How August Became August

2

North Vietnamese torpedo boats attack the U.S. destroyer "Maddox" in the Gulf of Tonkin. (1964)

3

United States President Calvin Coolidge was inaugurated today in 1923

4

George Washington became a Master Mason. (1753)

5

At the Olympic Games in Berlin, African American athlete Jesse Owens broke the Olympic record in the 200-meter race. (1936)

6

U.S. bomber "Enola Gay" drops an atom bomb on Hiroshima, destroying the city and killing some 70,000 people. (1945)

7

George Davidson, a prominent astronomer and explorer, impresses Alaskan Native Americans with his ability to predict a total solar eclipse (1869)

8

President Richard Nixon announced his intention to resign effective noon the next day. (1974)

9

In 1854, Henry David Thoreau published "Walden," which described his experiences while living near Walden Pond in Massachusetts.

10

Missouri entered the Union as the twenty-fourth state, and the first located entirely west of the Mississippi River. (1821)

11

Duke Kahanamoku broke the world record in the 100-yard free-style swim by 4.6 seconds. (1911)

12

Thomas Alva Edison's completion of the model for the first phonograph. (1877)

13

Alfred Hitchcock, the macabre master of moviemaking, is born in London. (1899)

14

As a protest against the Mexican War and the spread of slavery, Henry David Thoreau refuses to pay a federal tax. (1846)

15

In 1769, Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the island of Corsica.

16

Elvis Presley Dies (1977).

17

The English defeated the Scots and French at the Battle of Verneuil during the Hundred Years' War. (1424)

18

Today in History

19

Old Ironsides Earns Its Name. (1812)

20

The newly organized National Labor Union called on Congress to mandate an eight-hour workday. (1866)

21

Leonardo da Vinci's painting "Mona Lisa" was stolen from the Louvre Museum by Vicenzo Perruggia. (1911)

22

After landing in Australia, Captain James Cook, claimed it for the British crown. (1770)

23

In 1754, Louis XVI, king of France, was born at Versailles.

24

During the war of 1812 British forces capture Washington, DC. (1814)

25

Locomotive Loses Race with Horse (1830)

26

The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is adopted, granting women the right to vote. (1920)

27

In 1908, Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th president of the U.S., was born near Stonewall, Texas

28

Ten suffragists were arrested on today in 1917 as they picketed the White House.

29

The Beatles made their last public performance before the group disbanded in 1970.(1966)

30

Cleopatra committed suicide.(30 B.C.)

31

The House of Represent-
atives votes to establish a new Cabinet department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). (1965)