Have an "It's It" as it's Ice Cream Sandwich Day!
Today is Friday, August 2, 2019, the 214th day of the year, with 151 days remaining.
- Sunrise: 6:14am
- Sunset: 8:18pm ...giving us 14 hours and 5 minutes of daylight.
0% of the so-called Black Moon is visible, so called because it’s the first of two new moons occurring within the month, rising at 7:59am (if you can see it!).
Tides at the Golden Gate
- High: 12:25am/2:13pm
- Low: 7:06am/7:08pm
Special celebrations & commemorations today…
- Emancipation Day - St. Kitts & Nevis
- National Holiday "Ilinden" or St. Elijah Day - Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia
- Virgin of the Angels Day - Costa Rica
- National Coloring Book Day
- National Water Balloon Day
- Take A Penny/Leave A Penny Day
- Braham Pie Day or Homemade Pie Day
- International Beer Day
- Tomboy Tools Day
- National Ice Cream Sandwich Day
On this day in…
1776 - Members of the Continental Congress began adding their signatures to the Declaration of Independence.
1791 - Samuel Briggs and his son Samuel Briggs, Jr. received a joint patent for their nail-making machine. They were the first father-son pair to receive a patent.
1824 - In New York City, Fifth Avenue was opened.
1858 - In Boston and New York City the first mailboxes were installed along streets.
1861 - The United States Congress passed the first income tax. The revenues were intended for the war effort against the South. The tax was never enacted.
1887 - Rowell Hodge patented barbed wire.
1892 - Charles A. Wheeler patented the first escalator.
1921 - Eight White Sox players were acquitted of throwing the 1919 World Series.
1926 - John Barrymore and Mary Astor starred in the first showing of the Vitaphone System. The system was the combining of picture and sound for movies.
1938 - Bright yellow baseballs were used in a major league baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals. It was hoped that the balls would be easier to see.
1939 - Albert Einstein signed a letter to President Roosevelt urging theU.S. to have an atomic weapons research program.
1939 -U.S. President Roosevelt signed the Hatch Act. The act prohibited civil service employees from taking an active part in political campaigns.
1943 - TheU.S. Navy patrol torpedo boat, PT-109, sank after being attacked by a Japanese destroyer. The boat was under the command of Lt. John F. Kennedy.
1945 - The Allied conference at Potsdam was concluded.
1964 - The Pentagon reported the first of two North Vietnamese attacks onU.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.
1983 - U.S. House of Representatives approved a law that designated the third Monday of January would be a federal holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The law was signed by President Reagon on November 2.
1987 - "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" was re-released. The film was 50 years old at the time of its re-release.
1990 - Iraq invaded the oil-rich country of Kuwait. Iraq claimed that Kuwait had driven down oil prices by exceeding production quotas set by OPEC.
1995 - China ordered the expulsion of twoU.S. Air Force officers. The two were said to have been caught spying on military sights.
Today’s birthday celebrants include (or included)...
- Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss 1891
- Myrna Loy 1905
- Beatrice Straight 1918
- James Baldwin 1924
- Carroll O'Connor 1924
- Peter O'Toole 1932
- Wes Craven 1939
- Edward Patten (Gladys Knight and the Pips) 1939
- Doris Kenner-Jackson (The Shirelles) 1941
- Kathy Lennon 1942 - Musician (The Lennon Sisters)
- Joanna Cassidy 1945
- Lance Ito 1950
- Andy Fairweather-Low (Amen Corner) 1950
- Andrew Gold 1951
- Mojo Nixon 1957
- Victoria Jackson 1959 - Actress, comedian
- Mary-Louise Parker 1964
