- 205th Day of 2012 / 161 Remaining
- 61 Days Until Autumn Begins
- Sunrise:6:06
- Sunset:8:26
- 14 Hours 20 Minutes of Daylight
- Moon Rise:10:56am
- Moon Set:10:51pm
- Moon’s Phase: 23 %
- The Next Full Moon
- August 1 @ 8:27pm
- Full Sturgeon Moon
- Full Red Moon
- Full Green Corn Moon
- Full Grain Moon
The fishing tribes are given credit for the naming of this Moon, since sturgeon, a large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water, were most readily caught during this month. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because, as the Moon rises, it appears reddish through any sultry haze. It was also called the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.
- Tides
- High:1:46am/2:58pm
- Low:8:09am/8:57pm
- Rainfall (measured July 1 – June 30)
- This Year:0.01
- Last Year:0.08
- Normal To Date:0.00
- Annual Seasonal Average: 23.80
- Holidays
- Gorgeous Grandma Day
- Hot Enough For Ya Day
- National Day of the Cowboy
- National Hot Dog Day
- National Vanilla Ice Cream Day
- Revolution Day-Egypt
- Martyr's Day-Armenia
- National Children's Day-Indonesia
- On This Day In …
- 1715 --- The first lighthouse in America was authorized for construction at Little Brewster Island, Massachusetts.
- 1892 --- William Austin Burt of Mount Vernon, Mich., received a patent for his typographer, a forerunner of the typewriter.
- 1904 --- The Ice Cream cone was invented. Charles E. Minches invents the ice cream cone for his customers convenience at the St. Louis World's Fair (The Louisiana Purchase Exhibition). This is only one account, there are several other candidates.
- 1952 --- In Egypt, the Society of Free Officers seizes control of the government in a military coup d'etat staged by Colonel Gamal Abdal Nasser's Free Officers. King Farouk, whose rule had been criticized for its corruption and failures in the first Arab-Israeli war, was forced to abdicate and relinquish power to General Muhammad Naguib, the figurehead leader of the coup. The revolutionaries redistributed land, tried politicians for corruption, and in 1953 abolished the monarchy. In 1954, Nasser emerged from behind the scenes, removed Naguib from power, and proclaimed himself prime minister of Egypt. For the next two years, Nasser ruled as an effective and popular leader and promulgated a new constitution that made Egypt a socialist Arab state, consciously nonaligned with the prevalent communist and democratic-capitalist systems of the Cold War world. In 1956, he was elected, unopposed, to the new office of president. He died still in office in 1970 from a heart attack. Nasser was a consistently popular and influential leader during his many years in power.
- 1965 --- President Lyndon B. Johnson, in the course of discussions about what to do concerning the deteriorating situation in Vietnam, is told by some that he should give the American public all the facts, ask for an increase in taxes, mobilize the reserves, and declare a state of national emergency in the United States. Johnson rejected this approach, and informed his staff that he wanted any decisions implemented in a "low-key manner" in order to avoid an abrupt challenge to the communists, and to avoid undue concern and excitement in Congress and in domestic public opinion. During these discussions, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara urged the president to "expand promptly and substantially" the U.S. military presence in South Vietnam. Johnson, not wanting to "lose" Vietnam to the communists, ultimately accepted McNamara's recommendation and authorized a total of 44 U.S. battalions in South Vietnam, which led to a massive escalation of the war.
- 1966 --- "They’re Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa!" by Napoleon-the-14th entered the Billboard Hot 100. The song reached #3 before most radio stations pulled it because of complaints from mental health organizations. The writer and vocalist, Jerry Samuels, was a former mental patient.
- 1966 --- Frank Sinatra hit the top of the pop album chart with his Strangers in the Night. It was the first #1 Sinatra LP since 1960. The album’s title song had made it to number one on the pop singles chart on July 2nd.
- 1982 --- Vic Morrow and two child actors, Renee Shinn Chen and Myca Dinh Le, are killed in an accident involving a helicopter during filming on the California set of Twilight Zone: The Movie. Morrow, age 53, and the children, ages six and seven, were shooting a Vietnam War battle scene in which they were supposed to be running from a pursuing helicopter. Special-effects explosions on the set caused the pilot of the low-flying craft to lose control and crash into the three victims. The accident took place on the film’s last scheduled day of shooting. Twilight Zone co-director John Landis (Blues Brothers, Trading Places, National Lampoon’s Animal House) and four other men working on the film, including the special-effects coordinator and the helicopter pilot, were charged with involuntary manslaughter. According to a 1987 New York Times report, it was the first time a film director faced criminal charges for events that occurred while making a movie. During the subsequent trial, the defense maintained the crash was an accident that could not have been predicted while the prosecution claimed Landis and his crew had been reckless and violated laws regarding child actors, including regulations about their working conditions and hours. Following the emotional 10-month trial, a jury acquitted all five defendants in 1987. The familes of the three victims filed lawsuits against Landis, Warner Brothers and Twilight Zone co-director and producer Steven Spielberg that were settled for undisclosed amounts.
- 1984 --- 21-year-old Vanessa Williams gives up her Miss America title, the first resignation in the pageant's history, after Penthouse magazine announces plans to publish nude photos of the beauty queen in its September issue. Williams originally made history on September 17, 1983, when she became the first black woman to win the Miss America crown. Miss New Jersey, Suzette Charles, the first runner-up and also an African American, assumed Williams' tiara for the two months that remained of her reign. Vanessa Lynn Williams was born March 18, 1963, in Millwood, New York, to music teacher parents. She attended Syracuse University and studied musical theater. In 1982, while working a summer job as a receptionist at a modeling agency in Mt. Kisco, New York, photographer Thomas Chiapel took the nude pictures of Williams, telling her they'd be shot in silhouette and that she wouldn't be recognizable. After Williams became Miss America, the photographer sold the pictures to Penthouse without her knowledge. Williams later dropped lawsuits against the magazine and photographer after it was learned that she had signed a model release form at the time the photos were taken. Vanessa Williams rebounded from the Miss America scandal and went on to a successful entertainment career as an actress and recording artist, performing on Broadway as well as in movies and television and releasing a number of popular albums.
- 1996 --- The U.S. women’s gymnastics team wins its first-ever team gold. The 1996 U.S. women’s team, nicknamed the "Mag 7" or "magnificent seven," was made up of seven immensely talented teenaged girls: Amanda Borden, Amy Chow, Dominique Dawes, Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Jaycie Phelps and Kerri Strug. The team entered the Summer Olympics with the expectations of an entire country heaped on their young shoulders. They were considered America’s best shot ever at an Olympic team gold, something no American women’s gymnastics team had ever won. The American women’s best finish to that point had been a silver at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, which were boycotted by the favored Soviet Union, winner of eight consecutive team golds between 1952 and 1980. To win the gold in 1996, the U.S. women faced a battle with perennial contender Russia and Romania, the two-time defending world champions. Still, U.S. fans believed the odds were good: The team had deep reserves of talent and each of its members was capable of winning events. When the team competition began, veteran U.S. star Shannon Miller did not disappoint, delivering an impressive performance to place second overall to the Romanian world champion Lilia Podkopayeva. Meanwhile, returning Olympians Dawes and Strug placed sixth and seventh, respectively, while Moceanu came in 11th. The final event of the team competition for the U.S. was the vault. Fourteen-year-old Dominique Moceanu, the first American to compete, had a chance to clinch the gold for her team with a solid performance, but was unable to stick the landing on her first attempt. As the pro-American crowd gathered in Atlanta held their breath, Moceanu took off for her second vault, and, again, slipped and fell on the landing. This left it up to Strug, America’s second and final vaulter, to seal the win. On her first attempt, Strug also fell on the landing, and heard an alarming pop in her ankle. The team and coach Bela Karolyi were unaware that the team had won whether Strug vaulted again or not, so Strug bravely readied herself to vault on her badly sprained ankle. After executing a perfect one-and-a-half twisting Yurchenko, Strug landed solidly on two feet. She then spun and hopped on one foot towards the judges’ table before collapsing in pain. When her 9.712 was announced, she celebrated in the arms of her coach, who would later have to carry the 4-foot-9-inch "Spark Plug" Strug to the medal stand.
- Birthdays
- Haile Selassie
- Woody Harrelson
- Slash (Saul Hudson)
- Marlon Wayans
- Don Imus
- Monica Lewinsky
- Daniel Radcliffe
- Justice Anthony Kennedy
- Philip Seymour Hoffman
- Nomar Garciaparra
- Raymond Chandler
- Calvert DeForest
- Don Drysdale
- David Essex
- Edie McClurg