Wednesday, August 20, 2014

History for August 20

History for August 20 - On-This-Day.com:
Corn Palace Festival begins at Mitchell, SD (Aug 20-24). See www.cornpalacefestival.com

Birth anniversary of Benjamin Harrison (Republican), 23rd US president (1833-1901).



In 1942, plutonium, the first man-made element, was first weighed.

Happy Birthday! Don King, Ron Paul, Robert Plant


1741 - Danish navigator Vitus Jonas Bering discovered Alaska


1866 - It was formally declared by U.S. President Andrew Johnson that the American Civil War was over. The fighting had stopped months earlier. 


1923 - The first American dirigible, the "Shenandoah," was launched in Lakehurst, NJ. The ship began its maiden voyage from the same location on September 4. 


1939 - The National Bowling Association was founded in Detroit, MI. It was the first bowling association in the U.S. for African-Americans. 


1953 - It was announced by the Soviet Union that they had detonated a hydrogen bomb. 


1964 - A $1 billion anti-poverty measure was signed by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson





1967 - The New York Times reported about a noise reduction system for album and tape recording developed by technicians R. and D.W. Dolby. Elektra Record's subsidiary, Checkmate Records became the first label to use the new Dolby process in its recordings. 


1968 - The Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations began invading Czechoslovakia to crush the "Prague Spring" liberalization. 


1991 - A rally of more that 100,000 people occurred outside the Russian parliament building to protest the coup that removed Gorbachev from power. 


1997 - Britain began voluntary evacuation of its Caribbean island of Montserrat due to the volcanic activity of the Soufriere Hills. 


1998 - Canada's Supreme Court announced that Quebec could not secede without the federal government's consent. 


1998 - The U.N. Security Council extended trade sanctions against Iraq for blocking arms inspections. 

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