Page 14 - NEWSWATCH AUGUST 2020

Markyourcalendars:SHABoardMeeting|August11th|7:00pm |DigitalConferenceMeeting
August: A busy Month in History
August 1, 1944 - Anne Frank penned her last entry into her diary. Ikeepontryingtofindawayofbe- coming what I would like to be, and what I could be, if... there weren’t any other people living in the world. Three days later, Anne and her fam- ily were arrested and sent to Nazi concentration camps. Anne died at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on March 15, 1945, at age 15. Birth- day - Star-Spangled Banner author Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) was born in Frederick County, Maryland. After witnessing the British bombard- ment of Fort McHenry on the night of September 13-14, 1814, he was en- thralled to see the American flag still flying over the fort at daybreak. He then wrote the poem originally enti- tled Defense of Fort McHenry which became the U.S. National Anthem in 1931
August 2, 1776 - In Philadelphia, most of the 55 members of the Con- tinental Congress signed the parch- ment copy of the Declaration of In- dependence.
August 2, 1923 - President War- ren G. Harding died suddenly in a hotel in San Francisco while on a Western speaking tour. His adminis- tration had been tainted by the Tea- pot Dome political scandal and his sudden death prompted many un- founded rumors. He was succeeded the next day by Calvin Coolidge.
August 2, 1939 - Albert Einstein wrote a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt concerning the possi- bility of atomic weapons. “A single bomb of this type carried by boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port together with some of the surrounding territo- ry.” Six years later, on August 6, 1945, the first Atomic Bomb, developed by the U.S., was dropped on the Japa- nese port of Hiroshima.
The History Place
August 2, 1990 - The Iraqi army invaded Kuwait amid claims that Kuwait threatened Iraq›s economic existence by overproducing oil and driving prices down on the world market. An Iraqi military government was then installed in Kuwait which was annexed by Iraq on the claim that Kuwait was historically part of Iraq. This resulted in Desert Shield, the massive Allied military buildup, and later the 100-hour war against Iraq, Desert Storm.
August 3, 1492 - Christopher Co- lumbus set sail from Palos, Spain, with three ships, Nina, Pintaand San- ta Maria. Seeking a westerly route to the Far East, he instead landed on October 12th in the Bahamas, thinking it was an outlying Japanese island.
August 4, 1901 -Birthday - Jazz trumpet player Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) was born in New Orle- ans, Louisiana. Known as “Satchmo,” he appeared in many films and is best known for his renditions of It’s a Wonderful World and Hello, Dolly.
August 5, 1861 - President Abra- ham Lincoln signed into law the first Federal income tax, a 3 percent tax on incomes over $800, as an emer- gency wartime measure during the Civil War. However, the tax was never actually put into effect.
August 5, 1962 - Film star Marilyn Monroe died at age 36 from an over- dose of sleeping pills. She made 29 films during her career and came to symbolize Hollywood glamour.
August 6-10, 1787 - The Great Debate occurred during the Con- stitutional Convention. Outcomes included the establishment of a four-year term of office for the Presi- dent, granting Congress the right to regulate foreign trade and interstate
commerce, and the appointment of a committee to prepare a final draft of the Constitution.
August 6, 1945 - The first Atomic Bomb was dropped over the cen- ter of Hiroshima at 8:15 a.m., by the American B-29 bomber Enola Gay. The bomb detonated about 1,800 ft. above ground, killing over 105,000 persons and destroying the city. An- other estimated 100,000 persons lat- er died as a result of radiation effect.
August 7, 1964 - Following an attack on two U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin off North Vietnam, the U.S. Congress approved the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, granting Pres- ident Lyndon B. Johnson authority «to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.
August 7, 1990 - Just five days af- ter the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Pres- ident George Bush ordered Desert Shield, a massive military buildup to prevent further Iraqi advances.
August 8, 1945 - Soviet Russia de- clared war on Japan and sent troops into Japanese-held Manchuria.
August 9, 1945 - The second Atom- ic bombing of Japan occurred as an American B-29 bomber headed for the city of Kokura, but because of poor visibility then chose a second- ary target, Nagasaki. About noon, the bomb detonated killing an esti- mated 70,000 persons and destroy- ing about half the city.
August 9, 1974 - Effective at noon, Richard M. Nixon resigned the presidency as a result of the Water- gate scandal. Nixon had appeared on television the night before and announced his decision to the
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