01 August 2018
Interesting tidbits:
1498 – Christopher Columbus became the first European to visit what is now Venezuela.
1774 - Joseph Priestley, English theologian and chemist author discovered oxygen.
1785 - Caroline Herschel became the first woman to discover a comet.
1801 – First Barbary War: The American schooner USS Enterprise captured the Tripolitan polacca Tripoli in a single-ship action off the coast of modern-day Libya. The third ship to be named USS Enterprise, was a schooner, built by Henry Spencer at Baltimore, Maryland, in 1799. This ship was overhauled and rebuilt several times, effectively changing from a twelve gun schooner to a fourteen gun topsail schooner and eventually to a brig rigged ship. Enterprise's first action came on 1 August 1801 when, just west of Malta, she defeated the 14-gun Tripolitan corsair Tripoli, after a fierce but one-sided battle. Unscathed, Enterprise sent the battered pirate into port since the schooner's orders prohibited taking prizes. I always wondered if Captain Piccard had this ship among his collection of previous vessels named Enterprise.
1842 - Rotherhithe Tunnel under the Thames opened.
1855 – The first ascent of Monte Rosa, the second highest summit in the Alps.
1883 - A papyrus offered to the British Museum for £10,000 turned out to be a forgery.
1896 - George Samuelson completed rowing across the Atlantic from NY to England.
1903 - The first coast-to-coast automobile trip (SF-NY) was completed.
1925 - A Shortwave-radio link was established between Kootwijk and the Netherland East-Indies/
1957 – The United States and Canada form the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD).
1980 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was elected President of Iceland and became the world's first democratically elected female head of state.
1981 – MTV began broadcasting in the United States and aired its first video, "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles.
1984 – Commercial peat-cutters discovered the preserved bog body of a man, called Lindow Man, at Lindow Moss, Cheshire, northwest England.
2013 - Hollow Child Day (Whovian)
Today's birthday crew:
1555 – Edward Kelley, English spirit medium.
1770 – William Clark, American soldier, explorer, and politician.
1818 – Maria Mitchell, American astronomer who in 1847, by using a telescope, discovered a comet which as a result became known as "Miss Mitchell's Comet". She won a gold medal prize for her discovery which was presented to her by King Frederick VII of Denmark. The medal said “Not in vain do we watch the setting and rising of the stars”. Mitchell was the first American woman to work as a professional astronomer.
1819 – Herman Melville, American writer.
1837 – Mary Harris "mother" Jones, American labor organizer.
1933 – Dom DeLuise, American actor and comedian.
1942 – Jerry Garcia, American singer-songwriter and guitarist.
1954 – James Gleick, American author, journalist, and biographer.
1979 – Jason Momoa, American actor known for his roles as Ronon Dex (2005–09) on the Stargate: Atlantis (2004–09) and as Khal Drogo in the HBO medieval fantasy Game of Thrones (2011). He also starred as the title character in the remake of Conan the Barbarian (2011).
1981 – Miracle Laurie, American actress best known for portraying Mellie, November and Madeleine on the Joss Whedon drama Dollhouse.
Happy birthday guys!
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