Post by farmgal on Aug 12, 2012 16:20:06 GMT -5
August 13 is the 226th day of this leap year in the Gregorian calendar.
There are 140 days remaining until the end of the year.
Days until Election Day, Tuesday November 6, 2012: 85
Countdown until Obama leaves Office www.obamaclock.org/
U.S. Debt Clock: www.usdebtclock.org/
1521 Tenochtitlán (present day Mexico City) falls to conquistador Hernán Cortés.
1587 In Roanoke, Virginia, Manteo became the first American Indian converted to Protestantism, and was baptized into the Church of England by members of Sir Walter Raleigh's expedition to the New World.
1682 The first Welsh immigrants to the American colonies arrived in Pennsylvania. They were Quakers, and settled near modern Philadelphia.
The seal of the Moravian Church featuring the Agnus Dei. (Stained glass at the Rights Chapel of Trinity Moravian Church, Winston-Salem, NC
1727 In the German village of Herrnhut, religious reformer Count Nicolaus von Zinzendorf, 27, organized a group of Bohemian Protestant refugees into the first Moravian community of "Unitas Fratrum" (united brotherhood).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravian_Church
1784 The Continental Congress met for the final time in Annapolis, Maryland. It moved a few more times, from Philadelphia, PA to New York City and, finally, to its permanent seat of government in Washington, DC.
1831 Nat Turner sees a solar eclipse, which he believes is a sign from God. Eight days later he and 70 other slaves kill approximately 55 whites in Southampton County, Virginia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_Turner
1846 The American flag was raised for the first time in Los Angeles
1867 "Under the Gaslight", by Augustin Daly, opened in New York City. Daly's first original play is a sensational melodrama featuring a climactic scene in which the heroine rescues the hero, who is tied to a railroad track as a train approaches. Possibly borrowed from the 1865 English drama "The Engineer," the scene would become a staple of melodramas and early films.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_the_Gaslight
1868 A massive earthquake near Arica, Peru, causes an estimated 25,000 casualties, and the subsequent tsunami causes considerable damage as far away as Hawaii and New Zealand.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1868_Arica_earthquake
1889 William Gray of Hartford, Connecticut, received a patent for a coin-operated telephone. In the early spring on 1888, in Hartford, Connecticut, a man ran into a nearby factory and asked to use the phone. He needed to call a doctor for his critically ill wife. The people there told him that the phone was not available for public use. He offered to pay for the service, but he was denied.
Only after pleading the urgency of his need to the manager was he finally allowed to make the call. The man was inventor William Gray. The early telephone booth was quite ornate and lavish, almost to a fault. The original patent specified a booth made of wood, four or five feet square, with a domed and ventilated roof and a strong door. When a prospective customer wanted to make a call, an attendant would usher him into one of these specially made rooms. The attendant would then lock the customer in after the connection was made, so he could not leave without paying for the call.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payphone#History
1890 Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter." registered. When Hester Prynne bears an illegitimate child she is introduced to the ugliness, complexity, and ultimately the strength of the human spirit. Though set in Puritan community centuries ago, the moral dilemmas of personal responsibility, and consuming emotions of guilt, anger, loyalty and revenge are timeless.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Letter
1898 Spanish–American War: Spanish and American forces engaged in a mock battle for Manila, after which the Spanish commander surrendered in order to keep the city out of Filipino rebel hands.
25th Infantry Regiment Coat of Arms
1906 The all black infantrymen of the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Regiment are accused of killing a white bartender and wounding a white police officer in Brownsville, Texas, despite exculpatory evidence; all are later dishonorably discharged.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/25th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)
1907 First taxicab (NYC) The New York taxis were imported from France by businessperson Harry N. Allen, who adapted the French word taxi-mètre and coined the word "taxicab" to describe the vehicles he was importing. In time, the shortened term "taxi" came into common usage. (Allen was also the first person to paint his taxis yellow, after learning that yellow is the colour most easily seen from a distance.)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicab#History
1912 St. Joseph’s College in Philadelphia, PA was granted the first experimental radio license. The experimental radio license was issued by the Department of Commerce following the International Radio Convention and Radio Act of 1912 (37 stat. l. 302), August 13, 1912, was serial number 1, granted St. Joseph's College, Philadelphia, Pa. (3XJ, 2 kilowatts).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_radio
1918 Women enlist in the United States Marine Corps for the first time. Opha Mae Johnson is the first woman to enlist.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opha_Mae_Johnson
1918 Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) established as a public company in Germany.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayerische_Motoren_Werke
1919 Man o'War's only defeat. These were the days before starting gates, and the group circled, approached the starting line at Saratoga as a team, and were released by signal of the starter's flag. It was an unfair start, and Man o'War was boxed into a hopeless position during the running. Despite the injustice, Man o'War was heaped with glory for a superhuman effort in defeat. Everyone at Saratoga that day knew the best horse had not won. Upset would face Man o'War a total of six times in their careers, and would lose all the other meetings, but his single victory, a feat no other horse could claim, was enough to immortalize him.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_o%27_War
1920 Polish-Soviet War: the Battle of Warsaw begins and will last till August 25. The Red Army is defeated.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Warsaw_(1920)
1924 "The Prisoner’s Song", recorded by Vernon Dalhart - a million seller. A 1924 recording by Dalhart became country music's first million-selling record; pairing a train song ("Wreck of the Old 97") with a sentimental ballad ("The Prisoner's Song"), the release set patterns for two key genres of early country music on record.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner%27s_Song
1930 Guy Lombardo and his orchestra records "Go Home and Tell Your Mother" In October of 1929 the Lombardo orchestra began a long booking into the Roosevelt Grill in New York City. Radio broadcasts on WABC helped draw a crowd, so much so that on December 31st a competition developed over the rights to the show. A compromise was reached. CBS broadcasted the first half, up to the stroke of midnight, and NBC the other half, after midnight. It was at that time when Lombardo began his tradition of playing ''Auld Lang Syne'' to a national audience on New Year's Eve, one that would last until his death, from the Roosevelt Hotel until 1966 and then from the Waldorf-Astoria.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Lombardo
1932 Adolf Hitler, rejected the post of vice-chancellor of Germany, saying he was prepared to hold out "for all or nothing."
1934 The satirical comic strip "Li'l Abner," created by Al Capp, made its debut
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li%27l_Abner
1935 Transcontinental Roller Derby begins (Chicago Coliseum). The first Transcontinental Roller Derby opened at noon on August 13, 1935. Twenty thousand Chicagoans filled the air-conditioned Chicago Coliseum to witness the 25 teams skate 3,000 miles around the track, a distance equal to that between San Diego and New York City. The winners would be the team to cover that distance in the shortest time. Each team had to travel a given number of miles in every 11 1/2 hour daily skating session. During the entire time allotted for the race, one of the two members had to skate or else the team risked disqualification.
A large electronic map measured the distance covered by the skaters. The skaters practically lived at the Coliseum. When not skating, the contestants slept on cots in the middle of the rink. Along with meals provided by Seltzer, the skaters received free medical attention. Despite safety measures, injuries and exhaustion felled many teams. On Sunday, September 22, teammates Clarice Martin and Bernie McKay won the first roller derby.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_Derby
1940 During World War II: Battle of Britain begins --- the Luftwaffe launches a series of attacks on British fighter bases and radar installations.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Britain
1942 Major General Eugene Reybold of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorizes the construction of facilities that would house the "Development of Substitute Materials" project, better known as the Manhattan Project.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project
1942 Walt Disney's animated feature "Bambi" premiered at Radio City Music Hall. Bambi is the fifth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, which was originally released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on August 13, 1942 and produced by Walt Disney. The film was based on the 1923 book Bambi, A Life in the Woods by Austrian author Felix Salten.
The animated story of Bambi, a young deer hailed as the 'Prince of the Forest' at his birth. As Bambi grows, he makes friends with the other animals of the forest, learns the skills needed to survive, and even finds love. One day, however, the hunters come, and Bambi must learn to be as brave as his father if he is to lead the other deer to safety.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bambi
1948 Satchel Paige at 42 pitches his first major league complete game. Before a crowd of 51,013 in Comiskey Park, on August 13, 1948, SATCHEL PAIGE made his ML debut, tossing a 5-0 shutout against the Chicago White Sox. He pitched the entire nine innings and gave up just 5 hits.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satchel_Paige
1952 The original version of "Hound Dog" recorded by Willie Mae (Big Mama) Thornton. Willie Mae Thornton toured the south as a blues singer in the 1940s, then settled in Texas. She wrote and sang blues songs, played the harmonica and taught herself to play the drums. In 1953 she had a hit with "Hound Dog", the song later made even more famous by Elvis.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hound_Dog_(song)
1955 Bill Haley & Comets' "Rock Around the Clock" tops billboards chart. The original version was recorded in 1954 by Sonny Dae and His Nights. It sank without a trace. Most people didn't know what Rock And Roll was when this was released, so the record company had a hard time describing the song. The label on the single called it a "novelty foxtrot." This was one of the first hits of the Rock era. Billboard had been keeping a Top 40 chart for only a few months when this came out. It stayed at #1 for 8 weeks.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Around_the_Clock
Scale prototype of the Echo satellite undergoing a Skin Stress Test on May 1, 1960.
1960 The first two-way telephone conversation by satellite took place with the help of Echo 1, a balloon satellite.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_1
1960 "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini" by Brian Hyland topped the charts. In 1960 he enjoyed a US chart-topper with "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini", one of the era's best-known "novelty" recordings which subsequently sold over one million copies. Having switched outlets to the larger ABC-Paramount Records, the singer enjoyed further success with "Let Me Belong To You (1961 - a US Top 20 hit) 'Ginny Come Lately" (1962 - a UK Top 10 hit), before securing a second gold award for "Sealed With a Kiss."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itsy_Bitsy_Teeny_Weeny_Yellow_Polka-Dot_Bikini
1961 The German Democratic Republic closes the border between the eastern and western sectors of Berlin to thwart its inhabitants' attempts to escape to the West. In the afternoon of August 12 at 4 p.m. Walter Ulbricht, the East German leader, signed the commands to close the border. Next Sunday at midnight the army, police and the "Kampfgruppen" began to bolt the city. The wall is built and separates the city into two parts for more than 28 years. Streets, the railway and the S-Bahn are broken, stations of the U-Bahn are closed, even cemeteries are not spared. Nothing is forgotten and the East Germans will not be allowed to travel to the West until 1989.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall
1962 Representatives from the Russian Orthodox Church and the Holy See meet in Metz, France, and come to an agreement wherein the Russian church would send observers to the Second Vatican Council and in exchange, the Roman Catholic Church would refuse to condemn Communism.
1963 Warren Spahn sets left-hander strike out mark at 2,382. The winningest lefthanded pitcher of all time, and possibly the best as well, Warren Spahn was a complete player who helped himself at bat and in the field. He was the mainstay of the Braves' pitching staff for two decades. Spahn won 20 games a ML record-tying 13 times, pitched two no-hitters, and led the NL in strikeouts four consecutive years. He had a deceptive pickoff move to first base, and teammate Johnny Sain called him "one of the smartest men ever to play the game."
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/Warren_Spahn_1953.jpg/200px-Warren_Spahn_1953.jpg
Apollo 11 crew at the White House in 2004
1969 The Apollo 11 astronauts are released from a three-week quarantine to enjoy a ticker-tape parade in New York. That evening, at a state dinner in Los Angeles, they are awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by U.S. President Richard Nixon.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11#Celebration
1978 150 Palestinians in Beirut are killed in a terrorist attack during the second phase of the Lebanese Civil War.
1979 The roof of the uncompleted Rosemont Horizon near Chicago, Illinois collapses, killing 5 workers and injuring 16.
1979 Lou Brock gets his 3,000 career hit. Lou Brock, 40, collects his 3,000th career hit, a single off Dennis Lamp, as the Cardinals top the Cubs, 3-2.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Brock
1981 In a ceremony at his California ranch, President Ronald Reagan signed a historic package of tax and budget reductions
1987 Fossil bones discovered in Texas in 1984 were proclaimed to be the remains of possibly the world's oldest birds.
1993 Israel agreed for the first time to negotiate with a Palestinian delegation whose members belonged officially to the PLO.
1994 North Korea agreed to allow U.N. monitors to inspect a secret nuclear laboratory.
2003 Iraq began pumping crude oil from its northern oil fields for the first time since the start of the war.
2003 Libya agreed to set up a $2.7 billion fund for families of 270 people killed in the 1988 Pan Am bombing.
2004 Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 storm, strikes Punta Gorda, Florida and devastates the surrounding area.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Charley
The stage roof collapsing onto spectators
2011 The main stage collapses at the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis during a hurricane-force wind gust ahead of an approaching severe thunderstorm, killing 7 and injuring 45.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_State_Fair_stage_collapse
2010 A reported 380 million eggs were recalled by a major U.S. egg producer in Iowa after health officials linked the firm to an outbreak of salmonella. A second Iowa egg company recalled another 170 million eggs
2011 In the Republican presidential race, Rep. Michele Bachmann won the Iowa straw poll; Texas Gov. Rick Perry officially declared his candidacy
1818 Lucy Stone, (d 1893) prominent American abolitionist and suffragist, and a vocal advocate and organizer promoting rights for women. In 1847, Stone was the first woman from Massachusetts to earn a college degree. She spoke out for women's rights and against slavery at a time when women were discouraged and prevented from public speaking. Stone was the first recorded American woman to retain her own last name after marriage.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Stone
1851 Felix Adler, German-born American educator (d. 1933)
1860 Annie Oakley, American sharpshooter (d. 1926)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Oakley
1887 Julius Freed, American inventor and banker (d. 1952)
1895 Bert Lahr, (d 1967) American actor, best known as the cowardly lion in the Wizard of OZ
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Lahr
1897 Detlev (Wulf) Bronk (d 17 Nov 1975 age 78) American biophysicist credited with formulating the modern theory of the science of biophysics. He pioneered use of electro-microscopy to monitor human nerve network and was a leader in the study of human physiology in aeronautics. During WW II, he coordinated a group physiologists, located on air bases at home and abroad, who developed the Army Air Force altitude training and night vision training programs for pilots. Meanwhile, he studied the effects of low oxygen pressure on human performance. After the war, he became president of Rockefeller Institute/University (1953-68) and was prominent in scientific and governmental organizations including the National Science Foundation and the Presidential Science Advisory Committee
1898 Regis Toomey, American film and television actor (d. 1991)
1899 Alfred Hitchcock, English film director (d. 1980)(Psycho, Birds, Rear Window)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Hitchcock
1904 Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, American actor (d. 1999)
1908 Gene Raymond, American actor (d. 1998)
1911 William Bernbach, American advertiser, co-founder of Dyle, Dane, and Bernbach (now DDB) (d. 1982)
1912 Ben Hogan, American golfer (d. 1997)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Hogan
1912 Salvador Edward Luria , (d 6 Feb 1991 age 78) Italian-American microbiologist who (with Max Delbrück and Alfred Day Hershey) was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1969 for their discoveries concerning “the replication mechanism and the genetic structure of viruses.” From around 1940, they had investigated bacteriophages, a type of virus that infects bacteria, rather than ordinary cells. These offered as simple a living system as possible to research fundamental life processes, especially self-replication. Eventually, they demonstrated the role of nucleic acid as the carrier of the genetic information of the virus. Because of the short reproduction time, further information came from bacteriophages more quickly than work with other virus material.«
1917 Sid Gordon, American baseball player (d. 1975)
1919 Rex Humbard (d 2007) pioneer radio and television evangelist. In 1958 Humbard established the Cathedral of Tomorrow in Akron, Ohio, from which he afterward based his television ministry.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_Humbard
1920 Neville Brand, American actor (d. 1992)
1925 Benny Bailey, American bebop and hard-bop jazz trumpeter
1926 Fidel Castro, Cuban revolutionary and politician
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro
1929 Pat Harrington, Jr., American actor
1930 Don Ho, American vocalist and pianist (d. 2007)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Ho
1930 Wilmer David Mizell, American baseball player (d. 1999)
1933 Joycelyn Elders, American physician, 15th Surgeon General of the United States
1935 Mudcat Grant, American baseball player
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudcat_Grant
1938 Dave "Baby" Cortez, American pop keyboardist
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_%22Baby%22_Cortez
1944 Kevin Tighe, American actor
1947 Fred Stanley, American baseball player
1948 Kathleen Battle, American soprano
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Battle
1948 Scott Powell, founding member of Sha Na Na
1949 Jim Brunzell, American professional wrestler
1951 Dan Fogelberg, American singer-songwriter (d. 2007)
1952 Dave Carter, American folksinger (d. 2002)
1952 Herb Ritts, American photographer (d. 2002)
1952 Hughie Thomasson, American guitarist (Outlaws, Lynyrd Skynyrd) (d. 2007)
1958 Randall "Randy" Shughart, American Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1993)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Shughart
1959 Danny Bonaduce, American actor
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Bonaduce
1959 Michael Bradley, bassist and radio producer
1959 Tom Niedenfuer, American baseball player
1961 Dawnn Lewis, American actress
1961 Tom Perrotta, American novelist
1962 John Slattery, American actor
1964 Jay Buhner, American baseball player
1964 Hank Cheyne, American actor
1964 Debi Mazar, American actress
1965 Mark Lemke, American baseball player
1966 Sean Hood, American screenwriter
1967 Quinn Cummings, American actress
1970 Will Clarke, American novelist
1970 Elvis Grbac, American football player
1971 Rolando Molina, Salvadoran-born American actor
1972 Hani Hanjour, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 (d. 2001)
1972 Kevin Plank, American CEO and founder of Under Armour, Inc., a leading manufacturer of sports performance apparel, footwear and accessories based in Baltimore, Maryland.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Plank
1973 Molly Henneberg, American journalist
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Henneberg
1973 Eric Medlen, American drag racer and rodeo star (d. 2007)
1974 Jarrod Washburn, American baseball player
1974 Sam Endicott, American singer (The Bravery)
1975 James Carpinello, American actor
1979 Kathryn Fiore, American actress
1979 Corey Patterson, American baseball player
1982 Shani Davis, American speed skater
1982 Kalenna Harper, American singer-songwriter (Dirty Money)
1983 Sebastian Stan, Romanian-born American actor
1984 Boone Logan, American baseball player
1984 James Morrison, British singer
2000 Piper Reese, American child web reporter
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_Reese
586 Radegund, Frankish princess consort of King Chlothar I (b. c. 520)
1744 John Cruger, Dutch-born American politician and 39th Mayor of New York City (b. 1678)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cruger
1901 Clara Maass Died to End Yellow Jack. Clara Maass was just 25 when she died in Cuba in 1901. In 1976, the United States issued a stamp commemorating the Lutheran nurse. What did she do to attain these honors?
The oldest of ten children in a German immigrant family, Clara became a caring person. She worked as a mother's helper during her high school years, then in an orphanage. At seventeen, she entered the newly opened Christina Trefz Training School of Nurses and was one of its first graduates. She must have been very good at what she did, for by the age of 21, she had become the school's head nurse.
With the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, life held out a chance of even greater service to Clara. She became a contract nurse with the American armies. Her competent presence was felt in Georgia, Florida, Cuba, and the Philippines. She found herself fighting malaria, yellow fever and other tropical diseases more often than gunshots wounds.
After the war, the United States set out to find the cause of "yellow jack"-- yellow fever. Clara, having nursed patients with this deadly disease, and she wanted to see it overcome. She volunteered to be part of an experiment to understand the fever.
Two rival theories held the field. The first considered yellow fever the result of filthy conditions. The second attributed it to mosquito bites.
Under experiments conducted by Walter Reed, a team tested both theories. Men lived in filth without exposure to mosquitoes. They did not contract yellow fever. Other subjects offered themselves to be bitten by mosquitoes. Some of them came down with fever. One of them was Clara, who contracted a mild case.
Was she now immune? Some thought so. Others thought the case was too mild to build immunity. On August 14th, 1901, Clara submitted to a second mosquito bite. Soon she had a bad case of the fever. Ten days later she died. Her case clinched the matter: a mosquito was the carrier of the disease.
Although Clara was buried with military honors, no fuss was made over her until thirty years later when another nurse stumbled across the facts, researched her story and raised funds for a memorial. Much later, in honor of her brave self-sacrifice, the United States issued the stamp shown here. Clara, by the way, was the first nurse honored on a U.S. postage stamp. If yellow fever does not threaten the world today as it did a century ago, it is in part owing to the Christian courage of Clara Maass.
The Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church honors Maass and British nurse Florence Nightingale on August 13 as a "Renewer of Society."
www.christianity.com/ChurchHistory/11630670/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Maass
1908 Ira D. Sankey, 68 (b Aug 28, 1840) He was Dwight Moody's song evangelist from 1870. During their revival crusades, Sankey penned many hymn tunes, of which the most enduring today are HIDING IN THEE ("O Safe to the Rock That is Higher Than I") and SANKEY ("Faith is the Victory").
www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/s/a/n/sankey_id.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ira_D._Sankey
1910 Florence Nightingale age 90 (b 12 May 1820) English nurse and statistician who established modern nursing practice. Her contributions to public health included developing methods of applying and displaying statistics to demonstrate the need for improvements. Her mission began from experience during the Crimean War as a nurse at British hospital in Turkey where she witnessed appalling conditions endured by the sick: overcrowding, poor sanitation, lack of basic supplies, even malnutrition. Through her determination and influence, by the war's end in Jul 1856, she had greatly improved the comfort of the patients, increased efficiency and reduced the death toll. Throughout her life, she continued to advocate reform in the military medical system, supported by her compelling, novel graphical display of statistics and advice on hospital planning and organization.
1915 John Ulric Nef age 53 (b 14 Jun 1862) Swiss-American chemist whose studies demonstrated that carbon can have a valence (i.e., affinity for electrons) of two (such as quinone) as well as a valence of four, thus greatly advancing the understanding of theoretical organic chemistry. He provided a basis for the modern system of chemical notation. He studied tautomerism, especially of nitroparaffins, and discovered what is now called the "Nef reaction"; the acid-catalyzed conversion of primary and secondary nitroalkanes to aldehydes and ketones, respectively. His major research was on bivalent carbon, including isonitriles, carbon monoxide, fulminates and methylene. In later years, he studied the complex reactions of sugars in alkali and acid.
1946 H. G. Wells, English writer (b. 1866)
1948 Elaine Hammerstein, American actress (b. 1897)
1982 Joe Tex, American singer and songwriter (b. 1933)
1986 Way Bandy, American make-up artist (b. 1941)
1986 Helen Mack, American actress (b. 1913)
1989 Tim Richmond, American race car driver (b. 1955)
1991 John W. "Jack" Ryan, age 64 (b12 Nov 1926).
Ryan was an American inventor who for 20 years designed best-selling toys for Mattell Inc., including the Barbie doll, Hot Wheels and Chatty Cathy talking doll. His "space-aged savvy" and knowledge of materials came from his earlier employment, working as an engineer for the Raytheon Company designing the Navy's Sparrow III and Hawk guided missiles for the Navy. Ryan's association with Mattell began as a self-employed consultant for several years prior to becoming its vice president for research and design. Ryan invented the joints that allowed Barbie to bend at the waist and the knee. He also introduced the pull-string, talking voice boxes for Mattel's dol
1995 Mickey Mantle, (b 1931) American baseball center fielder who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees from 1951 to 1968. Mantle is regarded by many to be the greatest switch hitter of all time, and one of the greatest players in baseball history. Mantle was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974 and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Mantle
1995 Rob Slater, American mountaineer (b. 1960)
1996 David Tudor, American pianist and composer (b. 1926)
1998 Julien Green, American novelist (b. 1900)
2003 Ed Townsend, American songwriter and producer (b. 1929)
2004 Julia Child, American chef and television personality (b. 1912)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Child
2007 Brian Adams, American professional wrestler (b. 1964)
2007 Brooke Astor, American philanthropist (b. 1902)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooke_Astor
2007 Phil Rizzuto, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1917)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Rizzuto
2008 Dino Toso, American Formula 1 engineer (b. 1969)
2008 Sandy Allen, American tallest woman in the world (b. 1955)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Allen
2009 Les Paul, American guitarist, songwriter and inventor (b. 1915)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Paul
2010 Lance Cade, American professional wrestler (b. 1981)
2010 Edwin Newman, American broadcast journalist (b. 1919)
Holidays and observances
Christian Feast Day:
Cassian of Imola
Hippolytus of Rome
Maximus the Confessor
Pope Pontian
Radegund retires to the monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary
Radegunde
www.antiochian.org/node/19381
August 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Saints
Martyr Hippolytus of Rome and those with him: Concordia, Irenaeus, and Abundius (258)
Princess of Constantinople Irene, tonsured Xenia (1134)
Saint Eudocia the Empress, wife of Theodosius the Younger, in Palestine (460)
Saint Seridus of Gaza, abbot (ca. 543)
Saint Radegunde of Poitiers, nun (587)
Russian new martyr Benjamin of Petrograd, metropolitan, and those with him (1921)
Russian new martyr Archimandrite Sergius and those with him (1921)
Saint Abba Dorotheus of Gaza (ca. 565)
Saint Coronatus
New Hieromartyr Seraphim (Zvezdinsky), bishop of Dmitrov (1937)
Other commemorations
Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos of Minsk “Of the Seven Arrows” and “Of the Passion”
Translation of the relics of Venerable Maximus the Confessor
Uncovering of the relics (1547) of Blessed Maxim of Moscow, fool-for-Christ (1433)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_13
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_13_(Eastern_Orthodox_liturgics)
www.scopesys.com/cgi-bin/today2.cgi
www.daysuntil.com/Election-Day/index.html
www.christianity.com/HistoryByDay/0813/
www.amug.org/~jpaul/aug13.html
There are 140 days remaining until the end of the year.
Days until Election Day, Tuesday November 6, 2012: 85
Countdown until Obama leaves Office www.obamaclock.org/
U.S. Debt Clock: www.usdebtclock.org/
1521 Tenochtitlán (present day Mexico City) falls to conquistador Hernán Cortés.
1587 In Roanoke, Virginia, Manteo became the first American Indian converted to Protestantism, and was baptized into the Church of England by members of Sir Walter Raleigh's expedition to the New World.
1682 The first Welsh immigrants to the American colonies arrived in Pennsylvania. They were Quakers, and settled near modern Philadelphia.
The seal of the Moravian Church featuring the Agnus Dei. (Stained glass at the Rights Chapel of Trinity Moravian Church, Winston-Salem, NC
1727 In the German village of Herrnhut, religious reformer Count Nicolaus von Zinzendorf, 27, organized a group of Bohemian Protestant refugees into the first Moravian community of "Unitas Fratrum" (united brotherhood).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravian_Church
1784 The Continental Congress met for the final time in Annapolis, Maryland. It moved a few more times, from Philadelphia, PA to New York City and, finally, to its permanent seat of government in Washington, DC.
1831 Nat Turner sees a solar eclipse, which he believes is a sign from God. Eight days later he and 70 other slaves kill approximately 55 whites in Southampton County, Virginia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_Turner
1846 The American flag was raised for the first time in Los Angeles
1867 "Under the Gaslight", by Augustin Daly, opened in New York City. Daly's first original play is a sensational melodrama featuring a climactic scene in which the heroine rescues the hero, who is tied to a railroad track as a train approaches. Possibly borrowed from the 1865 English drama "The Engineer," the scene would become a staple of melodramas and early films.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_the_Gaslight
1868 A massive earthquake near Arica, Peru, causes an estimated 25,000 casualties, and the subsequent tsunami causes considerable damage as far away as Hawaii and New Zealand.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1868_Arica_earthquake
1889 William Gray of Hartford, Connecticut, received a patent for a coin-operated telephone. In the early spring on 1888, in Hartford, Connecticut, a man ran into a nearby factory and asked to use the phone. He needed to call a doctor for his critically ill wife. The people there told him that the phone was not available for public use. He offered to pay for the service, but he was denied.
Only after pleading the urgency of his need to the manager was he finally allowed to make the call. The man was inventor William Gray. The early telephone booth was quite ornate and lavish, almost to a fault. The original patent specified a booth made of wood, four or five feet square, with a domed and ventilated roof and a strong door. When a prospective customer wanted to make a call, an attendant would usher him into one of these specially made rooms. The attendant would then lock the customer in after the connection was made, so he could not leave without paying for the call.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payphone#History
1890 Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter." registered. When Hester Prynne bears an illegitimate child she is introduced to the ugliness, complexity, and ultimately the strength of the human spirit. Though set in Puritan community centuries ago, the moral dilemmas of personal responsibility, and consuming emotions of guilt, anger, loyalty and revenge are timeless.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Letter
1898 Spanish–American War: Spanish and American forces engaged in a mock battle for Manila, after which the Spanish commander surrendered in order to keep the city out of Filipino rebel hands.
25th Infantry Regiment Coat of Arms
1906 The all black infantrymen of the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Regiment are accused of killing a white bartender and wounding a white police officer in Brownsville, Texas, despite exculpatory evidence; all are later dishonorably discharged.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/25th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)
1907 First taxicab (NYC) The New York taxis were imported from France by businessperson Harry N. Allen, who adapted the French word taxi-mètre and coined the word "taxicab" to describe the vehicles he was importing. In time, the shortened term "taxi" came into common usage. (Allen was also the first person to paint his taxis yellow, after learning that yellow is the colour most easily seen from a distance.)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicab#History
1912 St. Joseph’s College in Philadelphia, PA was granted the first experimental radio license. The experimental radio license was issued by the Department of Commerce following the International Radio Convention and Radio Act of 1912 (37 stat. l. 302), August 13, 1912, was serial number 1, granted St. Joseph's College, Philadelphia, Pa. (3XJ, 2 kilowatts).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_radio
1918 Women enlist in the United States Marine Corps for the first time. Opha Mae Johnson is the first woman to enlist.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opha_Mae_Johnson
1918 Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) established as a public company in Germany.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayerische_Motoren_Werke
1919 Man o'War's only defeat. These were the days before starting gates, and the group circled, approached the starting line at Saratoga as a team, and were released by signal of the starter's flag. It was an unfair start, and Man o'War was boxed into a hopeless position during the running. Despite the injustice, Man o'War was heaped with glory for a superhuman effort in defeat. Everyone at Saratoga that day knew the best horse had not won. Upset would face Man o'War a total of six times in their careers, and would lose all the other meetings, but his single victory, a feat no other horse could claim, was enough to immortalize him.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_o%27_War
1920 Polish-Soviet War: the Battle of Warsaw begins and will last till August 25. The Red Army is defeated.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Warsaw_(1920)
1924 "The Prisoner’s Song", recorded by Vernon Dalhart - a million seller. A 1924 recording by Dalhart became country music's first million-selling record; pairing a train song ("Wreck of the Old 97") with a sentimental ballad ("The Prisoner's Song"), the release set patterns for two key genres of early country music on record.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner%27s_Song
1930 Guy Lombardo and his orchestra records "Go Home and Tell Your Mother" In October of 1929 the Lombardo orchestra began a long booking into the Roosevelt Grill in New York City. Radio broadcasts on WABC helped draw a crowd, so much so that on December 31st a competition developed over the rights to the show. A compromise was reached. CBS broadcasted the first half, up to the stroke of midnight, and NBC the other half, after midnight. It was at that time when Lombardo began his tradition of playing ''Auld Lang Syne'' to a national audience on New Year's Eve, one that would last until his death, from the Roosevelt Hotel until 1966 and then from the Waldorf-Astoria.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Lombardo
1932 Adolf Hitler, rejected the post of vice-chancellor of Germany, saying he was prepared to hold out "for all or nothing."
1934 The satirical comic strip "Li'l Abner," created by Al Capp, made its debut
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li%27l_Abner
1935 Transcontinental Roller Derby begins (Chicago Coliseum). The first Transcontinental Roller Derby opened at noon on August 13, 1935. Twenty thousand Chicagoans filled the air-conditioned Chicago Coliseum to witness the 25 teams skate 3,000 miles around the track, a distance equal to that between San Diego and New York City. The winners would be the team to cover that distance in the shortest time. Each team had to travel a given number of miles in every 11 1/2 hour daily skating session. During the entire time allotted for the race, one of the two members had to skate or else the team risked disqualification.
A large electronic map measured the distance covered by the skaters. The skaters practically lived at the Coliseum. When not skating, the contestants slept on cots in the middle of the rink. Along with meals provided by Seltzer, the skaters received free medical attention. Despite safety measures, injuries and exhaustion felled many teams. On Sunday, September 22, teammates Clarice Martin and Bernie McKay won the first roller derby.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_Derby
1940 During World War II: Battle of Britain begins --- the Luftwaffe launches a series of attacks on British fighter bases and radar installations.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Britain
1942 Major General Eugene Reybold of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorizes the construction of facilities that would house the "Development of Substitute Materials" project, better known as the Manhattan Project.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project
1942 Walt Disney's animated feature "Bambi" premiered at Radio City Music Hall. Bambi is the fifth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, which was originally released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on August 13, 1942 and produced by Walt Disney. The film was based on the 1923 book Bambi, A Life in the Woods by Austrian author Felix Salten.
The animated story of Bambi, a young deer hailed as the 'Prince of the Forest' at his birth. As Bambi grows, he makes friends with the other animals of the forest, learns the skills needed to survive, and even finds love. One day, however, the hunters come, and Bambi must learn to be as brave as his father if he is to lead the other deer to safety.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bambi
1948 Satchel Paige at 42 pitches his first major league complete game. Before a crowd of 51,013 in Comiskey Park, on August 13, 1948, SATCHEL PAIGE made his ML debut, tossing a 5-0 shutout against the Chicago White Sox. He pitched the entire nine innings and gave up just 5 hits.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satchel_Paige
1952 The original version of "Hound Dog" recorded by Willie Mae (Big Mama) Thornton. Willie Mae Thornton toured the south as a blues singer in the 1940s, then settled in Texas. She wrote and sang blues songs, played the harmonica and taught herself to play the drums. In 1953 she had a hit with "Hound Dog", the song later made even more famous by Elvis.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hound_Dog_(song)
1955 Bill Haley & Comets' "Rock Around the Clock" tops billboards chart. The original version was recorded in 1954 by Sonny Dae and His Nights. It sank without a trace. Most people didn't know what Rock And Roll was when this was released, so the record company had a hard time describing the song. The label on the single called it a "novelty foxtrot." This was one of the first hits of the Rock era. Billboard had been keeping a Top 40 chart for only a few months when this came out. It stayed at #1 for 8 weeks.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Around_the_Clock
Scale prototype of the Echo satellite undergoing a Skin Stress Test on May 1, 1960.
1960 The first two-way telephone conversation by satellite took place with the help of Echo 1, a balloon satellite.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_1
1960 "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini" by Brian Hyland topped the charts. In 1960 he enjoyed a US chart-topper with "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini", one of the era's best-known "novelty" recordings which subsequently sold over one million copies. Having switched outlets to the larger ABC-Paramount Records, the singer enjoyed further success with "Let Me Belong To You (1961 - a US Top 20 hit) 'Ginny Come Lately" (1962 - a UK Top 10 hit), before securing a second gold award for "Sealed With a Kiss."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itsy_Bitsy_Teeny_Weeny_Yellow_Polka-Dot_Bikini
1961 The German Democratic Republic closes the border between the eastern and western sectors of Berlin to thwart its inhabitants' attempts to escape to the West. In the afternoon of August 12 at 4 p.m. Walter Ulbricht, the East German leader, signed the commands to close the border. Next Sunday at midnight the army, police and the "Kampfgruppen" began to bolt the city. The wall is built and separates the city into two parts for more than 28 years. Streets, the railway and the S-Bahn are broken, stations of the U-Bahn are closed, even cemeteries are not spared. Nothing is forgotten and the East Germans will not be allowed to travel to the West until 1989.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall
1962 Representatives from the Russian Orthodox Church and the Holy See meet in Metz, France, and come to an agreement wherein the Russian church would send observers to the Second Vatican Council and in exchange, the Roman Catholic Church would refuse to condemn Communism.
1963 Warren Spahn sets left-hander strike out mark at 2,382. The winningest lefthanded pitcher of all time, and possibly the best as well, Warren Spahn was a complete player who helped himself at bat and in the field. He was the mainstay of the Braves' pitching staff for two decades. Spahn won 20 games a ML record-tying 13 times, pitched two no-hitters, and led the NL in strikeouts four consecutive years. He had a deceptive pickoff move to first base, and teammate Johnny Sain called him "one of the smartest men ever to play the game."
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/Warren_Spahn_1953.jpg/200px-Warren_Spahn_1953.jpg
Apollo 11 crew at the White House in 2004
1969 The Apollo 11 astronauts are released from a three-week quarantine to enjoy a ticker-tape parade in New York. That evening, at a state dinner in Los Angeles, they are awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by U.S. President Richard Nixon.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11#Celebration
1978 150 Palestinians in Beirut are killed in a terrorist attack during the second phase of the Lebanese Civil War.
1979 The roof of the uncompleted Rosemont Horizon near Chicago, Illinois collapses, killing 5 workers and injuring 16.
1979 Lou Brock gets his 3,000 career hit. Lou Brock, 40, collects his 3,000th career hit, a single off Dennis Lamp, as the Cardinals top the Cubs, 3-2.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Brock
1981 In a ceremony at his California ranch, President Ronald Reagan signed a historic package of tax and budget reductions
1987 Fossil bones discovered in Texas in 1984 were proclaimed to be the remains of possibly the world's oldest birds.
1993 Israel agreed for the first time to negotiate with a Palestinian delegation whose members belonged officially to the PLO.
1994 North Korea agreed to allow U.N. monitors to inspect a secret nuclear laboratory.
2003 Iraq began pumping crude oil from its northern oil fields for the first time since the start of the war.
2003 Libya agreed to set up a $2.7 billion fund for families of 270 people killed in the 1988 Pan Am bombing.
2004 Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 storm, strikes Punta Gorda, Florida and devastates the surrounding area.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Charley
The stage roof collapsing onto spectators
2011 The main stage collapses at the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis during a hurricane-force wind gust ahead of an approaching severe thunderstorm, killing 7 and injuring 45.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_State_Fair_stage_collapse
2010 A reported 380 million eggs were recalled by a major U.S. egg producer in Iowa after health officials linked the firm to an outbreak of salmonella. A second Iowa egg company recalled another 170 million eggs
2011 In the Republican presidential race, Rep. Michele Bachmann won the Iowa straw poll; Texas Gov. Rick Perry officially declared his candidacy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Births ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1818 Lucy Stone, (d 1893) prominent American abolitionist and suffragist, and a vocal advocate and organizer promoting rights for women. In 1847, Stone was the first woman from Massachusetts to earn a college degree. She spoke out for women's rights and against slavery at a time when women were discouraged and prevented from public speaking. Stone was the first recorded American woman to retain her own last name after marriage.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Stone
1851 Felix Adler, German-born American educator (d. 1933)
1860 Annie Oakley, American sharpshooter (d. 1926)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Oakley
1887 Julius Freed, American inventor and banker (d. 1952)
1895 Bert Lahr, (d 1967) American actor, best known as the cowardly lion in the Wizard of OZ
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Lahr
1897 Detlev (Wulf) Bronk (d 17 Nov 1975 age 78) American biophysicist credited with formulating the modern theory of the science of biophysics. He pioneered use of electro-microscopy to monitor human nerve network and was a leader in the study of human physiology in aeronautics. During WW II, he coordinated a group physiologists, located on air bases at home and abroad, who developed the Army Air Force altitude training and night vision training programs for pilots. Meanwhile, he studied the effects of low oxygen pressure on human performance. After the war, he became president of Rockefeller Institute/University (1953-68) and was prominent in scientific and governmental organizations including the National Science Foundation and the Presidential Science Advisory Committee
1898 Regis Toomey, American film and television actor (d. 1991)
1899 Alfred Hitchcock, English film director (d. 1980)(Psycho, Birds, Rear Window)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Hitchcock
1904 Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, American actor (d. 1999)
1908 Gene Raymond, American actor (d. 1998)
1911 William Bernbach, American advertiser, co-founder of Dyle, Dane, and Bernbach (now DDB) (d. 1982)
1912 Ben Hogan, American golfer (d. 1997)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Hogan
1912 Salvador Edward Luria , (d 6 Feb 1991 age 78) Italian-American microbiologist who (with Max Delbrück and Alfred Day Hershey) was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1969 for their discoveries concerning “the replication mechanism and the genetic structure of viruses.” From around 1940, they had investigated bacteriophages, a type of virus that infects bacteria, rather than ordinary cells. These offered as simple a living system as possible to research fundamental life processes, especially self-replication. Eventually, they demonstrated the role of nucleic acid as the carrier of the genetic information of the virus. Because of the short reproduction time, further information came from bacteriophages more quickly than work with other virus material.«
1917 Sid Gordon, American baseball player (d. 1975)
1919 Rex Humbard (d 2007) pioneer radio and television evangelist. In 1958 Humbard established the Cathedral of Tomorrow in Akron, Ohio, from which he afterward based his television ministry.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_Humbard
1920 Neville Brand, American actor (d. 1992)
1925 Benny Bailey, American bebop and hard-bop jazz trumpeter
1926 Fidel Castro, Cuban revolutionary and politician
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro
1929 Pat Harrington, Jr., American actor
1930 Don Ho, American vocalist and pianist (d. 2007)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Ho
1930 Wilmer David Mizell, American baseball player (d. 1999)
1933 Joycelyn Elders, American physician, 15th Surgeon General of the United States
1935 Mudcat Grant, American baseball player
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudcat_Grant
1938 Dave "Baby" Cortez, American pop keyboardist
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_%22Baby%22_Cortez
1944 Kevin Tighe, American actor
1947 Fred Stanley, American baseball player
1948 Kathleen Battle, American soprano
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Battle
1948 Scott Powell, founding member of Sha Na Na
1949 Jim Brunzell, American professional wrestler
1951 Dan Fogelberg, American singer-songwriter (d. 2007)
1952 Dave Carter, American folksinger (d. 2002)
1952 Herb Ritts, American photographer (d. 2002)
1952 Hughie Thomasson, American guitarist (Outlaws, Lynyrd Skynyrd) (d. 2007)
1958 Randall "Randy" Shughart, American Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1993)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Shughart
1959 Danny Bonaduce, American actor
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Bonaduce
1959 Michael Bradley, bassist and radio producer
1959 Tom Niedenfuer, American baseball player
1961 Dawnn Lewis, American actress
1961 Tom Perrotta, American novelist
1962 John Slattery, American actor
1964 Jay Buhner, American baseball player
1964 Hank Cheyne, American actor
1964 Debi Mazar, American actress
1965 Mark Lemke, American baseball player
1966 Sean Hood, American screenwriter
1967 Quinn Cummings, American actress
1970 Will Clarke, American novelist
1970 Elvis Grbac, American football player
1971 Rolando Molina, Salvadoran-born American actor
1972 Hani Hanjour, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 (d. 2001)
1972 Kevin Plank, American CEO and founder of Under Armour, Inc., a leading manufacturer of sports performance apparel, footwear and accessories based in Baltimore, Maryland.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Plank
1973 Molly Henneberg, American journalist
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Henneberg
1973 Eric Medlen, American drag racer and rodeo star (d. 2007)
1974 Jarrod Washburn, American baseball player
1974 Sam Endicott, American singer (The Bravery)
1975 James Carpinello, American actor
1979 Kathryn Fiore, American actress
1979 Corey Patterson, American baseball player
1982 Shani Davis, American speed skater
1982 Kalenna Harper, American singer-songwriter (Dirty Money)
1983 Sebastian Stan, Romanian-born American actor
1984 Boone Logan, American baseball player
1984 James Morrison, British singer
2000 Piper Reese, American child web reporter
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_Reese
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Deaths ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
586 Radegund, Frankish princess consort of King Chlothar I (b. c. 520)
1744 John Cruger, Dutch-born American politician and 39th Mayor of New York City (b. 1678)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cruger
1901 Clara Maass Died to End Yellow Jack. Clara Maass was just 25 when she died in Cuba in 1901. In 1976, the United States issued a stamp commemorating the Lutheran nurse. What did she do to attain these honors?
The oldest of ten children in a German immigrant family, Clara became a caring person. She worked as a mother's helper during her high school years, then in an orphanage. At seventeen, she entered the newly opened Christina Trefz Training School of Nurses and was one of its first graduates. She must have been very good at what she did, for by the age of 21, she had become the school's head nurse.
With the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, life held out a chance of even greater service to Clara. She became a contract nurse with the American armies. Her competent presence was felt in Georgia, Florida, Cuba, and the Philippines. She found herself fighting malaria, yellow fever and other tropical diseases more often than gunshots wounds.
After the war, the United States set out to find the cause of "yellow jack"-- yellow fever. Clara, having nursed patients with this deadly disease, and she wanted to see it overcome. She volunteered to be part of an experiment to understand the fever.
Two rival theories held the field. The first considered yellow fever the result of filthy conditions. The second attributed it to mosquito bites.
Under experiments conducted by Walter Reed, a team tested both theories. Men lived in filth without exposure to mosquitoes. They did not contract yellow fever. Other subjects offered themselves to be bitten by mosquitoes. Some of them came down with fever. One of them was Clara, who contracted a mild case.
Was she now immune? Some thought so. Others thought the case was too mild to build immunity. On August 14th, 1901, Clara submitted to a second mosquito bite. Soon she had a bad case of the fever. Ten days later she died. Her case clinched the matter: a mosquito was the carrier of the disease.
Although Clara was buried with military honors, no fuss was made over her until thirty years later when another nurse stumbled across the facts, researched her story and raised funds for a memorial. Much later, in honor of her brave self-sacrifice, the United States issued the stamp shown here. Clara, by the way, was the first nurse honored on a U.S. postage stamp. If yellow fever does not threaten the world today as it did a century ago, it is in part owing to the Christian courage of Clara Maass.
The Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church honors Maass and British nurse Florence Nightingale on August 13 as a "Renewer of Society."
www.christianity.com/ChurchHistory/11630670/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Maass
1908 Ira D. Sankey, 68 (b Aug 28, 1840) He was Dwight Moody's song evangelist from 1870. During their revival crusades, Sankey penned many hymn tunes, of which the most enduring today are HIDING IN THEE ("O Safe to the Rock That is Higher Than I") and SANKEY ("Faith is the Victory").
www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/s/a/n/sankey_id.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ira_D._Sankey
1910 Florence Nightingale age 90 (b 12 May 1820) English nurse and statistician who established modern nursing practice. Her contributions to public health included developing methods of applying and displaying statistics to demonstrate the need for improvements. Her mission began from experience during the Crimean War as a nurse at British hospital in Turkey where she witnessed appalling conditions endured by the sick: overcrowding, poor sanitation, lack of basic supplies, even malnutrition. Through her determination and influence, by the war's end in Jul 1856, she had greatly improved the comfort of the patients, increased efficiency and reduced the death toll. Throughout her life, she continued to advocate reform in the military medical system, supported by her compelling, novel graphical display of statistics and advice on hospital planning and organization.
1915 John Ulric Nef age 53 (b 14 Jun 1862) Swiss-American chemist whose studies demonstrated that carbon can have a valence (i.e., affinity for electrons) of two (such as quinone) as well as a valence of four, thus greatly advancing the understanding of theoretical organic chemistry. He provided a basis for the modern system of chemical notation. He studied tautomerism, especially of nitroparaffins, and discovered what is now called the "Nef reaction"; the acid-catalyzed conversion of primary and secondary nitroalkanes to aldehydes and ketones, respectively. His major research was on bivalent carbon, including isonitriles, carbon monoxide, fulminates and methylene. In later years, he studied the complex reactions of sugars in alkali and acid.
1946 H. G. Wells, English writer (b. 1866)
1948 Elaine Hammerstein, American actress (b. 1897)
1982 Joe Tex, American singer and songwriter (b. 1933)
1986 Way Bandy, American make-up artist (b. 1941)
1986 Helen Mack, American actress (b. 1913)
1989 Tim Richmond, American race car driver (b. 1955)
1991 John W. "Jack" Ryan, age 64 (b12 Nov 1926).
Ryan was an American inventor who for 20 years designed best-selling toys for Mattell Inc., including the Barbie doll, Hot Wheels and Chatty Cathy talking doll. His "space-aged savvy" and knowledge of materials came from his earlier employment, working as an engineer for the Raytheon Company designing the Navy's Sparrow III and Hawk guided missiles for the Navy. Ryan's association with Mattell began as a self-employed consultant for several years prior to becoming its vice president for research and design. Ryan invented the joints that allowed Barbie to bend at the waist and the knee. He also introduced the pull-string, talking voice boxes for Mattel's dol
1995 Mickey Mantle, (b 1931) American baseball center fielder who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees from 1951 to 1968. Mantle is regarded by many to be the greatest switch hitter of all time, and one of the greatest players in baseball history. Mantle was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974 and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Mantle
1995 Rob Slater, American mountaineer (b. 1960)
1996 David Tudor, American pianist and composer (b. 1926)
1998 Julien Green, American novelist (b. 1900)
2003 Ed Townsend, American songwriter and producer (b. 1929)
2004 Julia Child, American chef and television personality (b. 1912)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Child
2007 Brian Adams, American professional wrestler (b. 1964)
2007 Brooke Astor, American philanthropist (b. 1902)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooke_Astor
2007 Phil Rizzuto, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1917)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Rizzuto
2008 Dino Toso, American Formula 1 engineer (b. 1969)
2008 Sandy Allen, American tallest woman in the world (b. 1955)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Allen
2009 Les Paul, American guitarist, songwriter and inventor (b. 1915)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Paul
2010 Lance Cade, American professional wrestler (b. 1981)
2010 Edwin Newman, American broadcast journalist (b. 1919)
Holidays and observances
Christian Feast Day:
Cassian of Imola
Hippolytus of Rome
Maximus the Confessor
Pope Pontian
Radegund retires to the monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary
Radegunde
www.antiochian.org/node/19381
August 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Saints
Martyr Hippolytus of Rome and those with him: Concordia, Irenaeus, and Abundius (258)
Princess of Constantinople Irene, tonsured Xenia (1134)
Saint Eudocia the Empress, wife of Theodosius the Younger, in Palestine (460)
Saint Seridus of Gaza, abbot (ca. 543)
Saint Radegunde of Poitiers, nun (587)
Russian new martyr Benjamin of Petrograd, metropolitan, and those with him (1921)
Russian new martyr Archimandrite Sergius and those with him (1921)
Saint Abba Dorotheus of Gaza (ca. 565)
Saint Coronatus
New Hieromartyr Seraphim (Zvezdinsky), bishop of Dmitrov (1937)
Other commemorations
Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos of Minsk “Of the Seven Arrows” and “Of the Passion”
Translation of the relics of Venerable Maximus the Confessor
Uncovering of the relics (1547) of Blessed Maxim of Moscow, fool-for-Christ (1433)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_13
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_13_(Eastern_Orthodox_liturgics)
www.scopesys.com/cgi-bin/today2.cgi
www.daysuntil.com/Election-Day/index.html
www.christianity.com/HistoryByDay/0813/
www.amug.org/~jpaul/aug13.html