This Day in History – August 10, 2011

1519 Magellan’s 5 ship set sail to circumnavigate the Earth 1790 Robert Gray’s Columbia, completes 1st American around world voyage 1792 Mobs in Paris attack the palace of Louis XVI 1821 Missouri admitted as 24th US state 1831 Former slave Nat Turner led violent insurrection against slavery 1833 Chicago incorporates as a village of about 200 1846 Congress charters the “nation’s attic,” the Smithsonian Institution 1856 Hurricane washes away 2-300 revelers at Last Island, Louisiana 1866 Transatlantic cable laid – Former Pres Buchanan communicates over it to Queen Victoria 1893 Chinese deported from SF under Exclusion Act 1921 FDR stricken with polio at summer home on Canadian Is of Campobello 1938 119ø F (48ø C), Pendleton, Oregon (state record) 1945 Japan announces willingness to surrender to Allies provided the status of Emperor Hirohito remained unchanged 1948 ABC enters network TV at 7 PM (WJZ, NY) 1948 Allen Funt’s “Candid Camera” TV debut on ABC 1949 Natl Military Establishment renamed Dept of Defense 1960 Discoverer 13 launched into orbit; returned 1st object from space 1961 England applies for membership in the European Common Market 1966 1st lunar orbiter launched by US 1966 Daylight meteor seen from Utah to Canada. Only known case of a meteor entering the Earth’s atmosphere & leaving it again 1969 A day after murdering Sharon Tate and four others, members of Charles Manson’s cult kill Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. 1971 The Society for American Baseball Research is founded in Cooperstown, New York. 1975 David Frost purchases exclusive rights to interview Nixon 1977 Phillies & Expos play a doubleheader that ends at 3:23 AM 1977 In Yonkers, New York, 24-year-old postal employee David Berkowitz (“Son of Sam”) is arrested for a series of killings in the New York City area over the period of one year. 1978 Three members of the Ulrich family are killed in an accident. This leads to the Ford Pinto litigation. 1981 Murder of Adam Walsh: the head of John Walsh’s son is found. This inspires the creation of the television series America’s Most Wanted. 1981 Coca-Cola Bottling Co agrees to pump $34 million into black business 1981 Pete Rose tops Stan Musial’s NL record 3,630 hits 1981 The Richard Nixon Museum in San Clemente closes 1984 Mary Decker trips on heel of Zola Budd during 3,000m Olympic run 1985 Michael Jackson buys ATV Music (every Beatle songs) for $47 million 1985 Uno Lindstron of Sweden, juggles a soccer ball 13.11 miles 1986 Billy Martin day, Yanks retire #1 1987 Flight Readiness Firing of Discovery’s main engines is successful 1988 UN estimates Asia’s population hit 3 billion 1988 Japanese American internment: U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, providing $20,000 payments to Japanese Americans who were either interned in or relocated by the United States during World War II. 1990 The Magellan space probe reaches Venus. 1990 More than 127 Muslims are killed in North East Sri Lanka by paramilitary troops. 1990 US’s Magellan spacecraft lands on Venus 1993 An earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter Scale hits the South Island of New Zealand. 1995 Oklahoma City bombing: Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols are indicted for the bombing. Michael Fortier pleads guilty in a plea-bargain for his testimony. 1998 HRH Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah is proclaimed the crown prince of Brunei with a Royal Proclamation. 2003 The highest temperature ever recorded in the United Kingdom – 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) in Kent. It is the first time the United Kingdom has recorded a temperature over 100 °F (38 °C). 2003 Yuri Malenchenko becomes the first person to marry in space. 2006 Scotland Yard disrupts a major terrorist plot to destroy aircraft traveling from the United Kingdom to the United States.]]]]> ]]>