Random Things 8/1/2013-8/31/2013

8/1/2013:

Sorry, I haven’t been active here lately, but I’ve been busy with things.

I have a Tumblr now, so if you’re curious, you can check it out here.

Today in Strangeness:

On this date in 1985, a man drowned at a lifeguard pool party in New Orleans, celebrating their first drown-free season…But the deft daredevilIvy Baldwin, age 82, crossed the Grand Canyon on a tightrope for the 88th time (1948).

8/2/2013:

Today in Strangeness:

The champagne cork popping record was set by Gary P. Mahan on this date in 1975, popping the cork 103 feet. Bang! Wild Bill Hickok was killed in a poker game holding a pair of aces and a pair of eights, which became known as a “Dead Man’s Hand” (1876).

8/3/2013:

Today in Strangeness:

On August 3rd, 1958, the Nautilus, an atomic submarine, became the first vessel to cross underneath the North Pole. On this day in 1967, James Law and some high school buddies rode the entire New York City subway system in a total of 22 hours and 11 minutes. The United States Senate began hearings on the covert CIA mind-control program, MK-ULTRA, on today’s date in 1977.

8/5/2013:

Today in Strangeness:

At the age of 36, Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home on today’s date in 1962. While her death was ruled to be “acute barbiturate poisoning,” subsequent investigations/theories have suggested she may have been murdered. On August 5, 1989 the largest game of Musical Chairs took place in China with a whopping 8,238 participants.

8/6/2013:

Today in Strangeness:

On this date in 1890, at New York’s Auburn Prison, axe murderer William Kemmler became the first person to be executed by electric chair. The oldest known tree, ‘ Prometheus,’ was cut down by a graduate student on August 6, 1964. The student and his research team hadn’t recognized the pine tree’s extreme age– estimated to be 4,862 years old.