TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – AUG 8
1306 King Wenceslas of Poland is murdered.
1570 Charles IX of France signs the Treaty of St. Germain, ending the third war of religion and giving religious freedom to the Huguenots.
1648 Ibrahim, the sultan of Istanbul, is thrown into prison, then assassinated.
1786 US Congress adopts silver dollar & decimal system of money
1844 Brigham Young is chosen to head the Mormon Church, succeeding Joseph Smith.
1899 The first household refrigerating machine is patented.
1925 The first national congress of the Ku Klux Klan opens.
1937 In Hamilton, Ontario a man who was charged with beating his wife was deemed to be within his legal rights. Canadian judge, William McLeary cited the English Common Law made in 1879 which stated that a man has a right in certain cases to “chastise or confine” his wife.
1942 Six Members who were part of Operation Pastorius are executed in the electric chair at the District of Columbia jail. Operation Pastorius was a failed plan by German Nazi’s to sabotage American economic targets including hydro-electric plants, railway stations, and other key US targets, they were landed in the US by German U-Boats in June and the plan failed because two of the saboteurs (Dasch and Burger) decided they did not wish to proceed with the plan and informed the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
1945 USSR establishes a communist government in North Korea
1950 U.S. troops repel the first North Korean attempt to overrun them at the Battle of Naktong Bulge, which continued for 10 days.
1963 In “The Great Train Robbery,” some 15 thieves robbed the Glasgow-to-London mail train, making off with more than $6 million in cash.
1966 Michael DeBakey became the first surgeon to install an artificial heart pump in a patient.
1969 Sharon Tate, wife of director Roman Polanski, and four others were murdered by members of Charles Manson’s “family.”
1974 President Richard Nixon resigns from the presidency as a result of the Watergate scandal.
1976 In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ten thousand legionnaires who attended a convention from July 21st – July 24th were in a panic after the outbreak of a mystery disease among their ranks. Twenty-four persons have already died and 87 are ill. Doctors are completely baffled as to what virus or fungus could have caused this illness.
1978 The U.S. launched Pioneer Venus II, which carried scientific probes to study the atmosphere of Venus.
1979 Iraq’s president Saddam Hussein executes 22 political opponents.
1988 Ceasefire between Iran & Iraq takes effect after 8 years of war
1990 Iraq annexes the state of Kuwait as its 19th province, six days after Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait.
1994 The first road link between Israel and Jordan opened.
2000 The Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to surface, 136 years after it sank following its successful attack on USS Housatonic in the outer harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.
2002 The (IMF) International Monetary Fund has announced details of an additional $30 billion dollar loan to Brazil to help stabilize the economy, this is in addition to the $15 billion last year.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
