August 1st in History

Harriet Quimby (Photo: George Grantham Bain, LoC digital ID cph.3a17322)

Today in History

  • Octavian takes control of Alexandria, Egypt (30 BCE)
  • Justinian I becomes sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire (527)
  • The Elector of Hanover becomes King George I of Great Britain (1714)
  • Joseph Priestly discovers oxygen gas (1774)
  • The Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland become the United Kingdom (1980)
  • Slavery is abolished in the British Empire (1834)
  • Shredded wheat is patented (1893)
  • The international Scouting movement begins with the establishment of the Brownsea Island Scout Camp by Baden-Powell (1907)
  • Harriet Quimby becomes the first US woman to earn a pilot’s license (1911)
  • The Berlin Olympics open with a ceremony led by Adolf Hitler (1936)
  • The US and Canada form NORAD (1957)
  • Charles Whitman kills 16 people at the University of Texas (1966)
  • The Concert for Bangladesh, organized by George Harrison, begins (1971)
  • The “Green Line” divides the island of Cyprus into two zones (1974)
  • Icelander Vigdis Finnbogasdottir becomes the world’s first democratically elected female head of state (1980)
  • MTV begins broadcasting (1981)

Birthdays

  • Claudius, Roman emperor (10 BCE)
  • Francis Scott Key, wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner (1779)
  • Herman Melville, author (1819)
  • Robert Todd Lincoln, US Secretary of War, son of Abraham Lincoln (1943)
  • Abdullah, Saudi Arabian monarch (1924)
  • Dom DeLuise, comedian and actor (1933)
  • Yves Saint Laurent, fashion designer (1936)
  • Jerry Garcia, vocalist and lead guitarist for the Grateful Dead (1942)
  • Avi Arad, founded Marvel Studios (1948)
  • David Gemmell, fantasy author (1948)
  • Chuck D, rapper (1960)
  • Coolio, rapper (1936)

Deaths

  • Marc Antony, Roman general and politician (30 BCE)
  • Cosimo de’ Medici, Florentine ruler (1464)
  • Anne, Queen of Great Britain (1714)
  • Calamity Jane, frontierswoman (1903)
  • Theodore Rothke, poet (1963)
  • Frances Farmer, actress (1970)
  • Francis Gary Powers, U-2 pilot (1977)
  • Strother Martin, actor (1980)
  • Paddy Chayefsky, playwright and screenwriter (1981)
  • Fahd, Saudi Arabian monarch (2005)
  • Tommy Makem, Irish singer-songwriter (2007)
  • Corazon Aquino, President of the Philippines (2009)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Liberation Army (China)
  • Armed Forces Day (Lebanon)
  • Azerbaijani Language and Alphabet Day (Azerbaijan)
  • Emancipation Day (Barbados, Bermuda, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago)
  • Lammas (England, Scotland)
  • Lughnasadh (Northern Hemisphere)/Imbolc (Southern Hemisphere) (Neopagan Wheel of the Year)
  • Minden Day (UK)
  • National Day (Benin)
  • National Day (Switzerland)
  • Pachamama Raymi (Quechuan people, Ecuador and Peru)
  • Parents’ Day (Democratic Republic of the C0ngo)
  • Statehood Day (Colorado)
  • Victory Day (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam)
  • World Scout Scarf Day (Scouting)
  • Yorkshire Day (Yorkshire, England)

August 1 is the 213rd day of the year (214th in leap years). There are 152 days remaining until the end of the year.