On This Day In History
#otd in 1928, German fencer Helene Mayer won a gold medal at the 1928 Olympics. Bizarrely, when taking silver at the 1936 games in Berlin, she gave the Nazi salute - even though she (as a Jew) had been forced to leave Germany and settle in the USA. https://t.co/58onjO4YU3
— On This Day She (@OnThisDayShe) August 1, 2022
On this day in 1944, white transit workers in Philadelphia protested the promotion of eight Black workers to become trolley drivers—a job previously reserved for white men. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history. https://t.co/FTCyH44BeM
— Equal Justice Initiative (@eji_org) August 1, 2022
1 August 30 BC. Roman general, Mark Antony, committed suicide by stabbing. He died being comforted by love of his life, Cleopatra. His demise came after the arrival of Octavian’s forces in Egypt. With Antony dead, Octavian (later Augustus), became the master of the Roman world. pic.twitter.com/8U84yzyX6d
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 1, 2022
1 August 10 BC. Claudius was born. He was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54 AD, and the first born outside Italy (in Gaul). On 13 October 54, he was poisoned to death under mysterious circumstances. His 17-year-old stepson, Nero, succeeded him. pic.twitter.com/4WKI8pd6VX
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 1, 2022
1 August 1893. The breakfast cereal “Shredded Wheat” was patented by Americans, Henry Perky, and William Ford. It became hugely popular. In 1901, Perky built a new plant near Niagara Falls. Shredded Wheat is still made there and sold worldwide. pic.twitter.com/ayVnx8lHfd
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 1, 2022
1 August 1903. Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Cannary), the American frontierswoman, died (aged 51). Her sharpshooting skills made her a star of Wild West Shows. It’s claimed she acquired her nickname as a result of her warnings to men that to offend her was to “court calamity”. pic.twitter.com/j9KjQQVkG5
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 1, 2022
1 August 1944. The Warsaw Uprising began. The Polish underground resistance, led by the Polish Home Army, tried to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It lasted 63 days, with very little outside support from the Allies and was brutally suppressed by the German armed forces. pic.twitter.com/28GgKT4s07
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 1, 2022
1 August 1960. Elvis Presley was named “Public Enemy No 1” by the East German newspaper, Young World. Willi Stoph, the East German Defence Minister said Elvis and his rock ‘n’ roll music were “means of seduction to make the youth ripe for atomic war”. pic.twitter.com/n79x74gYwf
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 1, 2022
1 August 1971. The Concert for Bangladesh for famine relief, organised by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, was held in Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA. It was rock's first mass act of philanthropy. Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Ringo Starr all appeared. pic.twitter.com/SlhbHkRiUr
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 1, 2022
1 August 1981. Pop music channel, MTV, launched. It was initially available only to households in parts of New Jersey, USA. The first video shown on the new channel was Video Killed the Radio Star by Buggles. MTV influenced the boom in pop videos, which began in the 1980s. pic.twitter.com/amv78my4Jr
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 1, 2022
1 August 1987. MTV Europe, a pay television network, launched in Europe. The first video shown was Money for Nothing by Dire Straits, which starts and finishes with a repetition of the line: “I want my MTV,” voiced by Sting. pic.twitter.com/z0AWxpLwDq
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 1, 2022
August 2nd
338 BC Macedonian army led by Philip II defeats combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea, securing Macedonian hegemony in Greece and the Aegean
216 BC Second Punic War: Battle of Cannae - Carthaginian army lead by Hannibal defeats numerically superior Roman army under command consuls Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro
1776 Formal signing of the US Declaration of Independence by 56 people (date most accepted by modern historians)
1790 1st US census conducted, the population was 3,939,214 including 697,624 slaves
1832 Battle of Bad Axe, Wisconsin: 1,300 Illinois militia defeat Sauk & Fox Native Americans ending the Black Hawk War in the US
1858 Government of India transferred from East India Company to the British Crown
2018 Apple becomes the first American public listed company to reach $1 trillion in value
Did You Know?
Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 is passed in America, essentially rendering marijuana and all its by-products illegal
Today in History in 1937
Would You Believe?
First footage of white giraffes posted by Hirola Conservation Program in north eastern Kenya
Today in History in 2017
This day 97 years ago – 2 August 1924 – the opening ceremony of the first modern Tailteann Games was held in Croke Park.
This was a revival of the ancient Irish festival begun in 632 BC.
Over 140,000 spectators attended; 5,000 athletes participated.
Funding was cut after 1932. pic.twitter.com/VEOUKCEAk6
— This Day in Irish History (@ThisDayIrish) August 2, 2021
1343! Apologies. https://t.co/ICDUDuz3tR
— On This Day She (@OnThisDayShe) August 2, 2022
On this day in 1900, North Carolina approved a literacy test voting requirement that was used to disenfranchise most Black people in the state. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history. https://t.co/ij96S8GpdQ
— Equal Justice Initiative (@eji_org) August 2, 2022
2 August 1870. Tower Subway, the world’s first underground tube railway, opened in London. It proved uneconomic and the company went bankrupt by the end of the year. The tunnel was later converted into pedestrian use as a subway. pic.twitter.com/VBsY0LiGPY
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 2, 2022
2 August 1922. Scottish-born inventor and entrepreneur, Alexander Graham Bell, died (aged 75). He invented and patented the first practical telephone. He died of complications arising from diabetes at his private estate in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. pic.twitter.com/ZvkFeS8JS6
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 2, 2022
2 August 1939. Nobel prize-winning physicist, Albert Einstein, signed a letter, with Leo Szilard, to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging the US to start an atomic weapons programme. Einstein's letter helped to initiate the US effort to build an atomic bomb. pic.twitter.com/dh53KTGhoG
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 2, 2022
2 August 1973. 51 people were killed during a fire at the Summerland Amusement Centre in Douglas, Isle of Man. Most of those killed were people on holiday. Summerland was clad in Oroglas, a transparent acrylic sheeting later dubbed "horrorglass". When ignited, it became molten. pic.twitter.com/KXofW0fC3B
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) August 2, 2022