Unerased History – August 26th
National Dog Day
Women’s Equality Day
Women’s Equality Day Established
Joint Resolution of Congress, 1971
Designating August 26th of each year as Women’s Equality Day
WHEREAS, the women of the United States have been treated as second-class citizens and have not been entitled the full rights and privileges, public or private, legal or institutional, which are available to male citizens of the United States; and
WHEREAS, the women of the United States have united to assure that these rights and privileges are available to all citizens equally regardless of sex; and
WHEREAS, the women of the United States have designated August 26th, the anniversary date of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, as symbol of the continued fight for equal rights: and
WHEREAS, the women of United States are to be commended and supported in their organizations and activities,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that August 26th of each year is designated as “Women’s Equality Day,” and the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation annually in commemoration of that day in 1920, on which the women of America were first given the right to vote, and that day in 1970, on which a nationwide demonstration for women’s rights took place.
” Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”
~ Albert Camus
tete-a-tete \TAYT-uh-TAYT; TET-uh-TET\, adjective:
1. Private; confidential; familiar.
2. A private conversation between two people.
3. A short sofa intended to accommodate two persons.
Tete-a-tete comes from the French, literally “head-to-head.”
55 B.C. – Roman forces under Julius Caesar invaded Britain.
1429 – Joan of Arc made a triumphant entry into Paris.
1498 – Michelangelo was commissioned to make the “Pieta.”
1748 - The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium, is founded in Philadelphia.
1775 – Rhode Island Resolve: Rhode Island delegates to Continental Congress press for creation of Continental Navy to protect the colonies.
1791 – John Fitch was granted a United States patent for the steamboat.
1818 - Illinois becomes the 21st state.
1839 – The ship Amistad is captured off Long Island. The U.S.S. Washington, a U.S. Navy brig, seized the Amistad York, and escorted it to New London, Connecticut.
1842 – The U.S. Congress established the fiscal year, which begins on July first.
1843 – Charles Thurber patented a typewriter.
1847 – Liberia was proclaimed an independent republic. Freed American slaves founded Liberia. They modeled their constitution after that of the US, copied the US flag, and named their capital Monrovia, after James Monroe.
1862 – Civil War: The Second Battle of Bull Run begins. Confederate General Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson encircles the Union Army under General John Pope.
1863 – Civil War: Battle of Rocky Gap, WV, (White Sulphur Springs).
1865 – Civil War ends with Naval strength over 58,500 men and 600 ships.
1873 – First public school kindergarten in the U.S. was authorized in St. Louis, MO
1883 – The volcano Krakatoa erupted in the largest recorded explosion.
1902 – Arthur McCurdy obtained a patent for a daylight developing tank for roll film.
1903 – The patent for a flashlight was issued to Conrad Hubert. The patent number is 737,107. It is for a flashlight with an on/off switch in the now familiar cylindrical casing containing lamp and batteries.
1907 – Houdini escapes from chains underwater at Aquatic Park in 57 seconds.
1908 - Tony Pastor (b.1837), singer and actor, died. He is considered to be the father of American vaudeville.
1920 – US Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. The amendment had been first introduced in Congress in 1878 and gave women the right to vote.
1929 - The first US roller coaster was built.
1935 – The US Public Utilities Act gave federal agencies powers to regulate gas and electric companies.
1937 – President Roosevelt signed the Judicial Procedure Reform Act, a compromise on his judicial reorganization plan.
1939 – WXBS of New York City televised the first major league baseball games. The event was a double-header between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. The Reds won first, 5-2; the Dodgers, second, 6-1.
1942 – World War II: Japanese troops landed on New Guinea, Milne Bay.
1942 – World War II: Seven thousand Jews were rounded up in Vichy, France.
1942 – World War II: Holocaust: At 2.30 am in Chortkiav, western Ukraine, the German Schutzpolizei starts driving Jews out of their houses, divided them into groups of 120, and deported 2000 to Belzec death camp. Five hundred of the sick and children are murdered on the spot.
1944 – World War II: US 12th Army Corps crossed the river Seine East of Paris.
1944 – World War II: Bulgaria announced that it had withdrawn from the war and that German troops in the country were to be disarmed.
1945 – CHART TOPPERS – “If I Loved You” by Perry Como, “Till the End of Time” by
Perry Como, “On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe” by Johnny Mercer, “You Two Timed Me One Time Too Often” by Tex Ritter all topped the charts.
1945 – The Japanese were given surrender instructions on the U.S.S. Missouri at the end of World War II.
1947 – First African-American baseball pitcher Don Bankhead (Hit a HR on first at bat).
1949 – The US submarine Cochino (SS-345) sank off Norway following an electrical fire and battery explosion a day earlier. A second battery explosion made “Abandon Ship” the only possible order, and Cochino sank.
1950 – “Goodnight Irene” by the Weavers with Gordon Jenkins topped the charts.
1953 – CHART TOPPERS – “I’m Walking Behind You” by Eddie Fisher, “No Other Love” by Perry Como, “You, You, You” by The Ames Brothers and “Hey Joe!” by Carl Smith all topped the charts.
1955 – First color telecast (NBC) of a tennis match (Davis Cup).
1957 – Ford Motor Company unveiled the Edsel. It was supposed to Ford’s new luxury car. 110,847 of the cars were built before Ford pulled the plug due to lack of sales.
1957 – The Soviet Union announces that it has successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of being fired “into any part of the world.”
1958 – Alaskans went to the polls to overwhelmingly vote in favor of statehood.
1961 – CHART TOPPERS – “Tossin’ and Turnin’” by Bobby Lewis, “Wooden Heart” by Joe Dowell, “Michael” by The Highwaymen and “Tender Years” by George Jones all topped the charts.
1962 – Mariner 2 launched for first planet flyby (Venus). The spacecraft discovered ground temperatures as high as 428o C (800o F). Radio contact was lost on January 3, 1963.
1967 – “Ode to Billy Joe” by Bobbie Gentry topped the charts.
1968 – As the Democratic National Convention began in Chicago, thousands of antiwar demonstrators protested the Vietnam War and its support by presidential candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
1969 – CHART TOPPERS – “Honky Tonk Women” by The Rolling Stones, “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond, “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” by Jackie DeShannon and “A Boy Named Sue” by Johnny Cash all topped the charts.
1969 – Donald “Shorty” Shea (b.1933), a Hollywood stuntman, was murdered by members of the Manson family about this time. The location of his body was not discovered until 1977.
1971 – NY Giant football team announces its leaving the Bronx for NJ in 1975.They were getting a new sports complex to be built in East Rutherford.
1971 – A Joint Resolution of Congress declared that August 26th each year is Women’s Equality Day.
1972 – “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” by Looking Glass topped the charts.
1973 – The University of Texas at Arlington became the first accredited school to offer belly dancing.
1977 – CHART TOPPERS – “Best of My Love” by Emotions, “(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher” by Rita Coolidge, “Easy” by Commodores and “Way Down” by Elvis Presley all topped the charts.
1978 – “Grease” by Frankie Valli topped the charts.
1980 – John Birges plants a bomb at Harvey’s Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada. It was disguised as a new “computer.”
1981 – Voyager 2 took photo’s of Saturn’s moon Titan.
1982 – Rickey Henderson tied Lou Brock’s 1974 record of 118 stolen bases.
1985 – CHART TOPPERS – “The Power of Love” by Huey Lewis & The News, “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)” by John Parr, “Freeway of Love” by Aretha Franklin and “Real Love” by Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton all topped the charts.
1985 – Thirteen-year-old AIDS patient Ryan White began “attending” classes at Western Middle School in Kokomo, Indiana, via a telephone hook-up at his home. School officials had barred Ryan from attending classes in person.
1987 - The US stock market began a two-month decline of 41%.
1987 – President Ronald Reagan proclaims September 11, 1987 as 9-1-1 Emergency Number Day.
1987 – The Fuller Brush Company announced plans to open two retail stores in Dallas, TX. The company that had sold its products door to door for 81 years.
1987 – Sonny Bono, formerly of Sonny & Cher, announced that he was running for mayor of Palm Springs, CA. He won the election.
1987 – The US stock market began a two month decline of 41%.
1988 - Republican presidential nominee George Bush denounced Democrat Michael Dukakis’ criticism of Reagan administration drug policies as “an insult,” one day after the Massachusetts governor called U.S. dealings with Panamanian General Manuel Noriega “criminal.”
1989 – “Right Here Waiting” by Richard Marx topped the charts.
1989 – A team from Trumbull, Conn., became the first American team since 1983 to win the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.
1990 – The fifty-five Americans at the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait left Baghdad by car and headed for the Turkish border.
1992 – A mistrial was declared in the Iran-Contra cover-up trial of CIA spy Clair George.
1992 – A “no-fly zone” was imposed on the southern one-third of Iraq. The move by the U.S., France and Britain was aimed at protecting Iraqi Shiite Muslims.
1993 – Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and 14 co-defendants entered innocent pleas in federal court in New York, a day after their indictment on charges of conspiring to wage terrorism against the United States.
1993 – Landlady Dorothea Puente was convicted in Monterey, Calif., of murdering three of her boardinghouse tenants; she was later sentenced to life without parole.
1995 – “Kiss From a Rose” by Seal topped the charts.
1996 - After two vetoes, President Bill Clinton signed welfare reform into law with the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. The act ended entitlement welfare and gave a block grant to the states, called TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families).
1996 – Barbara Jewell asked U.S. President Clinton to clear her son’s name in connection with the Centennial Olympic Park bombing. Richard Jewell was later cleared by the Justice Department.
1996 – A Cuban court convicted fugitive U.S. financier Robert Vesco of economic crimes. He was sentenced to thirteen years in prison.
1997 – It was announced that researchers at Johns Hopkins had found a gene that causes colon cancer in some people of Jewish ancestry.
1998 – U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno ordered a review of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
1998 – U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter resigns, saying the Security Council and the United States have failed to take a tougher stand against Iraq.
1998 – A $225 million rocket and communication satellite exploded after take-off at Cape Canaveral.
1998 – Hurricane Bonnie drifted ashore in North Carolina and began creeping up the coast, packing heavy rains and high winds.
1999 – Attorney General Janet Reno pledged that a new investigation of the 1993 Waco, Texas, siege would “get to the bottom” of how the FBI used potentially flammable tear gas grenades against her wishes and then took six years to admit it. 2000 - United Airlines signed a tentative accord with its 10,000 pilots following 20 months of negotiations.
2000 – The Houston Comets won their fourth straight WNBA championship by defeating the New York Liberty 79-73.
2001 - The Tokyo Kitasuna beat Apopka, Fla., 2-1 to win the Little League championship in South Williamsport, Pa.
2001 – IBM computer scientists reported that they had constructed a working logic circuit within a single molecule of carbon fiber known as a carbon nanotube.
2002 - Vice President Dick Cheney, speaking at a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Tennessee, warned that there is “no doubt” that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is amassing weapons of mass destruction for use against America and its allies.
2003 – The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) releases 200 page final dossier over the space shuttle Columbia’s destruction (and the death of its seven astronauts). It states the cause is from NASA’s cultural traits, lack of funds, and insufficient safety program.
2003 - The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) forecast a US deficit of $401 billion this year and $480 billion in 2004.
2003 - President Bush, in a speech to the American Legion, defends the Iraq policy, declaring the United States had hit terrorism in overthrowing the government of Saddam Hussein. President Bush vows “no retreat” from Iraq, states that the United States may carry out other pre-emptive strikes.
2003 - O.J. Simpson, giving an interview to Playboy, states that he is still innocent, but says his “dream team” lawyers saved him. Without the money to pay for a “dream team” of lawyers, he says he would not have prevailed by being acquitted.
2004 – MIT named Yale neuroscientist Susan Hockfield as its new president, the first woman to ever hold that job.
2005 – Florida’s Gov. Bush signed legislation giving people the right to meet “force with force.
2005 - Utility crews in South Florida scrambled to restore power to more than one million customers blacked out by Hurricane Katrina.
2006 - NASA delays the launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-115) for 24 hours. Lightning struck the space shuttle launch pad on Friday but no damage was caused.
2007 - Tornadoes hit parts of central and southeast Ohio as hundreds of thousands of people in the Midwest are without power.
2007 – The $95 million Hawaii Superferry made its maiden run from Honolulu to Maui as environmentalists protested. The 349-foot giant catamaran, named Alakai, carried over 500 passengers and 150 cars for the 3-hour trip.
2007 – Flying the Friendly Skies: Iran vowed to use a new 2,000-pound “smart” bomb against its enemies and unveiled mass production of the new weapon.
2008 – California’s Gov. Schwarzenegger signed a measure for a statewide bullet train system to be placed on the November ballot.
2008 - California Attorney General Jerry Brown said he expected raids on medical pot clubs that sell for big profits in the Bay Area.
2008 - In the second day of the Democratic Convention in Denver, Senator Hillary Clinton endorsed Senator Barack Obama for the US presidential nomination.
2008 – An Ohio jury convicted Andrew Siemaszko, a former nuclear plant engineer, of hiding information in 2001 about reactor corrosion at the Davis-Besse plant along Lake Erie.
2009 – Court orders Christian student to attend public school. She has been ordered into government-run public school for having “sincerely held” religious beliefs. The court said that the girl’s Christian faith was a “bit too sincerely held and must be sifted, tested by, and mixed among other worldviews.”
2009 - In California Phillip Garrido (58) and his wife Nancy (55) were arrested for their 1991 kidnapping of Jaycee Lee Dugard (11) from a bus stop outside her home in South Lake Tahoe. Police freed Dugard and her 2 children who were fathered by Garrido, who had kept them in tents in a fenced, backyard compound in Antioch, Ca.
2009 - In southern California the Station Fire began in Los Angeles County and soon grew to become the largest wildfire in county history. It did not get contained until Sep 1.
2011 – As Hurricane Irene moved toward the East Coast, government officials:
1. sent the US Second Fleet out of its base in Naval Station Norfolk to ride the storm out at sea.
2. declared a “state of emergency” in North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.
3. made plans to shut down New York City’s subway and bus system beginning at noon on Saturday, 8/27.
2011 - The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Boeing’s all-new composite airliner, receives certification from the FAA.
694 – Elisha Williams, American rector of Yale College (d. 1755)
1743 – Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, French chemist, known as the “Father of Modern Chemistry.” He stated the first version of the Law of conservation of matter, recognized and named oxygen (1778) as well as hydrogen, disproved the phlogiston theory, introduced the Metric system, invented the first periodic table including 33 elements, and helped to reform chemical nomenclature.
1874 – Lee De Forest, American physicist, inventor of the Audion vacuum tube, considered the “Father of radio.”
1884 – Earl Biggers, author (“Charlie Chan” detective series).
1898 – Peggy Guggenheim, art patron and collector
1906 – Albert Sabin, Polish-born American polio researcher.
1910 – Mother Teresa, Humanitarian Activist and Worker (d. 1997)
1921 – Ben Bradlee, editor, journalist, executive (Washington Post).
1935 – Geraldine Ferraro, (Rep-D-NY) first female Democrat VP candidate (1984).
1945 – Tom Ridge, first United States Secretary of Homeland Security
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BACON, NICKY DANIEL VIETNAM WAR |
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Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company B, 4th Battalion, 21st Infantry, 11th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division. Place and date: West of Tam Ky, Republic of Vietnam, 26 August 1968. Entered service at: Phoenix, Ariz. Born: 25 November 1945, Caraway, Ark. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. S/Sgt. Bacon distinguished himself while serving as a squad leader with the 1st Platoon, Company B, during an operation west of Tam Ky. When Company B came under fire from an enemy bunker line to the front, S/Sgt. Bacon quickly organized his men and led them forward in an assault. He advanced on a hostile bunker and destroyed it with grenades. As he did so, several fellow soldiers including the 1st Platoon leader, were struck by machine gun fire and fell wounded in an exposed position forward of the rest of the platoon. S/Sgt. Bacon immediately assumed command of the platoon and assaulted the hostile gun position, finally killing the enemy gun crew in a single-handed effort. When the 3d Platoon moved to S/Sgt. Bacon’s location, its leader was also wounded. Without hesitation S/Sgt. Bacon took charge of the additional platoon and continued the fight. In the ensuing action he personally killed 4 more enemy soldiers and silenced an antitank weapon. Under his leadership and example, the members of both platoons accepted his authority without question. Continuing to ignore the intense hostile fire, he climbed up on the exposed deck of a tank and directed fire into the enemy position while several wounded men were evacuated. As a result of S/Sgt. Bacon’s extraordinary efforts, his company was able to move forward, eliminate the enemy positions, and rescue the men trapped to the front. S/Sgt. Bacon’s bravery at the risk of his life was in the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
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DAY, GEORGE E. VIETNAM WAR |
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Rank and organization: Colonel (then Major), U.S. Air Force, Forward Air Controller Pilot of an F-100 aircraft. Place and date: North Vietnam, 26 August 1967. Entered service at: Sioux City, Iowa. Born: 24 February 1925, Sioux City, Iowa. Citation: On 26 August 1967, Col. Day was forced to eject from his aircraft over North Vietnam when it was hit by ground fire. His right arm was broken in three places, and his left knee was badly sprained. He was immediately captured by hostile forces and taken to a prison camp where he was interrogated and severely tortured. After causing the guards to relax their vigilance, Col. Day escaped into the jungle and began the trek toward South Vietnam. Despite injuries inflicted by fragments of a bomb or rocket, he continued southward surviving only on a few berries and uncooked frogs. He successfully evaded enemy patrols and reached the Ben Hai River, where he encountered U.S. artillery barrages. With the aid of a bamboo log float, Col. Day swam across the river and entered the demilitarized zone. Due to delirium, he lost his sense of direction and wandered aimlessly for several days. After several unsuccessful attempts to signal U.S. aircraft, he was ambushed and recaptured by the Viet Cong, sustaining gunshot wounds to his left hand and thigh. He was returned to the prison from which he had escaped and later was moved to Hanoi after giving his captors false information to questions put before him. Physically, Col. Day was totally debilitated and unable to perform even the simplest task for himself. Despite his many injuries, he continued to offer maximum resistance. His personal bravery in the face of deadly enemy pressure was significant in saving the lives of fellow aviators who were still flying against the enemy. Col. Day’s conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Air Force and reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Armed Forces.
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*HANDRICH, MELVIN O. KOREAN WARPosthumously |
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Rank and organization: Master Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company C, 5th Infantry Regiment. Place and date: Near Sobuk San Mountain, Korea, 25 and 26 August 1950. Entered service at: Manawa, Wis. Born: 26 January 1919, Manawa, Wis. G.O. No.: 60, 2 August 1951. Citation: M/Sgt. Handrich, Company C, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action. His company was engaged in repulsing an estimated 150 enemy who were threatening to overrun its position. Near midnight on 25 August, a hostile group over 100 strong attempted to infiltrate the company perimeter. M/Sgt. Handrich, despite the heavy enemy fire, voluntarily left the comparative safety of the defensive area and moved to a forward position where he could direct mortar and artillery fire upon the advancing enemy. He remained at this post for 8 hours directing fire against the enemy who often approached to within 50 feet of his position. Again, on the morning of 26 August, another strong hostile force made an attempt to overrun the company’s position. With complete disregard for his safety, M/Sgt. Handrich rose to his feet and from this exposed position fired his rifle and directed mortar and artillery fire on the attackers. At the peak of this action he observed elements of his company preparing to withdraw. He perilously made his way across fire-swept terrain to the defense area where, by example and forceful leadership, he reorganized the men to continue the fight. During the action M/Sgt. Handrich was severely wounded. Refusing to take cover or be evacuated, he returned to his forward position and continued to direct the company’s fire. Later a determined enemy attack overran M/Sgt. Handrich’s position and he was mortally wounded. When the position was retaken, over 70 enemy dead were counted in the area he had so intrepidly defended. M/Sgt. Handrich’s sustained personal bravery, consummate courage, and gallant self-sacrifice reflect untold glory upon himself and the heroic traditions of the military service.
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THORNTON, MICHAEL INTERIM 1871 – 1898 |
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Rank and organization: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 1856, Ireland. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. G.O. No.: 326, 18 October 1884. Citation: For jumping overboard from the U.S. Tug Leyden, near Boston, Mass., 26 August 1881, and sustaining until picked up, Michael Drennan, landsman, who had jumped overboard while temporarily insane.
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WEISSEL, ADAM INTERIM 1871 – 1898 |
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Rank and organization: Ship’s Cook, U.S. Navy. Born: 1854, Germany. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 326, 18 October 1884. Citation: For jumping overboard from the U.S. Training Ship Minnesota, at Newport, R.l., 26 August 1881, and sustaining until picked up by a boat from the ship, C. Lorenze, captain of the forecastle, who had fallen overboard.
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STANLEY, EDWARD INDIAN WARS |
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Rank and organization: Corporal, Company F, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Seneca Mountain, Ariz., 26 August 1869. Entered service at:——. Birth: New York, N.Y. Date of issue: 3 March 1870. Citation: Gallantry in action.
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