Trevor WholohanThis Day in History August 24th
August 23rd 2007 23:09
This Day in History
1814 - British troops invade Washington, D.C. and burn down the White House and several other buildings.
1858 - In Richmond, Virginia, 90 blacks are arrested for learning.
1891 - Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera.
1912 - Alaska becomes a United States territory.
1932 - Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop (from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey).
1942 - World War II: The Battle of the Eastern Solomons. Japanese aircraft carrier Ryujo is sunk and US carrier Enterprise heavily damaged.
1944 - World War II: French and Allied troops start the attack on Paris.
1960 - A temperature of -127°F is measured in Vostok, Antarctica - a world- record low
1967 - Led by Abbie Hoffman, a group of hippies temporarily disrupt trading at the NYSE by throwing dollar bills from the viewing gallery, causing a cease in trading as the brokers scramble to grab them up.
1970 - A bomb went off at the University of Wisconsin's Army Math Research Center in Madison, WI. The bomb that killed Robert Fassnacht was set by anti-war extremists
1975 - Davey Lopes of the Los Angeles Dodgers set a major league baseball record when he stole his 38th consecutive base.
1981 - Mark David Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for the murder of John Lennon.
1987 - Sergeant Clayton Lonetree was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a military jury for giving U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union.
1989 - Pete Rose, the manager of the Cincinnati Reds, was banned from baseball for life after being accused of gambling on baseball.
1989 - The U.S. space probe, Voyager 2, sent back photographs of Neptune.
1990 - Irish hostage Brian Keenan was released. He was held in Lebanon for 1,597 days.
1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
1992 - Hurricane Andrew hit southern Florida causing 55 deaths in the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana.
2001 - In McAllen, TX, Bridgestone/Firestone agreed to settle out of court and pay a reported $7.5 million to a family in a rollover accident in their Ford Explorer.
2001 - The remains of nine American servicemen killed in the Korean War were returned to the U.S. The bodies were found about 60 miles north of Pyongyang. It was estimated that it would be a year before the identies of the soldiers would be known
2004 - Salim Ahmed Hamdan was formally charged in the first U.S. military tribunal since World War II. Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's former chauffer, was charged with conspiracy as an al-Qaida member to commit war crimes, including murder.
Famous Birthday’s
1929 - Yasser Arafat, Palestinian leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 2004)
1945 - Vincent K. McMahon, American professional wrestling entrepreneur
1949 - Anna L Fisher St Albans NY, MD/astronaut (STS 51-A)
1949 - Joe Regalbuto Bkln NY, actor (Knots Landing, Frank-Murphy Brown)
1956 - Gerry Cooney heavyweight boxer (Olympics-1980)
1958 - Steve Guttenberg Bkln NY, actor (Police Academy, Short Circuit)
1961 - Cal Ripken Jr all-star shortstop (Balt Orioles)
1973 - David Chappelle, actor and comedian(Chappelle’s Show on Comedy Central)
Famous Death’s
1867 - Johns Hopkins died. The railroad millionaire left $7.5 million in his will for the founding of a new medical school in his name.
1967 - Henry J Kaiser, industrialist (He built the Boulder Dam & Liberty ships), dies at 85
1983 - Shawn Lewis, 5th wife of Jerry Lee Lewis, dies of methadone OD
Joke of the Day
What was the problem
Taxiing down the tarmac, the jetliner abruptly stopped, turned around and returned to the gate.
After an hour-long wait, it finally took off.
A concerned passenger asked the flight attendant, "What was the problem?"
"The pilot was bothered by a noise he heard in the engine," explained the Flight Attendant, "and it took us a while to find a new pilot."
Lotto Winner
A woman came home, screeching her car into the driveway, and ran into the house. She slammed the door and shouted at the top of her lungs, 'Honey, pack your bags. I won the lottery!'
The husband said, 'Oh my God! What should I pack, beach stuff or mountain stuff?'
'Doesn't matter,' she said. 'Just get out.'
World Records
Fastest circumnavigation by helicopter - Female
Jennifer Murray (UK) piloted her Robinson R44 helicopter around the world solo in 99 days from 31 May to 6 September 2000. The journey started and finished at Brooklands airfield in Surrey, UK, and crossed 30 countries. Remarkably, Murray was 60 at the time of the record attempt.
Fastest Combat Jet
The fastest combat jet is the Soviet Mikoyan MiG-25 fighter (NATO code name Foxbat). The reconnaissance Foxbat-B has been tracked by radar at about Mach 3.2 or 3,395 km/h (2,110 mph). The MiG-25 was designed as a high-altitude interceptor, and over 1,200 have been built. The single-seat Foxbat-A has a wingspan of 45 ft 9 in, is 78 ft 2 in long and has an estimated maximum take-off weight of 37.4 tons (82,500 lb).
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