It's Raspberries & Cream Day...enjoy!
Today is Wednesday, August 7, 2019, the 219th day of the year, with 146 days remaining. 47 days until autumn and a mere 454 days until the 2020 Presidential Election.
- Sunrise: 6:18am
- Sunset: 8:12pm ...giving us 13 hours and 56 minutes of daylight. 39% of waxing crescent moon will be visible, rising at 1:48pm.
Tides at the Golden Gate
- High: 5:40am/6:01pm
- Low: 11:10am
Special celebrations & commemorations today…
- Battle of Boyacá- Colombia
- Independence Day - Ivory Coast
- Labor Day - Samoa
- Youth Day - Kiribati
- Lighthouse Day
- Particularly Preposterous Packaging Day
- Professional Speakers Day
- Purple Heart Day
- National Raspberries & Cream Day
On this day in…
1789 - The U.S. War Department was established by the U.S. Congress.
1782 - George Washington created the Order of the Purple Heart.
1888 - Theophilus Van Kannel received a patent for the revolving door.
1914 - Germany invaded France.
1928 - The U.S. Treasury Department issued a new bill that was one third smaller than the previous U.S. bills.
1934 - The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling striking down the government's attempt to ban the controversial James Joyce novel "Ulysses."
1942 - U.S. forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II.
1947 - The balsa wood raft Kon-Tiki, which had carried a six-man crew 4,300 miles across the Pacific Ocean, crashed into a reef in a Polynesian archipelago.
1959 - The U.S. launched Explorer 6, which sent back a picture of the Earth.
1960 - The Cuban Catholic Church condemned the rise of communism in Cuba. Fidel Castro then banned all religious TV and radio broadcasts.
1964 - The U.S. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which gave President Johnson broad powers in dealing with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.
1974 - French stuntman Philippe Petit walked a tightrope strung between the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center.
1976 - Scientists in Pasadena, CA, announced that the Viking 1 spacecraft had found strong indications of possible life on Mars.
1990 - U.S. President George H.W. Bush ordered U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard against a possible invasion by Iraq.
2003 - In California, Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he would run for the office of governor.
Today’s birthday celebrants include (or included)...
- Nathaniel Greene 1742
- John Heathcoat 1783 - Inventor, pioneer in lace making
- Mata Hari 1876
- Billie Burke 1884
- Stan Freberg 1926
- Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer 1927
- B.J. Thomas 1942
- Garrison Keillor 1942
- John Glover 1944
- Alberto Salazar 1958
- Bruce Dickinson 1958 - Singer (Iron Maiden)
- David Duchovny 1960
- DeLane Matthews 1961
- Marcus Roberts 1963
- Sydney Penny 1971
- Charlize Theron 1975 - Actress
- Joe Burke
- Niels Swinkels
