-------BIRTHDAYS-------

1618 08/18 Virginia Dare, 1st child born in America of English parents.
1646 08/19 John Flamsteed, 1st astronomer royal of England.
1655 08/13 Johann Christoph Denner, invented the clarinet.
1660 08/21 Hubert Gautier, engineer, wrote 1st book on bridge building.
1749 08/28 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, social philosopher
1755 08/04 Nicolas-Jacque Conte, invented the modern pencil.
1763 08/08 Charles Bullfinch, 1st US professional architect
1769 08/15 Napoleon Bonaparte, resident of Elba
1770 08/01 William Clark, explored Pacific Northwest with Lewis.
1779 08/01 Francis Scott Key, wrote the 'Star-Spangled Banner'.
1783 08/07 John Heathcoat, invented lace-making machinery
1785 08/19 Seth Thomas, pioneer in mass production of clocks.
1786 08/17 Davy Crockett
1797 08/30 Mary Shelley, wrote Frankenstein
1803 08/15 Sir James Douglas, father of British Columbia.
1809 08/06 Lord Alfred Tennyson, poet laureate of England.
1811 08/03 Elisha Graves Otis, inventor of the safe elevator.
1815 08/01 Richard Henry Dana, spent 2 years before the mast.
1816 08/24 Sir Daniel Gooch, laid 1st successful trans-Atlantic cables
1818 08/13 Lucy Stone, pioneer in Woman's Rights.
1833 08/20 Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President (1889-1893)
1834 08/18 Marshall Field, founded a Chicago-based store chain.
1860 08/13 Annie Oakley
1862 08/22 Claude Debussy, composer
1869 08/23 James "Sunny Jim" Rolph, Mayor (1912-1931), Muni backer.
1871 08/19 Orville Wright
1873 08/26 Lee De Forest, invented the Audion vacuum tube (radio tube).
1874 08/10 Herbert Hoover, 31st President (1929-1933)
1881 08/06 Sir Alexander Fleming, cashed in on penicillin
1881 08/12 Cecil B. deMille, directed God.
1882 08/27 Samuel Goldwyn, pioneer filmmaker
1884 08/16 Hugo Gernsback, responsible for science fiction becoming an
1884 08/16 independent literary form.
1886 08/07 Louis Alan Hazeltine, invented the neutrodyne circuit, making
1886 08/07 commercial radio possible.
1886 08/24 William Francis Gibbs, naval architect, designed the Liberty ships
1892 08/16 it's fine drawing and historical detail.
1892 08/16 Harold Foster, cartoonist, created "Prince Valiant", known for
1892 08/17 Mae West.  Go up and see her sometime.
1899 08/27 C.S. Forester, historical novelist, created Horatio Hornblower
1908 08/27 Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President (1963-1969)
1911 08/12 Mario Moreno, alias Cantinflas.
1912 08/15 Julia Child, chef.
1920 08/22 Ray Bradbury, science fiction author.
1922 08/08 Rudi Gernreich, designed 1st women's topless swimsuit & the miniskirt
1927 08/25 Althea Gibson, 1st black tennis champion (in a major event)
1930 08/05 Neil Armstrong, 1st Moonwalker
1930 08/09 Betty Boop
1986 08/02 Me!  Do programs have life?


        -------SPECIAL EVENTS-------

Yrly 08/01 The start of the Garlic Festival in Gilroy, California.
Yrly 08/01 Confederation Day, celebrated in Switzerland
Yrly 08/06 Independence Day, celebrated in Bolivia.
Yrly 08/10 Independence Day, celebrated in Ecuador
Yrly 08/13 International Left-handers Day
Yrly 08/15 Liberation Day, celebrated in South Korea.
Yrly 08/15 Independence Day, celebrated in the Congo.
Yrly 08/17 Independence Day, celebrated in Indonesia
Yrly 08/19 Aviation Day
Yrly 08/19 Admission Day (celebrated in Hawaii).
Yrly 08/20 Admission Day (celebrated in Hawaii).
Yrly 08/25 Independence Day, celebrated in Uruguay.
  79 08/24 Pompeii is buried.
1291 08/01 the Everlasting League forms, the basis of the Swiss Confederation.
1492 08/03 Columbus sets sail for 'the Indies'.
1629 08/26 Cambridge Agreement pledged.  Massachusetts Bay Co. stockholders
1629 08/26 agreed to emigrate to New England.
1693 08/04 Champagne is invented by Dom Perignon.
1775 08/05 the 1st Spanish ship, 'San Carlos', enters San Francisco bay.
1787 08/22 Fulton builds his steamboat.
1787 08/22 John Fitch's steamboat completes it's tests, years before
1790 08/01 First U.S. Census
1790 08/04 United States Coast Guard founded.
1791 08/26 John Fitch granted a US patent for his working steamboat.
1794 08/01 Whisky Rebellion
1803 08/09 1st horses arrive in Hawaii.
1807 08/07 1st servicable steamboat, the Cleremont, goes on 1st voyage.
1809 08/10 Ecuador gains it's independence.
1814 08/24 British sack Washington, DC.
1820 08/07 Potatoes first planted in Hawaii.
1825 08/25 Uruguay gains it's independence.
1826 08/19 Canada Co. chartered to colonize Upper Canada (Ontario).
1835 08/06 Bolivia gains it's independence
1842 08/09 the US-Canada border defined by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty.
1846 08/14 Henry David Thoreau jailed for tax resistance.
1846 08/26 W. A. Bartlett appointed 1st US mayor of Yerba Buena (SF).
1850 08/30 Honolulu, Hawaii becomes a city.
1850 08/31 The California Pioneers organized at Montgomery & Clay Streets.
1851 08/12 Issac Singer granted a patent for his sewing machine.
1852 08/01 Black Methodists in SF establish 1st black church, Zion Methodist.
1858 08/17 1st bank in Hawaii opens.
1859 08/27 1st successful oil well drilled near Titusville, Penn.
1861 08/05 US levies it's first Income Tax (3% of incomes over $800).
1864 08/05 the spectrum of a comet observed for 1st time, by Giovanni Donati.
1864 08/25 Combination rail & ferry service available from SF to Alameda.
1869 08/23 from Boston, after a 16-day rail trip.
1869 08/23 1st carload of freight (boots & shoes) arrives in San Francisco,
1869 08/24 the Waffle Iron is invented.
1872 08/23 1st Japanese commercial ship visits San Francisco with a cargo of tea
1873 08/02 Kearny and Jones, downhill all the way, at 4AM.
1873 08/02 1st trial run of an SF cable car, on Clay Street between
1876 08/13 Reciprocity Treaty between US and Hawaii ratified.
1877 08/02 San Francisco Public Library opens with 5000 volumes.
1881 08/01 US Quarantine Station authorized for Angel Island.
1883 08/27 Krakatoa, WEST of Java, blew apart (Top that, St Helens).
1886 08/31 Crocker-Woolworth National Bank organized.
1888 08/11 The California Theatre closed (now a Pac Tel Phone Store).
1889 08/23 US lightship to Cliff House.
1889 08/23 1st ship-to-shore wireless message received in US:
1901 08/01 Burial within San Francisco City limits prohibited.
1901 08/15 Arch Rock, danger to Bay shipping, blasted with 30 tons of
1901 08/15 nitrogelatin (and that ain't jello).
1907 08/01 Bank of Italy opens 1st branch at 3433 Mission Street.
1907 08/26 57 seconds.
1907 08/26 Houdini escapes from chains underwater at Aquatic Park in
1908 08/17 Bank of Italy opens it's new headquarters at Clay & Montgomery.
1909 08/24 Workers start pouring concrete for the Panama Canal.
1914 08/29 'Arizonan' is the 1st vessel to arrive in SF via the Panama Canal.
1916 08/01 Hawaii National Park established.
1920 08/26 19th Amendment passes - Women's Suffrage granted (about time!)
1923 08/02 President Harding dies at the Palace Hotel.
1926 08/06 the first woman swims the English Channel.
1928 08/27 Kellogg-Briand Pact, where 60 nations agreed to outlaw war.
1929 08/25 Graf Zeppelin passes over San Francisco, headed for Los Angeles
1929 08/25 after trans-Pacific voyage from Tokyo.
1937 08/26 Pumping to build Treasure Island finished.
1942 08/20 Dimout regulations implemented in San Francisco.
1945 08/06 the Atom Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima by the 'Enola Gay'.
1945 08/09 Atom Bomb dropped on Nagasaki.
1945 08/14 VJ Day - Japan surrendered to end World War II.
1945 08/15 South Korea liberated from Japanese rule.
1945 08/15 Riot in San Francisco celebrating end of World War II.
1946 08/01 President Truman establishes Atomic Energy Commission.
1950 08/17 Indonesia gains it's independence.
1952 08/26 Fluoridation of San Francisco water begins.
1953 08/01 California introduces it's Sales Tax (for Education).
1954 08/29 San Francisco International Airport (SFO) opens.
1956 08/20 Republicans start convention at the Cow Palace.
1958 08/01 First Class postage up to 4 cents (had been 3 cents for 26 years).
1959 08/21 Hawaii became the 50th state.
1960 08/15 the Congo (Brazzaville) gains it's independence.
1960 08/19 Francis Gary Powers convicted of spying by USSR (U-2 incident)
1961 08/01 New San Francisco Hall of Justice opens.
1963 08/05 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed.
1968 08/21 Soviet Union invades Czechoslovakia.
1969 08/16 Woodstock festival begins in New York.
1973 08/10 1st BART train travels thru transbay tube to Montgomery St Station.
1974 08/09 Richard Nixon resigns presidency.
1977 08/20 Voyager II launched.
1979 08/30 1st recorded occurrance of a comet hitting the sun (the energy
1979 08/30 released was about equal to 1 million hydrogen bombs).
1980 08/31 Solidarity Labor Union in Poland is founded.
1981 08/10 Pete Rose tops Stan Musial's record of 3630 hits.
1981 08/25 Voyager II flies past Saturn.
1989 08/24 Voyager II flies past Neptune.