August

Wikipedia is a wonderful thing. I've gone through August and selected an arbitrary list of events that have caught my eye for some reason, some happy and some some not so. What astounds me about Wikipedia is that there are so many interesting pages on just about anything you could think of and others you would never have thought of. Anyway, enjoy my list and I wonder (with some trepidation) what awaits us this year?

1st 1936 - The Berlin Olympic Games open.
2nd 1932 - Birth of Peter O'Toole, Irish-born actor
3rd 2004 - The pedestal of the Statue of Liberty reopens after being closed since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
4th 1782 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is married to Constanze Weber.
5th 1914 - In Cleveland, Ohio, the first electric traffic light is installed.
6th 1991 - Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his idea for the World Wide Web.
7th 1968 - Birth of Furtive Wangler, writer, poet and artist.
8th 1930 - Betty Boop premieres in the animated film Dizzy Dishes.
9th 1994 - Dilbert (character) is drawn with his necktie down, signifying that he "lost his innocence" with Liz.
10th 1959 - Birth of Rosanna Arquette, American model and actress
11th 1999 - A total solar eclipse visible from Europe and Asia.
12th 1960 - Echo I, the first communications satellite, launched
13th 1913 - Invention of stainless steel by Harry Brearley.
14th 1885 - Japan's first patent is issued to the inventor of a rust-proof paint.
15th 1877 - Thomas Edison makes the first-ever recording - "Mary Had a Little Lamb"
16th 1975 - Serial Killer Ted Bundy originally arrested for suspicion of burglary, only to later escape twice.
17th 1786 - Birth of Davy Crockett, American frontiersman and soldier (d. 1836)
18th 2004 - Death of Elmer Bernstein, American composer (b. 1922)
19th 1955 - In the Northeast United States, severe flooding caused by Hurricane Diane, claims 200 lives.
20th 1920 - The first commercial radio station, 8MK (WWJ), begins operations in Detroit, Michigan.
21st 1911 - The Mona Lisa was stolen by a Louvre employee.
22nd 1970 - Neil Young released his album, "After The Gold Rush."
23rd 1833 - Slavery abolished in the British colonies
24th 1690 - Calcutta, India is founded.
25th 1944 - World War II: Paris is liberated by the Allies.
26th 1966 - Birth of Shirley Manson, Scottish singer
27th 1896 - Anglo-Zanzibar War: the shortest war in world history (9:02 to 9:40) between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar.
28th 1996 - Britain's Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales, are divorced.
29th 1966 - Last Beatles concert, in San Francisco, California.
30th 1965 - Rock musician Bob Dylan releases his influential album Highway 61 Revisited featuring the song "Like a Rolling Stone."
31st 1997 - Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in Paris.