This Day in History – August 31, 2011

1422 King Henry V of England dies of dysentery while in France and Henry VI becomes King of England at the age of 9 months. 1535 Pope Paul II deposed & excommunicated King Henry VIII 1803 Lewis and Clark start their expedition to the west by leaving Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at 11 in the morning. 1842 US Naval Observatory authorized by an act of Congress 1881 1st US tennis championships (Newport, RI) 1886 1st major earthquake recorded in eastern US, at Charleston, SC 1887 Thomas A Edison patents Kinetoscope, (produces moving pictures) 1888 Mary Ann Nichols is murdered. She is the first of Jack the Ripper’s confirmed victims. 1894 Phillies Billy Hamilton steals 7 bases 1895 German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin patents his Navigable Balloon. 1895 1st pro football game (QB John Brallier paid $10 & won 12-0) 1900 Dodgers’ Brickyard Kennedy walks 6 straight Phillies 1902 Split skirt 1st worn by Mrs Adolph Landeburg (horse rider) 1919 Communist Labor Party of America formed in Chicago 1934 1st football all star game-Bears tie collegians 0-0 in Chicago 1935 1st national skeet championship (Indianapolis) 1935 FDR signs an act prohibiting export of US arms to belligerents 1954 Census Bureau established 1954 Hurricane Carol (1st major named storm) hits New England, 70 die 1955 1st microwave TV station operated (Lufkin, Tx) 1955 1st sun-powered automobile demonstrated, Chicago, Ill 1960 Agricultural Hall of Fame established 1965 House of Reps joins Senate in establishing Department of Housing & Urban Development 1971 Dave Scott becomes 1st person to drive a car on the Moon 1973 1st heavyweight championship fight in Japan (Foreman beats Roman) 1978 Symbionese Liberation Army founders William & Emily Harris plead guilty to 1974 kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst 1986 Aeroméxico Flight 498 collides with a Piper PA-28 over Cerritos, California, killing 67 in the air and 15 on the ground. 1997 Diana, Princess of Wales, her companion Dodi Al-Fayed and driver Henri Paul die in a car crash in Paris. 2005 A stampede on Al-Aaimmah bridge in Baghdad kills 1,199 people. 2006 Stolen on August 22, 2004, Edvard Munch’s famous painting The Scream is recovered in a raid by Norwegian police.]]]]> ]]>