com/mQ7QoC0wby
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 16, 2022
16 August 1949. Margaret Mitchell died (aged 48), after being struck by a speeding car while crossing 13th Street in Atlanta, 5 days earlier. She was the author of the best selling novel, Gone With the Wind, which became a hugely successful Hollywood film. pic.twitter.com/t0Zq61AlVV
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 16, 2022
16 August 1960. Cyprus gained independence from the United Kingdom after the, Zürich and London Agreement between the United Kingdom, Greece and Turkey, was signed. The public holiday Independence Day was moved to 1 October to avoid summer heat and tourist season. pic.twitter.com/h38qmweW4G
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 16, 2022
BBC News reporting on the death of Elvis Presley, who died #OTD in 1977. pic.twitter.com/DxgkVeUQns
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 16, 2022
16 August 2003. Idi Amin, President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979, died (his exact age not known). The media outside of Uganda often portrayed him as an essentially comic and eccentric figure, but his regime was militaristic, repressive and brutal. pic.twitter.com/zvQKq35AOA
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 16, 2022