July 31 - Oreo

Oreo

This Day In History

1498

On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad.

1703

Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers.

1790

The very first U.S. patent is issued: to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.

1865

The first narrow gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Australia.

1930

The radio mystery program The Shadow airs for the first time.

1938

Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.

1964

Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes.

1970

Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy.

1999

NASA intentionally crashes the Lunar Prospector spacecraft into the Moon, completing its mission to detect frozen water on the moon's surface.

Famous Birthdays

1598

Alessandro Algardi, Italian sculptor and architect (d. 1654)

1803

John Ericsson, Swedish inventor and engineer (d. 1889)

1835

Paul du Chaillu, French explorer (d. 1903)

1901

Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (d. 1985)

1912

Milton Friedman, American economist, Nobel laureate (d. 2006)

1923

Ahmet Ertegun, Turkish-born record company executive (d. 2006)

1950

Steve Miller, American writer

1962

Wesley Snipes, American actor

1965

J. K. Rowling, British writer

July 30 - Cabana Boy

Cabana Boy

This Day In History

1619

In Jamestown, Virginia, the first representative assembly in the Americas, the House of Burgesses, convenes for the first time.

1729

Foundation of Baltimore, Maryland.

1916

Black Tom Island explosion in Jersey City, New Jersey.

1932

Premiere of Walt Disney's Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon short to use Technicolor and the first Academy Award winning cartoon short.

1956

A joint resolution of the U.S. Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing In God We Trust as the U.S. national motto.

1971

Apollo 15 – David Scott and James Irwin on the Apollo Lunar Module module Falcon land on the Moon with the first Lunar Rover.

2003

In Mexico, the last 'old style' Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the assembly line.

Famous Birthdays

1511

Giorgio Vasari, Italian painter, biographer, art historian and architect (d. 1574)

1751

Maria Anna Mozart, Austrian musician (d. 1829)

1818

Emily Brontë, English novelist (d. 1848)

1825

Chaim Aronson, Lithuanian inventor, academic and memoirs writer (d. 1893)

1863

Henry Ford, American industrialist (d. 1947)

1898

Henry Moore, English sculptor (d. 1986)

1927

Pete Schoening, American mountaineer (d. 2004)

1929

Sid Krofft, Canadian children's television producer

1936

Buddy Guy, American blues guitarist and singer

1958

Kate Bush, English singer-songwriter
Neal McCoy, American singer-songwriter and humanitarian

1961

Laurence Fishburne, American actor

1962

Alton Brown, American television host and chef
1970
Christopher Nolan, English film director
1974
Hilary Swank, American actress
1975
Cherie Priest, American writer

July 29 - Travel

Travel

Sometimes, when you least expect it, nap happens.

This Day In History

1567

James VI is crowned King of Scotland at Stirling.

1588

English naval forces under the command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake defeat the Spanish Armada off the coast of Gravelines, France.

1851

Annibale de Gasparis discovers asteroid 15 Eunomia.

1907

Sir Robert Baden-Powell sets up the Brownsea Island Scout camp in Poole Harbour on the south coast of England. The camp runs from August 1 to August 9, 1907, and is regarded as the foundation of the Scouting movement.

1958

U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

1981

A worldwide television audience of over 700 million people watch the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral in London.

2005

Astronomers announce their discovery of the dwarf planet Eris.

Famous Birthdays

1646

Johann Theile, German composer (d. 1724)

1805

Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian and political scientist (d. 1859)

1869

Booth Tarkington, American novelist and dramatist (d. 1946)

1885

Theda Bara, American film actress (d. 1955)

1887

Sigmund Romberg, Hungarian-born American composer (d. 1951)

1892

William Powell, American actor (d. 1984)

1905

Clara Bow, American actress (d. 1965)

1923

Jim Marshall, English musician and businessman, founder of Marshall Amplification (d. 2012)

1953

Ken Burns, American producer and director

1966

Martina McBride, American country music singer

1972

Wil Wheaton, American actor

1974

Josh Radnor, American actor
1980
Rachel Miner, American actress

July 28 - Bright

Bright

This Day In History

1540

Thomas Cromwell is executed at the order of Henry VIII of England on charges of treason. Henry marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day.

1855

USS Constellation, the last all-sail warship built by the US Navy, is commissioned.

1935

First flight of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.

1996

The remains of a prehistoric man are discovered near Kennewick, Washington, known as the Kennewick Man.

2002

Nine coal miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek Mine in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, are rescued after 77 hours underground.

Famous Birthdays

1796

Ignaz Bösendorfer, Austrian piano manufacturer (d. 1859)

1844

Gerard Manley Hopkins, English poet (d. 1889)

1860

Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia (d. 1922)

1866

Beatrix Potter, English author (d. 1943)

1887

Marcel Duchamp, French painter (d. 1968)

1907

Earl Tupper, American inventor (d. 1983)

1922

Jacques Piccard, Belgian-born Swiss undersea explorer (d. 2008)

1929

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, First Lady of the United States (d. 1994)

1932

Natalie Babbitt, American author and illustrator

1941

Riccardo Muti, Italian conductor

1943

Bill Bradley, American basketball player and politician

1949

Randall Wallace, American screenwriter and producer
1951
Santiago Calatrava, Spanish architect
1963
Michael Ruhlman, American author
1984
DeMeco Ryans, American football player

July 27 - Bear

Bear

Overheard

[E needs a diaper]
W: [climbs onto changing pad]
D [moving W]: Not the one.^*
E: No, the two!

This Day In History

1549

The Jesuit priest Francis Xavier's ship reaches Japan.

1866

The first permanent transatlantic telegraph cable is successfully completed, stretching from Valentia Island, Ireland, to Heart's Content, Newfoundland.

1890

Vincent van Gogh shoots himself and dies two days later.

1921

Researchers at the University of Toronto led by biochemist Frederick Banting prove that the hormone insulin regulates blood sugar.

1940

The animated short A Wild Hare is released, introducing the character of Bugs Bunny.

1949

Initial flight of the de Havilland Comet, the first jet-powered airliner.

1987

RMS Titanic, Inc. begins the first expedited salvage of wreckage of the RMS Titanic.

2012

The opening ceremony for the Summer Olympics in London, England is scheduled to be held on this day. The event formerly known as the Ravelympics will be called something 
Completely Different.

Famous Birthdays

1667

Johann Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d. 1748)

1733

Jeremiah Dixon, English surveyor and astronomer (d. 1779)

1740

Jeanne Baré, French explorer (d. 1803)

1824

Alexandre Dumas, fils, French author (d. 1895)

1848

Thomas Herbst, German painter (d. 1915)

1870

Hilaire Belloc, English writer (d. 1953)

1882

Geoffrey de Havilland, British aircraft designer (d. 1965)

1905

Leo Durocher, American baseball player and manager (d. 1991)

1913

George L. Street III, American submariner (d. 2000)

1929

Jack Higgins, English novelist

1938

Gary Gygax, American game creator (d. 2008)

1948

Peggy Fleming, American figure skater
1950
Simon Jones, English actor
1958
Christopher Dean, English figure skater
1977
Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Irish actor

* - None of this was funny if you haven't watched Babylon 5. Sorry.

July 26 - Splash

Splash!

This Day In History

1775

The office that would later become the United States Post Office Department is established by the Second Continental Congress.

1803

The Surrey Iron Railway, arguably the world's first public railway, opens in south London, England, Great Britain.

1882

Premiere of Richard Wagner's opera Parsifal at Bayreuth.

1887

Publication of the Unua Libro, founding the Esperanto movement.

1951

Walt Disney's 13th animated film, Alice in Wonderland, premieres in London, England, United Kingdom.

1963

Syncom 2, the world's first geosynchronous satellite, is launched from Cape Canaveral on a Delta B booster.

1971

Apollo program: launch of Apollo 15 on the first Apollo "J-Mission", and first use of a Lunar Roving Vehicle.

Famous Birthdays

1739

George Clinton, American politician (d. 1812)

1856

George Bernard Shaw, Irish writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1950)

1894

Aldous Huxley, English-born author (d. 1963)

1895

Gracie Allen, American actress and comedian (d. 1964)

1922

Jason Robards, American actor (d. 2000)

1923

Jan Berenstain, American author

1928

Stanley Kubrick, American director (d. 1999)

1943

Mick Jagger, English singer

1945

Helen Mirren, English actress

1949

Roger Taylor, English drummer and vocalist (Queen)
1954
Lawrence Watt-Evans, American science fiction & fantasy author

1956

Dorothy Hamill, American figure skater

1957

Nana Visitor, American actress
1959
Kevin Spacey, American actor
1965
Jeremy Piven, American actor
1968
Olivia Williams, English actress
1973
Kate Beckinsale, English actress

July 25 - Trouble

Trouble

This Day In History

306

Constantine I is proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops.

1538

The city of Guayaquil is founded by the Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Orellana and given the name Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de Guayaquil.

1603

James VI of Scotland is crowned as king of England (James I of England), bringing the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into personal union. Political union would occur in 1707.

1609

The English ship Sea Venture, en route to Virginia, is deliberately driven ashore during a storm at Bermuda to prevent its sinking; the survivors go on to found a new colony there.

1788

Wolfgang Mozart completes his Symphony No. 40 in G minor (K550).

1837

The first commercial use of an electric telegraph is successfully demonstrated by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone on 25 July 1837 between Euston and Camden Town in London.

1897

Jack London sails to join the Klondike Gold Rush where he will write his first successful stories.

1909

Louis Blériot makes the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air machine from (Calais to Dover) in 37 minutes.

1976

Viking 1 takes the famous Face on Mars photo.

1978

Louise Brown, the world's first "test tube baby" is born.

Famous Birthdays

1657

Philipp Heinrich Erlebach, German Baroque composer (d. 1714)

1844

Thomas Eakins, American artist (d. 1916)

1870

Maxfield Parrish, American illustrator (d. 1966)

1875

Jim Corbett, Irish-Indian hunter, pioneer conservationist and author (d. 1955)

1920

Rosalind Franklin, English scientist (d. 1958)

1945

Donna Theodore, American actress and singer

1948

Brian Stableford, British science fiction writer

1954

Walter Payton, American football player (d. 1999)

July 24 - Happy Birthday Aunt Jennifer!

Happy Birthday Aunt Jennifer!

Family Birthdays

Jennifer Rushing-Schurr

This Day In History

1487

Citizens of Leeuwarden, Netherlands strike against ban on foreign beer.

1567

Mary, Queen of Scots, is forced to abdicate and replaced by her 1-year-old son James VI.

1715

A Spanish treasure fleet of 10 ships under Admiral Ubilla leaves Havana, Cuba for Spain. Seven days later, 9 of them sink in a storm off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure is salvaged from these wrecks.

1911

Hiram Bingham III re-discovers Machu Picchu, "the Lost City of the Incas".

1950

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station begins operations with the launch of a Bumper rocket.

1969

Apollo 11 splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean.

1980

The Quietly Confident Quartet of Australia wins the Men's 4 x 100 metre medley relay at the Moscow Olympics, the only time the United States has not won the event at Olympic level.

2009

The MV Arctic Sea, reportedly carrying a cargo of timber, is allegedly hijacked in the North Sea by pirates, but much speculation remains as to the actual cargo and events.

Famous Birthdays

1725

John Newton, English cleric and hymnist (d. 1807)

1783

Simón Bolívar, Venezuelan military commander (d. 1830)

1786

Joseph Nicollet, French mathematician and explorer (d. 1843)

1802

Alexandre Dumas, père, French writer (d. 1870)

1853

William Gillette, American actor and author (d. 1937)

1856

Charles Émile Picard, French mathematician (d. 1941)

1897

Amelia Earhart, American aviator (d. 1937)

1916

John D. MacDonald, American novelist, (d. 1986)

1951

Lynda Carter, American actress

1957

Pam Tillis, American singer-songwriter

1968

Kristin Chenoweth, American singer and actress

1981

Summer Glau, American actress
1982
Anna Paquin, Canadian-born New Zealand actress

July 23 - Best Seat

Best Seat in the House

Overheard

[On the Northway]
M: Elanor, what do you see out your window?
E: Trees... trees... trees... trees... trees... trees... trees... trees...
D: Well, this is going to take a while.

This Day In History

1632

Three hundred colonists bound for New France depart from Dieppe, France.

1829

In the United States, William Austin Burt patents the typographer, a precursor to the typewriter.

1903

The Ford Motor Company sells its first car.

1926

Fox Film buys the patents of the Movietone sound system for recording sound onto film.

1962

Telstar relays the first publicly transmitted, live trans-Atlantic television program.

1972

The United States launch Landsat 1, the first Earth-resources satellite.

1983

Gimli Glider: Air Canada Flight 143 runs out of fuel and makes a deadstick landing at Gimli, Manitoba.

1995

Comet Hale-Bopp is discovered; it will become visible to the naked eye nearly a year later.

Famous Birthdays

1734

Antonio Sacchini, Italian opera composer (d. 1786)

1773

Sir Thomas Brisbane, Scottish astronomer, soldier and governor of New South Wales (d. 1860)

1856

Arthur Bird, American composer (d. 1923)

1888

Raymond Chandler, American novelist (d. 1959)

1895

Aileen Pringle, American actress (d. 1989)

1909

John William Finn, American WWII Medal of Honor recieptant (d. 2010)

1914

Virgil Finlay, American pulp fantasy, science fiction and horror illustrator (d. 1971)

1918

Pee Wee Reese, American baseball player (d. 1999)

1928

Vera Rubin, American astronomer

1936

Anthony Kennedy, American Supreme Court Justice

1947

Gardner Dozois, American science fiction writer and editor

1952

Janis Siegel, singer (The Manhattan Transfer)
1967
Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor
1970
Charisma Carpenter, American actress
1971
Alison Krauss, American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler

July 22 - Happy Campers

Happy Campers

This Day In History

1298

Battle of Falkirk – King Edward I of England and his longbowmen defeat William Wallace and his Scottish schiltrons outside the town of Falkirk.

1587

A second group of English settlers arrives on Roanoke Island off North Carolina to re-establish the deserted colony.

1706

The Acts of Union 1707 are agreed upon by commissioners from the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, which, when passed by each countries' Parliaments, lead to the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain.

1793

Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific Ocean becoming the first Euro-American to complete a transcontinental crossing of Canada.

1894

The first ever motor race is held in France between the cities of Paris and Rouen. The fastest finisher was the Comte Jules-Albert de Dion, but the 'official' victory was awarded to Georges Lemaître driving his 3 hp petrol engined Peugeot.

1933

Wiley Post becomes the first person to fly solo around the world traveling 15,596 miles (25,099 km) in 7 days, 18 hours and 45 minutes.

1951

Dezik (Дезик) and Tsygan (Цыган, "Gypsy") are the first dogs to make a sub-orbital flight.

1997

The second Blue Water Bridge opens between Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario.

Famous Birthdays

1711

Georg Wilhelm Richmann, Russian physicist (d. 1753)

1849

Emma Lazarus, American poet (d. 1887)

1882

Edward Hopper, American painter (d. 1967)

1898

Stephen Vincent Benét, American poet, short story writer and novelist (d. 1943)
Alexander Calder, American sculptor and inventor (d. 1976)

1939

Terence Stamp, English actor

1940

Alex Trebek, Canadian-American game show host

1946

Danny Glover, American actor

1947

Don Henley, American singer-songwriter and drummer (The Eagles)

1949

Alan Menken, American composer

1963

Emily Saliers, American singer (Indigo Girls)

1965

Patrick Labyorteaux, American actor

1967

Irene Bedard, American actress
1972
Irene Bedard, American actress
1974
Franka Potente, German actress
1978
A. J. Cook, Canadian actress

July 21 - Bear

Bear

This Day In History

356 BC

The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is destroyed by arson.

1873

At Adair, Iowa, Jesse James and the James-Younger Gang pull off the first successful train robbery in the American Old West.

1961

Mercury-Redstone 4 – Gus Grissom, piloting Liberty Bell 7, becomes the second American to go into space.

1983

The world's lowest temperature is recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at −128.6 °F.

1997

The fully restored USS Constitution (aka Old Ironsides) celebrates her 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years.

2011

NASA's Space Shuttle program ends with the landing of Atlantis on mission STS-135.

Famous Birthdays

1620

Jean Picard, French astronomer (d. 1682)

1899

Ernest Hemingway, American writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1961)

1911

Marshall McLuhan, Canadian author and media theorist (d. 1980)

1920

Isaac Stern, Ukrainian-born violinist (d. 2001)

1948

Snooty, the oldest known Florida manatee

1951

Robin Williams, American comedian/actor

1956

Michael Connelly, American author

1977

Jaime Murray, British actress

July 20 - Dimples

Dimples

This Day In History

1738

Canadian explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye reaches the western shore of Lake Michigan.

1807

Nicéphore Niépce is awarded a patent by Napoleon Bonaparte for the Pyréolophore, the world's first internal combustion engine, after it successfully powered a boat upstream on the river Saône in France.

1866

Battle of Lissa – The Austrian Navy , led by Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, defeats the Italian Navy near the island of Vis in the Adriatic Sea. (One of the first battles between ironclads; one of the last to involve intentional ramming.)

1903

The Ford Motor Company ships its first car.

1940

California opens its first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway.

1960

Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) elects Sirimavo Bandaranaike Prime Minister, the world's first elected female head of government.

1969

Apollo 11 successfully makes the first manned landing on the Moon in the Sea of Tranquility. Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the Moon almost 7 hours later.

1976

Viking 1 successfully lands on Mars.

Famous Birthdays

356 BC

Alexander the Great, Macedonian king and conqueror of Persia (d. 323 BC)

1304

Francesco Petrarch, Italian poet (d. 1374)

1822

Gregor Mendel, German scientist, father of modern genetics (d. 1884)

1847

Max Liebermann, German artist (d. 1935)

1873

Alberto Santos-Dumont, Brazilian aviator (d. 1932)

1919

Sir Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer and explorer (d. 2008)

1938

Dame Diana Rigg, English actress
Natalie Wood, American actress (d. 1981)

1944

Olivier de Kersauson, French sailor

1945

John Lodge, English musician (The Moody Blues)

1947

Carlos Santana, Mexican-born American guitarist

1948

Muse Watson, American actor

1955

Jem Finer, English musician and composer (The Pogues)
1967
Reed Diamond, American actor