Trooper447
Experienced
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2003
- Posts
- 31
Paris was liberated
After more than four years of Nazi occupation, Paris is liberated by the French 2nd Armored Division and the U.S. 4th Infantry Division. German resistance was light, and General Dietrich von Choltitz, commander of the German garrison, defied an order by Adolf Hitler to blow up Paris' landmarks and burn the city to the ground before its liberation. Choltitz signed a formal surrender that afternoon, and on August 26, Free French General Charles de Gaulle led a joyous liberation march down the Champs d'Elysees.
Englishman become first known to swim the English Channel
Matthew Webb, a 27-year-old merchant navy captain, becomes the first known person to successfully swim the English Channel. Captain Webb accomplished the grueling 21-mile crossing, which really entailed 39 miles of swimming because of tidal currents, in 21 hours and 45 minutes. During the overnight crossing from Dover, England, to Calais, France, Captain Webb drank brandy, coffee, and beef tea to keep his strength and heat up. He was hailed as a national hero upon his return to England, and a triumphal arch was erected in his honor in his hometown in Shropshire. The Daily Telegraph proclaimed, "At this moment the Captain is probably the best-known and most popular man in the world."
Birthdays:
1530 Ivan IV (the Terrible) 1st tsar of Russia (1533-84)
1819 Allan Pinkerton founded Chicago detective agency
1845 Ludwig II mad king of Bavaria (1864-86)
1918 Leonard Bernstein conductor/composer/pianist/egotist
1923 Monty Hall Winnipeg Canada, TV game show host (Let's Make a Deal)
1930 Sean Connery actor (James Bond, Man Who Would Be King)
1931 Regis Philbin host (Joey Bishop Show, Live with Regis & Kathie Lee)
1933 Tom Skerritt Detroit Mich, actor (Ryan's Four, Alien, Big Bad Mama)
1964 Blair Underwood Tacoma Wash, actor (Jonathan-LA Law)
1970 Claudia Schiffer Rheinbach Germany, super model (Elle, Rolling Stone)
Deaths:
1789 Mary Ball Washington mother of George, dies
1822 William Herschel discovered Uranus, dies at 85
1835 Ann Rutledge said to be Lincoln's true love, dies in Ill at 22
1900 Friedrich Nietzsche philosopher, dies in Weimar, Germany
1901 Clara Maass army nurse sacrificied her life at 25 to prove that the mosquito carries yellow fever
on this day:
1718 Hundreds of French colonists arrive in Louisiana; New Orleans, founded
1814 British capture Washington DC
1912 1st time an aircraft recovers from a spin
1916 National Park Service established in the Dept of the Interior
1919 1st scheduled passenger service by airplane (Paris-London)
1920 1st US woman to win Olympics (Ethelda Bleibtrey)
1921 US signs peace treaty with Germany
1922 Cubs beat Phillies 26-23 in highest scoring major-league game
1932 Amelia Earhart completes transcontinental flight
1940 1st parachute wedding
1947 Marion Carl in D-558-I sets world aircraft speed record, 1,047 kph
1960 AFL begins placing players names on back of their jerseys
1985 Met Dwight Goodin becomes youngest pitcher to win 20 games (20y 9m 9d)
1990 Li Hui Rong of China sets the triple jump women's record (47'8«")
1991 Carl Lewis runs 100m in 9.86 seconds
After more than four years of Nazi occupation, Paris is liberated by the French 2nd Armored Division and the U.S. 4th Infantry Division. German resistance was light, and General Dietrich von Choltitz, commander of the German garrison, defied an order by Adolf Hitler to blow up Paris' landmarks and burn the city to the ground before its liberation. Choltitz signed a formal surrender that afternoon, and on August 26, Free French General Charles de Gaulle led a joyous liberation march down the Champs d'Elysees.
Englishman become first known to swim the English Channel
Matthew Webb, a 27-year-old merchant navy captain, becomes the first known person to successfully swim the English Channel. Captain Webb accomplished the grueling 21-mile crossing, which really entailed 39 miles of swimming because of tidal currents, in 21 hours and 45 minutes. During the overnight crossing from Dover, England, to Calais, France, Captain Webb drank brandy, coffee, and beef tea to keep his strength and heat up. He was hailed as a national hero upon his return to England, and a triumphal arch was erected in his honor in his hometown in Shropshire. The Daily Telegraph proclaimed, "At this moment the Captain is probably the best-known and most popular man in the world."
Birthdays:
1530 Ivan IV (the Terrible) 1st tsar of Russia (1533-84)
1819 Allan Pinkerton founded Chicago detective agency
1845 Ludwig II mad king of Bavaria (1864-86)
1918 Leonard Bernstein conductor/composer/pianist/egotist
1923 Monty Hall Winnipeg Canada, TV game show host (Let's Make a Deal)
1930 Sean Connery actor (James Bond, Man Who Would Be King)
1931 Regis Philbin host (Joey Bishop Show, Live with Regis & Kathie Lee)
1933 Tom Skerritt Detroit Mich, actor (Ryan's Four, Alien, Big Bad Mama)
1964 Blair Underwood Tacoma Wash, actor (Jonathan-LA Law)
1970 Claudia Schiffer Rheinbach Germany, super model (Elle, Rolling Stone)
Deaths:
1789 Mary Ball Washington mother of George, dies
1822 William Herschel discovered Uranus, dies at 85
1835 Ann Rutledge said to be Lincoln's true love, dies in Ill at 22
1900 Friedrich Nietzsche philosopher, dies in Weimar, Germany
1901 Clara Maass army nurse sacrificied her life at 25 to prove that the mosquito carries yellow fever
on this day:
1718 Hundreds of French colonists arrive in Louisiana; New Orleans, founded
1814 British capture Washington DC
1912 1st time an aircraft recovers from a spin
1916 National Park Service established in the Dept of the Interior
1919 1st scheduled passenger service by airplane (Paris-London)
1920 1st US woman to win Olympics (Ethelda Bleibtrey)
1921 US signs peace treaty with Germany
1922 Cubs beat Phillies 26-23 in highest scoring major-league game
1932 Amelia Earhart completes transcontinental flight
1940 1st parachute wedding
1947 Marion Carl in D-558-I sets world aircraft speed record, 1,047 kph
1960 AFL begins placing players names on back of their jerseys
1985 Met Dwight Goodin becomes youngest pitcher to win 20 games (20y 9m 9d)
1990 Li Hui Rong of China sets the triple jump women's record (47'8«")
1991 Carl Lewis runs 100m in 9.86 seconds
