August 221485 - The War of the Roses ended with the death of England's King Richard III. He was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field. His successor was Henry V II. 1567 - The "Council of Blood" was established by the Duke of Alba. This was the beginning of his reign of terror in the Netherlands. 1642 - The English Civil War began when Charles I called Parliament and its soldiers traitors. 1762 - Ann Franklin became the editor of the Mercury of Newport in Rhode Island. She was the first female editor of an American newspaper. 1770 - Australia was claimed under the British crown when Captain James Cook landed there. 1775 - The American colonies were proclaimed to be in a state of open rebellion by England's King George III. 1846 - The U.S. annexed New Mexico. 1851 - The schooner America outraced the Aurora off the English coast to win a trophy that became known as the America's Cup. 1865 - A patent for liquid soap was issued to William Sheppard. 1902 - In Hartford, CT, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt became the first president of the United States to ride in an automobile. 1906 - The Victor Talking Machine Company of Camden, NJ began to manufacture the Victrola. The hand-cranked unit, with horn cabinet, sold for $200. 1910 - Japan formally annexed Korea. 1911 - It was announced that Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" had been stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. The painting reappeared two years later in Italy. 1932 - The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) began its first TV broadcast in England. 1938 - Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers appeared on the cover of "LIFE" magazine. 1941 - Nazi troops reached the outskirts of Leningrad during World War II. 1950 - Althea Gibson became the first black tennis player to be accepted into a national competition. 1951 - 75,052 people watched the Harlem Globetrotters perform. It was the largest crowd to see a basketball game. 1959 - Stephen Rockefeller married Anne Marie Rasmussen. Anne had once been a maid for the powerful and wealthy Rockefeller family. 1968 - Pope Paul VI arrived in Bogota, Colombia, for the start of the first papal visit to Latin America. 1972 - Due to its racial policies, Rhodesia was asked to withdraw from the 20th Olympic Summer Games. 1973 - Henry Kissinger was named Secretary of State by U.S. President Nixon. Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize in the same year. 1984 - The last Volkswagen Rabbit rolled off the assembly line in New Stanton, PA. 1986 - Kerr-McGee Corp. agreed to pay the estate of the late Karen Silkwood $1.38 million to settle a 10-year-old nuclear contamination lawsuit. 1989 - Nolan Ryan became the first major league pitcher to strike out 5000 batters. (MLB) 1990 - U.S. President George H.W. Bush signed an order for calling reservists to aid in the build up of troops in the Persian Gulf. 1990 - The U.S. State Department announced that the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait would not be closed under President Saddam Hussein's demand. 1990 - Angry smokers blocked a street in Moscow to protest the summer-long cigarette shortage. 1991 - It was announced by Yugoslavia that a truce ordered on August 7th with Croatia had collapsed. 1991 - Mikhail S. Gorbachev returned to Moscow after the collapse of the hard-liners' coup. On the same day he purged the men that had tried to oust him. 1992 - In Rostock, Germany, neo-Nazi violence broke out against foreigners. 1996 - U.S. President Clinton signed legislation that ended guaranteed cash payments to the poor and demanded work from recipients. 1998 - "The Howard Stern Radio Show" premiered on CBS to about 70% of the U.S. 2004 - In Oslo, Norway, a version of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" and his work "Madonna" were stolen from the Munch Museum. This version of "The Scream," one of four different versions, was a tempera painting on board. |