Today in history 8/21/2017

8/21/2017:

Today in history, The warrior Yoritomo (see picture below) is made Shogun without equal in Japan in 1129.

Today in history, France surrenders the island of Corsica to the British in 1794.

Today in history, The first of a series of debates begins between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. Douglas goes on to win the Senate seat in November, but Lincoln gains national visibility for the first time in 1858.

Today in history, The Mona Lisa, the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, is stolen from the Louvre in Paris, where it had hung for more than 100 years. It is recovered in 1913 in 1911.

Today in history, U.S. Marines turn back the first major Japanese ground attack on Guadalcanal in the Battle of Tenaru in 1942.

Today in history, Hawaii is admitted into the Union in 1959.

Today in history, Mary Langdon (see picture below) in Battle, East Sussex, becomes Britain’s first firewoman in 1976.

Today in history 8/9/2017

8/9/2017:

Today in history, The escalator is patented. However, the first working escalator appeared in 1900. Manufactured by the Otis Elevator Company for the Paris Exposition, it was installed in a Philadelphia office building the following year in 1859.

Today in history, The first complete, self-contained electric washing machine is patented in 1910.

Today in history, The first appearance of the animated character Betty Boop (“Dizzy Dishes”) (see picture below) in 1930.

Today in history, Jesse Owens (see picture below) wins four gold medals in track and field events at the Berlin Olympics in 1936.

Today in history, The fictional character Smokey Bear (“Only you can prevent forest fires”) (see picture below) is created by US Forest Service and the Ad Council in 1944.

Today in history, The B-29 bomber Bock’s Car drops a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan in 1945.

Today in history, The Diet of Japan establishes the country’s official national flag, the Hinomaru (see picture below), and national anthem, “Kimi Ga Yo.” in 1999.

Today in history 8/7/2017

8/7/2017:

Today in history, General George Washington authorizes the award of the Purple Heart for soldiers wounded in combat in 1782.

Today in history, Union troops capture part of Confederate General Jubal Early‘s army at Moorefield, West Virginia in 1864.

Today in history, Theophilus Van Kannel (see picture below) of Philadelphia receives a patent for the revolving door in 1888.

Today in history, In Washington, the U.S. Court of Appeals rules that the government can neither confiscate nor ban James Joyce’s novel Ulysses in 1934.

Today in history, The U.S. 1st Marine Division under General A. A. Vandegrift lands on the islands of Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the Solomon islands. This is the first American amphibious landing of the war in 1942.

Today in history, Apollo 15 (see picture below) returns to Earth. The mission to the moon had marked the first use of the Lunar Roving Vehicle in 1971.

Today in history, Japan defeats the United States to win the Olympic Gold in baseball in 1984.

Today in history, Operation Desert Shield begins as US troops deploy to Saudi Arabia to discourage Iraq’s Saddam Hussein from invading that country as he had Kuwait .

Today in history, Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants breaks Hank Aaron’s record with his 756th home run. Bonds’ accomplishments were clouded by allegations of illegal steroid use and lying to a grand jury in 2007.

Today in history 8/6/2017

8/6/2017:

Today in history, John Cabot (see picture below) returns to England after his first successful journey to the Labrador coast.

Today in history, The CSS Alabama captures the USS Sea Bride near the Cape of Good Hope in 1863.

Today in history, The Japanese army in Korea surrounds a Russian army retreating to Manchuria in 1904.

Today in history, Paul Tibbets, the commander of Enola Gay, (see picture below) drops the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. It was the second atomic bomb, dropped on Nagasaki, that induced the Japanese to surrender in 1945.

Today in history, President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act, outlawing the literacy test for voting eligibility in the South in 1965.

Today in history 7/29/2017

7/29/2017:

Today in history, Bartholomew Gilbert is killed in Virginia by Indians, during a search for the missing Roanoke colonists in 1603.

Today in history, Liberals led by the Marquis de Lafayette (see picture below) seize Paris in opposition to the king’s restrictions on citizens’ rights in 1830.

Today in history, Japan signs a treaty of commerce and friendship with the United States in 1858.

Today in history, U.S. Marines land at Port-au-Prince to protect American interests in Haiti in 1915.

Today in history, Prince Charles marries Lady Diana (see picture below) in 1981.

Today in history, The Boston Red Sox hit 12 doubles in a game, setting a major league record in 1990.

Today in history, Astronomers announce the discovery of dwarf planet Eris (see picture below), leading the International Astronomic Union to clarify the definition of a planet in 2005.