On This Day In History
30 August 1146. A European conference outlawed the use of the crossbow. It was hoped this might stop wars, but the ban proved ineffective, as it was interpreted as not applying to Christians. pic.twitter.com/XNURzxZnbL
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 30, 2022
30 August 1918. Fanni Kaplan (left) shot and seriously injured the Bolshevik leader, Lenin (Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov). He survived, but was never restored to full health. pic.twitter.com/7I1XqOEm39
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 30, 2022
30 August 1983. Guion Bluford became the first black American astronaut to travel in space, aboard, Space Shuttle Challenger. He took part in 4 Shuttle flights from 1983 to 1992. He was the second black person in space: the first being the Cuban cosmonaut, Arnaldo Méndez. pic.twitter.com/zpu4kzRkYD
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 30, 2022
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, the man who helped to end the Cold War, has died at the age of 91. This is how I will remember him. https://t.co/vKCBaufKWL
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) August 30, 2022
August 31st
1142 Possible date for establishment of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) League [disputed date – other research places date between 1450 and 1660]
1888 The body of Jack the Ripper’s first victim, Mary Ann Nichols, is found in Whitechapel in London’s East End
1917 In China, Sun Yat-sen and his supporters’ ‘rump’ parliament establishes a military government and elects Sun Yat-sen as commander-in-Chief
1945 The Liberal Party of Australia is founded by Robert Menzies
1957 Federation of Malaya gains independence from Great Britain
1994 The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Sinn Féin) declares a ceasefire in Northern Ireland
1997 Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in a road tunnel in Paris
Did You Know?
A. J. Reach Co. patents cork-centered baseball
Today in History in 1909
Would You Believe?
Pentium computer beats world chess champ Garry Kasparov
Today in History in 1994
This day 110 years ago - 31 August 1910 - Lilian Bland became the first woman in the world to design, build and pilot a plane.
She took off from Randalstown, Co Antrim.
Bland had written to Flight magazine about the Mayfly, “I think she is the first biplane made in Ireland.” pic.twitter.com/grGXfhRTad
— This Day in Irish History (@ThisDayIrish) August 31, 2020
This day 150 years ago – 31 August 1869 – Mary Ward, the first person in the world known to have been killed by a motor vehicle, died in Co. Offaly.
Ward, a scientist, was thrown from a steam-powered car in Parsonstown (present-day Birr) and died of a broken neck. She was 42. pic.twitter.com/WQP0UBOmTu
— This Day in Irish History (@ThisDayIrish) August 31, 2019
#OTD in 2019, a wreath was laid in Fife for Lilias Adie, arrested as a witch in 1704. Adie killed herself before she could be burned. Her face has been reconstructed by archaeologists. Thousands of women were killed as 'witches' in Scotland, 1560-1727. https://t.co/4G5TrViDSv
— On This Day She (@OnThisDayShe) August 31, 2022
On this day in 1966, 12 years after Brown v. Board of Education, the Alabama Senate passed a law that made it illegal for public schools to make school integration plans with federal officials. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history. https://t.co/cm97sp8sn5
— Equal Justice Initiative (@eji_org) August 31, 2022
31 August 1830. British born, Edwin Budding, was granted a patent for his new invention, the Lawn Mower. His original mower was designed to cut the lawn on sports grounds and extensive gardens, as a superior alternative to the scythe. pic.twitter.com/jCegJvotWl
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 31, 2022
31 August 1888. Mary Ann Nichols (aged 43), considered the first victim of the Victorian serial killer nicknamed by the press as “Jack the Ripper”, was found dead in Buck’s Row, London. pic.twitter.com/A1yIX0MF55
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 31, 2022
31 August 1900. Coca Cola went on sale in Britain for the first time. It was first sold in chemist shops as Cola Syrup, an over-the-counter dietary supplement for an upset stomach. It was not until the 1920s that the bottled version became generally available in the UK. pic.twitter.com/r7E9Lv514l
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 31, 2022
31 August 1939. German security forces (falsely posing as Poles), attacked a German radio station at Gleiwitz, and planted a dead body in order to create a pretext for the unprovoked German military attack on Poland on the following day. pic.twitter.com/uKgi6vHmlf
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 31, 2022
31 August 1968. West Indian cricketer, Garfield (“Garry”) Sobers, became the first batsman to score 6 ‘sixes’ in one over. He achieved this incredible batting feat while playing in the English County Championship for Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan in Swasnea. pic.twitter.com/ckTlhc6hkX
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 31, 2022
31 August 1969. Boxing legend, Rocky Marciano (aged 45), was killed in a plane crash. He was the world heavyweight champion from 1952 to 1956, and is the only uncontested heavyweight to have retired undefeated. pic.twitter.com/pvK6f7j7hr
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 31, 2022
31 August 1980. After a two week strike, the Polish government agreed to make Solidarity, the unofficial trade union, legal. The protest was led by Lech Wałęsa who later served as the first post 1945 democratically-elected President of Poland from 1990 to 1995. pic.twitter.com/omuz9EQhAc
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 31, 2022
31 August 1986. Acclaimed sculptor, Henry Moore, died (aged 88). He’s best known for his semi-abstract bronze sculptures. He turned down a knighthood in 1951 because he felt the honour would lead to a perception of him as an establishment figure. pic.twitter.com/yhdIInVdKQ
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 31, 2022
31 August 1997. Princess Diana, (aged 36), Dodi Fayed (aged 42), and driver Henri Paul (aged 41), were killed in a car crash in Paris. The car had been pursued through a road tunnel by photographers-riding mopeds- when the speeding driver lost control of the vehicle. pic.twitter.com/TvXG5j6aIE
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 31, 2022
September 1st
1715 King Louis XIV of France dies after a reign of 72 years—the longest of any major European monarch.
1878 1st female telephone operator starts work, Emma Nutt for the Edwin Holmes Telephone Despatch Company in Boston
1905 Wilfrid Laurier oversees Alberta and Saskatchewan joining the Confederation of Canada as its 8th and 9th Canadian provinces
1939 World War II starts when Germany invades Poland by attacking the Free City of Danzig
1941 Jews living in Germany are required to wear a yellow star of David
1951 US, Australia and New Zealand sign the ANZUS mutual defense treaty
1969 Colonel Muammar Gaddafi deposes King Idris in the Libyan revolution