Today's Trivia and What Happened on August 1

What do you call a zoo whose only exhibit is a dog?

What do you call a zoo whose only exhibit is a dog? Close Large View

A Shih Tzu.

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Quote: I won't insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said. - William F. Buckley, Jr.

Quote: I won't insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said. - William F. Buckley, Jr. Close Large View

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Holidays

Lammas Day

British festival day. It is the forerunner of America's Thanksgiving and Canada's Harvest Festival.

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What Happened On

MTV

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MTV

August 1, 1981

Cable's first 24-hour music channel debuts. The first video MTV played was Video Killed The Radio Star by the Buggles.

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Charles Whitman Charles Whitman

Charles Whitman Charles Whitman
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Texas Tower Massacre

August 1, 1966

25-year-old University of Texas student Charles J. Whitman barricades himself into a university tower and over the course of 90 minutes shoots and kills 16 people, wounding 31 others, before being killed by police. He had stabbed his wife and mother to death the night before. It's suspected that the violent tendencies he had been experiencing were caused by a tumor found in his brain on autopsy. He had sought professional help for "overwhelming violent impulses," including fantasies about shooting people from the tower. In a note he left behind, he claimed he loved both his wife and mother and killed them to spare them future humiliation and suffering.
The morning of the shooting he purchased a Sears Model 60 12 gauge semi-automatic shotgun, a Universal M1 carbine, six additional ammunition magazines, and 14 boxes of ammunition. Whitman sawed off the barrel and butt stock of the shotgun, and packed it along with a Remington 700 6-mm bolt-action hunting rifle, a .35-caliber pump rifle, a .30-caliber carbine (M1), a 9-mm Luger pistol, a Galesi-Brescia .25-caliber pistol, a Smith & Wesson M19 .357 Magnum revolver, and more than 700 rounds of ammunition. He then proceeded to the campus tower where he began his killing spree.
The TV movie The Deadly Tower (1975), featuring Kurt Russell as Whitman, was based on these events.

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Anne Frank's Last Diary Entry

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Anne Frank's Last Diary Entry

August 1, 1944

The young diarist Anne Frank makes her last entry. Her family was found by the Nazis three days later and taken to concentration camps. Her diary described their previous 756 days of hiding. Anne died in a Nazi concentration camp. Her father Otto Frank was the only member of her family to survive the Holocaust.

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Pigeons Poop on Hitler's Games

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Pigeons Poop on Hitler's Games

August 1, 1936

During the opening ceremonies of the 1936 Olympics, known as "Hitler's Games," thousands of pigeons were released. When a ceremonial cannon was fired, it startled the pigeons causing them to poop over the spectators below.

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First Televised Olympics go to Video for First Televised Olympics

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First Televised Olympics

August 1, 1936

Germany begins broadcasting the 1936 Olympic games. The games were transmitted from the Paul Nipkow TV Station to about two dozen viewing rooms set up around Berlin. An estimated 150,000 people watched the broadcasts. Projection sets were used to produce 8 x 10 foot images.

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Aeronautical Division's first dirigible and first airplane Aeronautical Division's first dirigible and first airplane

Aeronautical Division's first dirigible and first airplane Aeronautical Division's first dirigible and first airplane
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First Air Force Established

August 1, 1907

The U.S. Army established the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps under the command of Capt. Charles deForest Chandler. It was the predecessor to the United States Air Force.
They purchased their first dirigible in July of 1908 and their first airplane in August of 1909.

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First Cable Streetcar

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First Cable Streetcar

August 1, 1873

Andrew Hallidie's cable streetcar has its test run on Clay Street Hill, San Francisco. It went into operation a month later.

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Slavery Abolition Act Photo Credit: André Karwath aka Aka

Slavery Abolition Act Photo Credit: André Karwath aka Aka
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Slavery Abolition Act

August 1, 1834

Slavery is abolished in the British colonies. However, the Act did not extend to the territories in the possession of the East India Company, or to the Island of Ceylon, or to the Island of Saint Helena. It also only freed slaves below the age of six. Older slaves had to continue to work as "apprentices." The apprenticeships were finally ended in 1838.

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Six Flags Over Texas Photo Credit: Chris Hagerman

Six Flags Over Texas Photo Credit: Chris Hagerman
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Six Flags Over Texas

August 1, 1961

The first park of the Six Flags chain opens in Arlington, Texas.

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Atomic Energy Commission

August 1, 1946

U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the McMahan Act establishing the Atomic Energy Commission. It also authorized the Army and Navy to manufacture atomic weapons.

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World War II - Warsaw Uprising

August 1, 1944

200,000 Polish civilians and ill-equipped soldiers are slaughtered over the next two months while fighting German storm troopers. Russia refused to lend assistance.

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World War I

August 1, 1914

Germany declares war on Russia, after Russia began a general mobilization in support of Serbia. Three days earlier, Austria had declared war on Serbia in retaliation for the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip a month earlier. Soon other countries joined the conflict and the great war was on. More than 16 million people would die as a result of the war.

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First U.S. Diamond Mine

August 1, 1906

John Huddleson discovers two diamonds (each about three carats) in Pike County, Arkansas, and establishes the only North American diamond mine.

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Atlantic Crossing in a Row Boat

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Atlantic Crossing in a Row Boat

August 1, 1896

George Samuelson and Frank Harbo arrive in England after crossing the Atlantic in an 18-foot row boat, making this the first recorded crossing of an ocean in a rowboat. They had left New York on June 6.

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Colorado

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Colorado

August 1, 1876

Colorado becomes the 38th state.
"Colorado" is Spanish for "colored red".

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Tax collector being tarred and feathered Tax collector being tarred and feathered

Tax collector being tarred and feathered Tax collector being tarred and feathered
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Whiskey Rebellion

August 1, 1794

Western Pennsylvania farmers revolt in protest to an excise duty on stills and spirits distilled in the U.S. Pres. Washington later ordered in the militia and managed to end the rebellion without bloodshed.

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First U.S. Customs officers

August 1, 1789

Customs officers begin collecting revenues as per the Tariff Act of July 4, 1789.

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First Jew Killed in the American Revolution

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First Jew Killed in the American Revolution

August 1, 1776

Francis Salvador is killed by Indians who were fighting for the British. Twenty-nine year old Salvador was shot and fell into the bushes, but was discovered and scalped by the Cherokee later that night and died of his wounds.
Salvador was also the first Jew elected to office in America (1775, South Carolina Provincial Congress). He was known as the southern Paul Revere for his warning of the British fleet's approach at Charleston, South Carolina.

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Oxygen

August 1, 1774

English chemist Joseph Priestley discovers the element which composes one-fifth of our air.

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Birthdays

Robert Cray Photo Credit: Steve Hopson

Robert Cray Photo Credit: Steve Hopson
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This is a birthday

Robert Cray

Born August 1, 1953

American Grammy-winning blues guitarist, singer. Music: Strong Persuader (1986) and Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1988).

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Jerry Garcia Photo Credit: Carl Lender

Jerry Garcia Photo Credit: Carl Lender
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Jerry Garcia (Jerome John Garcia)

Born August 1, 1942 d. 1995

American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist, singer, songwriter, founding member of the Grateful Dead.

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Herman Melville

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Herman Melville

Born August 1, 1819 d. 1891

American author of Moby-Dick (1851). Although he had success with two previous novels, Moby-Dick was not well received and only sold about 3,200 copies during his lifetime. It wasn't until after Melville's death that Moby-Dick became regarded as a classic. "Call me Ishmael" is one of the most famous opening lines in literature.
Melville drew his inspiration for Moby-Dick from the real-life sinking of the whaling ship Essex, in which the crew was forced into cannibalism in order to survive.

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Francis Scott Key

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Francis Scott Key

Born August 1, 1779 d. 1843

American lawyer, poet. He wrote The Star-Spangled Banner (1814) during the British bombardment of Ft. McHenry during the War of 1812.
Key wrote the song in 1814 after seeing the American flag flying following the British bombardment of Ft. McHenry during the War of 1812.
In 1931, The Star-Spangled Banner was adopted as the national anthem after a public outcry when a 1929 Ripley's Believe It or Not cartoon pointed out there was no American national anthem.

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Tempestt Bledsoe

Born August 1, 1973

American actress. TV: The Cosby Show (Vanessa).

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Giancarlo Giannini

Born August 1, 1942

Italian actor, the sad-eyed protagonist of Lina Wertmuller films. Film: Love and Anarchy (1973, Cannes Best Actor) and Seven Beauties (1976).

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Helicopter surveying the crash site (left) and Ron Brown Helicopter surveying the crash site (left) and Ron Brown

Helicopter surveying the crash site (left) and Ron Brown Helicopter surveying the crash site (left) and Ron Brown
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Ron Brown

Born August 1, 1941 d. 1996

American, Democratic National Party chairman, Commerce Secretary (1993-96). He and 34 other people died in a government plane crash, prompting government cover-up theories, based on Brown's being under investigation for corruption and having prepared to negotiate plea bargains implicating U.S. President Bill Clinton.

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Yves Saint Laurent

Born August 1, 1936 d. 2008

French fashion designer. He is credited with introducing the tuxedo suit for women.

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Dom DeLuise

Born August 1, 1933 d. 2009

American actor, comedian. Film: Blazing Saddles (1974), Silent Movie (1976), Dom DeLuise: The End (1978), and History of the World, Part I (1981).

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Tom Wilson

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Tom Wilson

Born August 1, 1931 d. 2011

American cartoonist. Creator of Ziggy (1969).

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Arthur Hill

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Arthur Hill

Born August 1, 1922 d. 2006

Canadian Tony-winning actor. Stage: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962, Tony). TV: Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law (1971-74, title role).

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Alexander I

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Alexander I

Born August 1, 1893 d. 1920

King of Greece (1917-20). Alexander died at the age of 27 of blood poisoning after being bitten by a pet monkey.
Alexander became king after his father and older brother were forced into exile. The day after Alexander became king in 1919, he created a scandal by marrying a commoner, his childhood friend who was the daughter of his father's Master of the Horse.

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John F. Mahoney

Born August 1, 1889 d. 1957

American physician. He developed penicillin treatment for syphilis (1943). This virtually eliminated tertiary syphilis of the brain, once a leading cause of insanity throughout the world.

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Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov

Born August 1, 1870 d. 1932

Soviet biologist, specializing in artificial insemination. He tried to create a human-ape hybrid via artificial insemination as part of Joseph Stalin's quest for a super-warrior.

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Robert Todd Lincoln

Born August 1, 1843 d. 1926

U.S. Secretary of War (1881-85). The eldest son of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln. He was present when President James A. Garfield was shot in 1881 and when President William McKinley was shot in 1901. He also claimed that Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes Booth who assassinated his father, saved him from serious injury at a railroad station in Jersey City in about 1863.

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Maria Mitchell

Born August 1, 1818 d. 1889

American astronomer. She was the first professional woman astronomer in the United States and the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was also elected to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans in 1905.

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Richard Henry Dana Jr.

Born August 1, 1815 d. 1882

American sailor, lawyer, author. Writings: Two Years Before the Mast (1840).

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William Clark

Born August 1, 1770 d. 1838

American soldier, explorer, governor of the Missouri Territory. He and Meriwether Lewis explored the American West (1804-06) establishing a route to the Pacific.

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Jean Baptiste Lamarck

Born August 1, 1744 d. 1829

French naturalist. He was the first to distinguish vertebrates from invertebrates and was one of the first to use the term biology in its modern sense. He is best known for proposing that acquired traits are inheritable (Lamarckism), which was proved wrong, but initiated interest in the idea of evolution.

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Sigismund II

Born August 1, 1520 d. 1572

King of Poland (1548-72).

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Claudius I

Born August 1, 10  d.  54

Roman Emperor (A.D. 41-54). Took office after the murder of Caligula. He was killed by his fourth wife Agrippina.

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Deaths

Israel Zangwill

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The Melting Pot

Israel Zangwill

Died August 1, 1926 b. 1864

English-born writer, Zionist. The use of the term "melting pot" to describe American absorption of immigrants was popularized by Zangwill's play The Melting Pot.
He founded an organization called the Jewish Territorialist Organization (1905), to try to create a Jewish homeland, the location of which did not necessarily have to be in what is today the state of Israel.
He once commented on author George Bernard Shaw, "The way Shaw behaves himself is very refreshing in these atheistic days when so many people believe in no God at all".
Writngs: Children of the Ghetto (1892) and The Melting Pot (1908).

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Calamity Jane

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Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Canary)

Died August 1, 1903 b. 1852

American wild west character, Indian fighter, famous citizen of Deadwood, South Dakota. Her dying request, "Bury me beside Wild Bill."

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Mark Antony

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Mark Antony (Marcus Antonius)

Died August 1, 30  b. 83 

Roman general, politician. Antony married Cleopatra, although he was married to Octavian's sister when they met. Cleopatra bore him three children. After Antony was defeated by Octavian's forces at the Battle of Actium, he and Cleopatra fled to Egypt, where they separately committed suicide.

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Wilford Brimley

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Wilford Brimley

Died August 1, 2020 b. 1934

American actor. TV: The Waltons (1974-77, Horace Brimley), Our House (1986-88, Gus Witherspoon), and Quaker Oats commercials. Film: The China Syndrome (1979), The Thing (1982), The Natural (1984), and Cocoon (1985).

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Goldy McJohn (John Raymond Goadsby)

Died August 1, 2017 b. 1945

American keyboardist, with Steppenwolf. A classically-trained pianist, he was a pioneer in the use of the electronic organ in rock and roll and heavy metal. Music: Born To Be Wild (1968) and Magic Carpet Ride (1968).

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Corazon "Cory" Aquino

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Corazon "Cory" Aquino

Died August 1, 2009 b. 1933

Philippine President (1986-92). She was the first woman Philippine President and the first female president in Asia.

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Paddy Chayefsky (Sidney Chayefsky)

Died August 1, 1981 b. 1923

American Oscar-winning screenwriter. Film: Paint Your Wagon (1969), Network (1976, Oscar), and Altered States (1979).

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Francis Gary Powers

Died August 1, 1977 b. 1929

American CIA agent, U-2 pilot. In 1960 he was shot down over Russia, convicted of spying, and then exchanged in 1962 for Russian spy Rudolf Abel. Abel had been convicted of spying in the hollow nickel spy case, in which he transported microfilm inside a hollowed-out nickel.

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Manuel Luis Quezon

Died August 1, 1944 b. 1878

Philippine statesman, first president of the Philippine Commonwealth (1935).

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Robert Morrison

Died August 1, 1834 b. 1782

English missionary, first Protestant minister to China (1807). In 1823 he completed his Chinese translation of the entire Bible.

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