Some of the significant events which took place on August 1 taken from the leaf of History:
527- Justinian I becomes the sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire.
1086 – Results of the Domesday inquiry presented to William the Conqueror in Salisbury (the date of compilation and the Great Domesday are historically contestable).
1774- Joseph Priestley, English theologian, chemist and author discovers oxygen by isolating it in its gaseous state.
1834- Slavery abolished throughout the British Empire – Slavery Abolition Act 1833 comes into effect.
1846- Dwarkanath Tagore died in England.
1920- Balgangadhar Tilak – the leader of the extremist wing in Indian National Congress died.
1958- US atomic submarine USS Nautilus begins 1st transit of North Pole “operation Sunshine”.
1916- Annie Besant starts the Home Rule League in India aimed at self-rule or home-rule by ending the British imperial rule.
1936- XI Summer Olympic Games are opened by Adolph Hitler in Berlin.
1968 – UK Apple Records: The Beatles finish recording their first record “Hey Jude” for Apple Records part of Apple Corps Ltd which they had created earlier in the year, it is released on 26th August with the B side “Revolution”. The “Hey Jude” single went to number 1 on September 28 and stayed #1 for 9 weeks.
1981 – U.S.A. MTV Debuts: MTV the music video cable channel whose original purpose was to “play music videos” launches. The first music video shown on MTV was “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles.
1900 – China Boxer Rebellion: The Boxer Rebellion erupted and the Chinese were fighting the Europeans. U.S. troops were sent to help quell the violence. It appeared unclear who actually remained in charge in Peking, but, General Chafee’s strong U.S. cavalry filled the gap in international forces. European politicians wanted a full scale attack the last week of August, but, the U.S. to poised their military personnel to attack immediately.
1914 – Germany Declaration of War: Germany sent a declaration of war to the Russian minister of foreign affairs as the German army began mobilizing for war.
1929 – U.S.A. Thomas Edison: A state-wide contest held in West Orange County, New Jersey held by Thomas Edison to determine who his next 49 proteges would be. The tough exam questions included knowledge about science, geography, history, chemistry, and personal ethics. One query asked if “… a lie (is) permissible and … if they would choose to become successful at the loss of happiness, comfort, reputation, pride, honor, health, money, or love.” Among the extensive and penetrating questions asked was this one – “What new discovery or invention do you believe would be the greatest benefit to mankind?”
1936 – Germany Olympic Games: Possibly one of the most controversial Olympic games of modern times opens in Berlin, Germany with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler. The Games of the XI Olympiad were used by Germany as a tool for propaganda to promote their ideology, and its promotion of the superiority of the “Aryan Race” by only allowing Germans of “Aryan race” to compete for Germany.
1941 – Willy’s Jeep Introduced: Willy’s Truck Company introduced the Jeep for the U.S. Army who were looking for a fast lightweight all-terrain vehicle.
1944 – Polish Home Army: Following the sustained attack by the Red Army on German Nazi troops the Polish Home army begin the battle to liberate Warsaw from German control. The home army had been fighting the German invasion as an underground movement up to this day, but with the German troops already reeling from Russian attacks the Poles came out into the open to regain control for their beloved country.
1949 – England Atlantic Pact: 1st August, After World War II strategies for the defense of Europe was to be discussed in London when U.S. chiefs of staff visited. Americans were expected to employ both financial and military support as well as equipment to prevent Soviet political aggression. The Atlantic Pact made up of European countries possessed 2 million troops, but their military budget had been severely curtailed due to reconstruction costs after the ravages of war. Already, The Cold War was shaping up.
1966 – University Of Texas Shootings: Ex-Marine Charles Whitman with a stockpile of guns and ammunition on the observatory platform at a 300 foot tower at the University of Texas proceeds to shoot 46 people, killing 14 people and wounding 31. He had killed both his wife and mother the night before. Charles J Whitman’s name will go on in infamy after he went on a rampage killing 14 people, in Austin Texas. One of the Catholic priests that took his funeral service insisted that for 25 years Whitman had lived a quiet, good, and honest life, before the killer started shooting victims from the university tower.
1970 – Soaring Inflation Worries: President Richard Nixon’s powers to freeze prices, wages, and interest rates were to be voted on in the house amid howls of foul play from Republicans. Soaring inflation prompted this move to give the president more executive powers.
1971 – Space Apollo 15: During a moon safari on “lunar rover” astronauts David Scott and James Irwin have uncovered a rock (Genesis rock) believed to be about 4,500 million years old which may date back to the origin of the Moon.
1972 – U.S.A. George Bush: Future President George W Bush, son of former president George Herbert Walker Bush, is suspended from flying with the Texas Air National Guard for missing an annual medical examination.
1976 – Germany F1 Crash Niki Lauda: Austrian born Formula 1 racing driver Niki Lauda became trapped inside his Ferrari after a horrific accident at the Grand Prix in Germany. He was trapped inside the burning car until other drivers managed to pull him from his burning Ferrari. Although he was out for some time with his injuries, in 1977 and 1984 he won the F1 World Championship again.
1994 – Michael Jackson Marries: The king of pop and the daughter of the king of rock confirmed they were secretly married 11 weeks ago. Michael Jackson, 35, and Lisa Marie Presley, 26, announced in a statement.
1997 – U.S.A. Thyroid Cancer: The National Cancer Institute released information that nuclear testing during the 1950s could be a cause of thyroid cancer and as many as 10,000 to 75,000 people, exposed to the 1950s fallout as children, could develop thyroid cancer.
2000 – U.S.A. Titanic: Judge J. Calvitt Clarke Jr. on his own accord ruled that the R.M.S. Titanic Company, who had salvage rights to the Titanic, was banned from cutting into the sunken ship and plundering the artifacts. The salvage company apparently was searching for $300 million in lost diamonds and had sold chunks of coal from the famous ship wreck.
2001 – U.S.A. Ban on Human Cloning: The United States House of Representatives votes to ban all human cloning but it is not voted into law as the Democratic led Senate votes against it. The current status of cloning around the world is still in disarray as many see the possibilities of (human therapeutic cloning) which could provide great breakthroughs in medical science for regenerative medicine, and tissues and organs for transplantation. But concerns over mad scientists tinkering with the gift of life makes the laws which are needed to allow for medical advances difficult to formulate.
2006 – California and UK Climate Environment Deal: The United Kingdom and the state of California made a deal to reduce their impacts on the environment together. Prime Minister Tony Blair and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger reached the agreement after a visit by Blair to Long Beach.
2006 – Cuban leader Fidel Castro turned over absolute power when he gave his brother Raul authority while he underwent an intestinal surgery.
2007 – Minneapolis I35W Bridge Collapse: A bridge crossing the Mississippi river on I35W in Minneapolis collapses with cars dropping the 50 ft into the river, due to quick responses by emergency services only 13 people lost their lives in the tragedy. The collapse was believed to be caused by a flaw in the design.
2008 – Brazil Amazon Rain Forest: The president of Brazil launched a fund aimed at protecting the Amazon rain forest. Luis Inacio Lula de Silva created the fund to fight climate change and come up with alternatives to cutting down the forests. The fund will rely on international donations in order to reach its $21 billion goal.
2011 – Ford Recalls Pick-Up Trucks: US car-maker Ford announced a recall of 1.2 million F-series pick-up trucks built between 1997 and 2004 because of fears that straps holding the gas tanks could become corroded and let the gas tank fall off the vehicle and cause fires.
1929 – U.S.A. Cows: A cow in Arkansas met with an unusual calamity while in its pasture. It wasn’t lightening or disease that killed it. Apparently it choked to death on the farmer’s lost wad of money. In this case, being in the dough doomed the dense bovine.
1939 – U.S.A. Alcatraz Crime Writers: Two prisoners from Alcatraz Penitentiary, whose crimes were all over the newspapers, became story writers themselves it seems. The Federal Bureau of Prisons received 173 entries in their short story contest and the criminal competitors sent in their stories from 14 different intuitions. Two prize winners came from Alcatraz, however their names had to be kept anonymous.
2012 – Authorities Seize Counterfeit US Dollars: Police seize 2.3 million dollars in counterfeit $50 bills in Peru. Police stated that the Quispe Rodriguez family clan were behind this and had planned to smuggle the counterfeit money into the US with Peruvian souvenirs.
2013 – TV Program Gives Babies Away: A Pakistani television program gave two abandoned baby girls from Karachi away on live television to their new parents. The host of the show, Dr. Aamir Liaquat Hussain was known for giving away prizes on his show and insists this was not a stunt for ratings but a “noble cause.”
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