^{A US Marine Corps amphibian tractor moves up the beach on Guadalcanal Island during the initial landings}

Today in History

• George Washington orders the creation of the Badge of Military Merit for those severely wounded in battle. It is later renamed the Purple Heart (1782)
• The first Australian rules football match is played (1858)
• The first women complete a transcontinental automobile trip across the US, taking 59 days to travel from New York to San Francisco (1909)
• The last confirmed lynching of African Americans in the US takes place in Marion, Indiana (1930)
• World War II: The Battle of Guadalcanal begins (1942)
• Thor Heyerdahl’s raft Kon-Tiki completes a 101-day, 7000 km (4300 mi) journey across the Pacific (1947)
• Sony predecessor Tokyo Telecommunications sells the first transistor radios in Japan (1955)
• The Lincoln Memorial replaces the “sheaves of wheat” design on the back of the US penny (1959)
• Vietnam War: The US Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)
• Viking 2 enters orbit around Mars (1976)
• US President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal because of toxic waste (1978)
• Lynne Cox becomes the first person to swim from the US to the Soviet Union, crossing the Bering Strait (1987)

Birthdays

• Elizabeth Báthory, Hungarian noblewoman and serial killer (1560)
• Nathanael Green, US general (1742)
• Mata Hari, dancer and spy (1876)
• Billie Burke, actress and singer (1884)
• Louis Leakey, paleontologist (1903)
• Ralph Bunche, first African American to win the Nobel Peace Prize (1904)
• Kermit Love, puppeteer, delighted Mr. Snuffleupagus and helped create Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch (1916)
• Stan Freberg, comedian and puppeteer (1926)
• James Randi, magician (1928)
• Don Larsen, baseball player (1929)
• Edward Hardwicke, actor (1932)
• Jerry Pournelle, science fiction author (1933)
• Rahsaaan Roland Kirk, saxophonist (1935)
• Garrison Keillor, humorist and radio host (1942)
• B. J. Thomas, singer (1942)
• John Glover, actor (1944)
• Jonathan Pollard, spy (1954)
• David Duchovny, actor (1960)
• Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia (1966)

Deaths

• Joseph Marie Jacquard, invented the Jacquard loom (1834)
• Konstantin Stanislavski, acting teacher (1938)
• Rabindranath Tagore, author (1941)
• Oliver Hardy, actor and comedian (1957)
• Red Adair, firefighter (2004)
• Peter Jennings, television journalist and anchor (2005)
• Bernie Brillstein, talent agent (2008)
• Judith Crist, critic (2012)
• Louise Suggs, golfer (2015)

Holidays and Observances

• Assyrian Martyrs Day (Assyrian community)
• Battle of Boyacá Day (Colombia)
• Emancipation Day (Saint Kitts and Nevis)
• Lighthouse Day (US)
• Professional Speakers Day (US)
• Purple Heart Day (US)
• Republic Day (Ivory Coast)
• Youth Day (Kiribati)

August 7 is the 219th day of the year (220th in leap years). There are 146 days remaining until the end of the year.