This Day in History – August 14, 2011

410 Alaric sacks Rome 1248 Construction of Cologne Cathedral begun 1457 Oldest known exactly dated printed book (c 3 years after Gutenberg) 1756 French capture Fort Oswego, NY 1765 Massachusetts colonists challenge British rule by an Elm (Liberty Tree) 1842 Indian Wars: Second Seminole War ends, with the Seminoles forced from Florida to Oklahoma. 1848 Oregon Territory is organized by act of Congress. 1880 Construction of Cologne Cathedral completed 1885 Japan’s first patent is issued to the inventor of a rust-proof paint. 1888 An audio recording of English composer Arthur Sullivan’s “The Lost Chord”, one of the first recordings of music ever made, is played during a press conference introducing Thomas Edison’s phonograph in London. 1893 France issues 1st driving licenses, included required test 1901 The first claimed powered flight, by Gustave Whitehead in his Number 21. 1911 United States Senate leaders agree to rotate the office of President pro tempore of the Senate among leading candidates to fill the vacancy left by William P. Frye’s death. 1933 Loggers cause a forest fire in the Coast Range of Oregon, later known as the first forest fire of the Tillamook Burn. It is extinguished on September 5, after destroying 240,000 acres (970 km²). 1935 United States Social Security Act passes, creating a government pension system for the retired. 1936 1st Olympic basketball game (Berlin) 1936 Rainey Bethea is hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky in the last public execution in the United States. 1941 World War II Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt sign the Atlantic Charter of war stating postwar aims. 1945 V-J Day; Japan surrenders unconditionally to end WW II 1947 Pakistan gains Independence from the British Indian Empire and joins the Commonwealth of Nations. 1959 Founding and first official meeting of the American Football League. 1962 NASA civilian test pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to 60,000 m 1962 US mail truck in Plymouth, Mass robbed of more than $1.5 million 1965 Beatles tape an appearance for the Ed Sullivan Show 1965 Continental Football League plays 1st games 1966 1st US lunar orbiter begins orbiting the Moon 1967 UK Marine Broadcasting Offences Act declares participation in offshore pirate radio illegal. 1973 Johnny Unitas files $725,000 suit against Baltimore Colts 1973 US bombs Cambodia 1974 Congress authorizes US citizens to own gold 1978 French TV announced a rating of “0” for a program about an Armenian’s woman’s 40th birthday, (comp: Napoleonic drama-67%, Knockout-33%) 1979 Rainbow seen in Northern Wales for a 3 hour duration 1982 Pete Rose (Phillies) 12,365 at bat sets record (passes Aaron) 1984 IBM releases MS-DOS version 3.0 1986 Phillies & Pirates play a 6 game series in 4 days 1990 Denver vote for a 1% sales tax to pay for a baseball franchise 1994 Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, also known as “Carlos the Jackal,” is captured. 2003 Wide scale power blackout in the northeast United States and Canada.]]]]> ]]>