1498 - Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sets foot on the American mainland for the first time, at the Paria Peninsula in present-day Venezuela. Thinking it an island, he christened it Isla Santa and claimed it for Spain. He explored the Orinoco River of Venezuela and, given its scope, soon realized he had stumbled upon another continent. Columbus, a deeply religious man, decided after careful thought that Venezuela was the outer regions of the Garden of Eden. Returning to Hispaniola, he found that conditions on the island had deteriorated under the rule of his brothers, Diego and Bartholomew. Columbus' efforts to restore order were marked by brutality, and his rule came to be deeply resented by both the colonists and the native Taino chiefs. In 1500, Spanish chief justice Francisco de Bobadilla arrived at Hispaniola, sent by Isabella and Ferdinand to investigate complaints, and Columbus and his brothers were sent back to Spain in chains. He was immediately released upon his return, and Ferdinand and Isabella agreed to finance a fourth voyage, in which he was to search for the earthly paradise and the realms of gold said to lie nearby. He was also to continue looking for a passage to India. In May 1502, Columbus left Cýdiz on his fourth and final voyage to the New World. After returning to Hispaniola, against his patrons' wishes, he explored the coast of Central America looking for a strait and for gold. Attempting to return to Hispaniola, his ships, in poor condition, had to be beached on Jamaica. Columbus and his men were marooned, but two of his captains succeed in canoeing the 450 miles to Hispaniola. Columbus was a castaway on Jamaica for a year before a rescue ship arrived. In November 1504, Columbus returned to Spain. Queen Isabella, his chief patron, died less than three weeks later. Although Columbus enjoyed substantial revenue from Hispaniola gold during the last years of his life, he repeatedly attempted (unsuccessfully) to gain an audience with King Ferdinand, whom he felt owed him further redress. Columbus died in Valladolid on May 20, 1506, without realizing the great scope of his achievement: He had discovered for Europe the New World, whose riches over the next century would help make Spain the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth.
    1619 - First black slaves (20) land at Jamestown, Virginia.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1h289.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p263.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1i2991.html
http://www.historian.org/local/jamstwnva.html
   1620 - The Speedwell leaves Delfshaven, the Netherlands, with the Pilgrim Fathers, headed to America by way of England.
    1764 - Birthday of Anne Willing Bingham who conducted social salons for leaders of the newly born United States such as Jefferson, Washington, etc., and had a lot to say to them. AWB is one of the largely unrecognized cadre of early American women who, with Abigail Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, and others attempted to gain human rights for women from the framers of the U.S. Constitution. She reportedly was used as the model for “liberty” on US coins. 
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/reidgold/draped_busts/debate.html
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/reidgold/draped_busts/pics.html
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/tj3/writings/brf/jefl69.htm
    1776 - The first Jew to die in the American Revolution, Francis Salvador, was killed in a skirmish with the British loyalists. He was also the first Jew selected to office in colonial America. He was voted a member of the South Carolina Provincial Congress in January, 1775. He was known as the Southern Paul Revere for having warned of the approach of the British fleet at Charleston, SC. On August 1, 1776, while he was leading the militia under the command of Major Andrew Wilinson, his group was ambushed by Native Americans and loyalists near Esseneka (Seneca). Salvador was shot through the body and the left leg and was scalped by a group of Cherokees who sided with the British.
http://www.fau.edu/library/brody3.htm
    1176-Birthday of William Clark.  The soldier, explorer and public servant was born at Caroline County, Virginia.  He served seven years in the US Army and then gained his lasting fame when Meriwether Lewis asked him to join an expedition exploring the Louisiana Territory (1803-06). Clark was an able leader and contributed detailed maps and animal illustration on the journey. A grateful President Thomas Jefferson made Clark brigadier general of militia for the Louisiana Territory (1807-13) and superintendent of Indian Affairs (1807-38).  Clark was also governor of the Missouri Territory (1813-20) and surveyor general fir Illinois., Missouri, and Arkansas (1824-25). Clark foresaw the tension between US interests and the native peoples of the western US, and he urged that US treat native tribes with respect.  He died at St. Louis, MO, on sept. 1, 1838.
    1779 - Birthday of Francis Scott Key (and if you don’t know who he was, turn in your citizenship papers). American attorney, social worker, poet and author of the US national anthem. Key was onboard a ship in Baltimore Harbor during the British bombardment of Fort McHenry on the nights of September 13-14, 1814. Thrilled to see the American flag still flying over the fort at daybreak, Key wrote the poem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Born at Frederick County, MD., he died at Baltimore, MD, January 11, 1842.  The minor league baseball team in Frederick is known as the Frederick Keys in his honor.
http://www.marylandtheseventhstate.com/article1014.html
    1790 - The first census revealed that there were 3,939,326 citizens in the 16 states and the Ohio Territory. Virginia, with 747,610, was the most populous state; Rhode Island, with 68,825, the least. New York City had a population of 33,131, Philadelphia had a population of 28,522, and Boston had a population of 18,320. The US has taken a census every 10 years since 1790. 
    1791 - Virginia planter Robert Carter Ill confounded his family and friends by filing a deed of emancipation for his 500 slaves. One of the wealthiest men in the state, Carter owned 60,000 acres over 15 plantations. The deed included the following words: “I have for some time past been convinced that to retain them in Slavery is contrary to the true principles of Religion and Justice and therefore it is my duty to manumit them.” The document established a schedule by which 15 slaves would be freed each Jan 1, over a 21-year period, plus slave children would be freed at age 18 for females and 21 for males. It is believed this was the largest act of emancipation in US history and predated the Emancipation Proclamation by 70 years.
    1794 - Whiskey Rebellion begins.
http://www.whiskeyrebellion.org/rebell.HTM
    1801 – First Barbary War:  The American schooner USS Enterprise captures the Tripolitan polacca Tripoli off the coast of modern-day Libya.
     1809 – William Travis was born in Saluda County, SC.  At the age of 26, he was a Lt. Colonel in the Texas Army.  In March, 1836, he, Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett, among many others, died at the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution against Mexico.
      1812 - A rare tornado hits Westchester County, NY.http://www.rootsweb.com/~nylnphs/HH/2.htm
    1818 - Birthday of Maria Mitchell. An interest in her father’s hobby and an ability for mathematics resulted in Maria Mitchell’s becoming the first female professional astronomer. In 1847, while assisting her father in a survey of the sky for the US Coast Guard, Mitchell discovered a new comet and determined its orbit. She received many honors because of this, including being elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and its first woman. Mitchell joined the staff at Vassar Female College in 1865, the first US female profession of astronomy, and, in 1873 was a cofounder of the Association for the Advancement of Women. Born at Nantucket, MA. Mitchell died June 28, 1889, at Lynn, MA.
http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_mit
http://209.68.19.123/
http://ne.essortment.com/biographyofmar_rhff.htm
    1819 – Herman Melville was born in New York City.  He was an American novelist, poet, and writer of short stories, the most famous of which is “Moby Dick” (1851).
    1838 - Abolition of slavery in Jamaica. Spanish settlers introduced the slave trade into Jamaica in 1509 and sugar cane in 1640. Slavery continued until this day when it was abolished by the British.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Lslavery33.htm
    1855 – Castle Clinton in New York City opens as 1st U.S. receiving station for immigrants.
     1861 - For trivia fans, John Tyler of Virginia, President of the United States from 1841 to 1845, became a delegate to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States. He was elected a member of the House of Representatives of the permanent Confederate Congress on November 7, 1861, but died on January 18, 1862, before taking his seat.  He is the only former president to serve as an official of an “enemy government.”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jt10.html
http://www.americanpresidents.org/presidents/president.asp?
PresidentNumber=10
    1861 – Brazil recognizes the Confederate States of America.
    1873 - The first cable car ran at 5am on Clay Street Hill, San Francisco, CA, while the City slept. It was ready to run its trails, and pictures were allowed to be taken on August 2. Revenue service did not take place until September 1. The ride cost five cents. This was the first cable car put into service anywhere in the world. It was invented by Andrew Smith Hallidie, who obtained a patent on January 17, 1871, on an “endless-wire rope way.” Today only three lines of the original lines operate.
http://www.americahurrah.com/Postcards/SFCC1.html
http://www.sfmuseum.org/bio/hallidie.html
http://www.americahurrah.com/Postcards/SFCC1.html
    1876 - Colorado admitted to the Union as the 38th state.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/aug01.html
http://www.sfcablecar.com/hist1.html
    1903 – Birthday of Calamity Jane, whose real name was Martha Jane Cannary Burke, at Princeton, Missouri. Between legend and the usual misrepresentations, the true life of this frontier woman is shrouded. She usually dressed as a man, yet historians claim she was a prostitute. She claimed to have scouted for the army, including for Gen. George Custer while others say that was impossible. She was part of a geological expedition to the Black Hills and stayed after gold was discovered. History says she also was a "companion" of Wild Bill Hickok who died 27 years and one day before she did, and is buried next to him, not his wife. She lived her last years in poverty. How she earned her living appears to be a mystery as many historians claim that she was not a stage driver, a scout, nor anything else like that. She was in El Paso for a time where she married a Clinton Burke who soon deserted her. She was believed to have been a mail carrier in Deadwood, but her exact ways of earning a living are just not known. In reality, most of what we think we know of Calamity Jane is the product of dime novels and Hollywood movies of the era that portrayed her as beautiful and daring.
http://www139.pair.com/read/Marthy_Cannary_Burk/
Life_and_Adventures_of_Calamity_Jane
/Life_And_Adventures_Of_Calamity_Jane_p1.html
    1906 – Only months after the earthquake , Bank of Italy opens 1st branch at 3433 Mission Street, San Francisco. 
    1906 – Brooklyn Dodger Harry McIntire no-hits Pittsburgh for 10 2/3 innings but loses in 13th.
     1916 - Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Established. Area of Hawaii Island, including active volcanoes Kilauea and Mauna Loa, were established as Hawaii National Park in 1916. 
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/destinations/Hawaii_Volcanoes_National_Park/
    1933 - California introduces sales tax due to the devastating depression.
http://www.salestaxcpa.com/id50.htm
    1939 - Glenn Miller Band records “In the Mood,” (Bluebird 104150) Non-royalty contract gives him only $175.
    1941 - Willy’s introduces the “jeep.” General Dwight D. Eisenhower said that America could not have won World War II without it.  After several bouts of ownership, Jeep is now a best-selling brand of Chrysler.
http://jeepin.com/history.shtml
    1941 - Birthday of Ronald H. Brown, born Washington, DC, grew up in Harlem and studied at Middlebury College in Vermont. After graduating from St. John’s University law school, Brown served as chief counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee. He went on to become the first African-American partner at the law firm of Patton Boggs & Blow, the first African-American leader of the Democratic National Committee, and later served as the US Secretary of Commerce during the Clinton administration. Brown died in a plane crash at Dubrovnik, Croatia, Apr 3, 1996, while on government business. Some say the death was not an accident.
http://www.rhbf.org/aboutron.asp
    1941 - Yankee Lefty Gomez breaks the major league mark for walks in a shutout by issuing 11 walks in a 9-0 victory over the St. Louis Browns.
    1942 - Birthday in San Francisco of Jerry Garcia, lead guitarist and driving force behind the Grateful Dead. The Dead were the only psychedelic band of the 1960's to survive into the '90s. They had been better known for their 4-5 hour concerts than for their recordings, until 1987's "In the Dark." It was the Grateful Dead's biggest seller, and a single from it, "Touch of Grey," became their first top-ten hit. Garcia died of a heart attack on August 9th, 1995, at a residential treatment center in Forest Knolls, California. He had reportedly gone there to battle his heroin addiction.
http://www.jerrygarcia.com
    1942 - The American Federation of Musicians went on strike. Union president James C. Petrillo told musicians that phonograph records were 'a threat to members' jobs.' As a result, musicians refused to perform in recording sessions over the next several months, although live, musical radio broadcasts did continue.
    1943 - BAKER, ADDISON E. (Air Mission) Medal of Honor.
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army Air Corps, 93d Heavy Bombardment Group. Place and date: Ploesti Raid, Rumania, 1 August 1943. Entered service at: Akron, Ohio. Born: 1 January 1907, Chicago, Ill. G.O. No.: 20, 11 March 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy on 1 August 1943. On this date, he led his command, the 93d Heavy Bombardment Group, on a daring low-level attack against enemy oil refineries and installations at Ploesti, Rumania. Approaching the target, his aircraft was hit by a large caliber antiaircraft shell, seriously damaged and set on fire. Ignoring the fact he was flying over terrain suitable for safe landing, he refused to jeopardize the mission by breaking up the lead formation and continued unswervingly to lead his group to the target upon which he dropped his bombs with devastating effect. Only then did he leave formation, but his valiant attempts to gain sufficient altitude for the crew to escape by parachute were unavailing and his aircraft crashed in flames after his successful efforts to avoid other planes in formation. By extraordinary flying skill, gallant leadership and intrepidity, Lt. Col. Baker rendered outstanding, distinguished, and valorous service to our Nation
    1943 - HUGHES, LLOYD H. (Air Mission) Medal of Honor.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Corps, 564th Bomber Squadron, 389th Bomber Group, 9th Air Force. Place and date: Ploesti Raid, Rumania, 1 August 1943. Entered service at: San Antonio, Tex. Born: 12 July 1921, Alexandria, La. G.O. No.: 17, 26 February 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry in action and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. On 01 August 1943, 2d Lt. Hughes served in the capacity of pilot of a heavy bombardment aircraft participating in a long and hazardous minimum-altitude attack against the Axis oil refineries of Ploesti, Rumania, launched from the northern shores of Africa. Flying in the last formation to attack the target, he arrived in the target area after previous flights had thoroughly alerted the enemy defenses. Approaching the target through intense and accurate antiaircraft fire and dense balloon barrages at dangerously low altitude, his plane received several direct hits from both large and small caliber antiaircraft guns which seriously damaged his aircraft, causing sheets of escaping gasoline to stream from the bomb bay and from the left wing. This damage was inflicted at a time prior to reaching the target when 2d Lt. Hughes could have made a forced landing in any of the grain fields readily available at that time. The target area was blazing with burning oil tanks and damaged refinery installations from which flames leaped high above the bombing level of the formation. With full knowledge of the consequences of entering this blazing inferno when his airplane was profusely leaking gasoline in two separate locations, 2d Lt. Hughes, motivated only by his high conception of duty which called for the destruction of his assigned target at any cost, did not elect to make a forced landing or turn back from the attack. Instead, rather than jeopardize the formation and the success of the attack, he unhesitatingly entered the blazing area and dropped his bomb load with great precision. After successfully bombing the objective, his aircraft emerged from the conflagration with the left wing aflame. Only then did he attempt a forced landing, but because of the advanced stage of the fire enveloping his aircraft the plane crashed and was consumed. By 2d Lt. Hughes' heroic decision to complete his mission regardless of the consequences in utter disregard of his own life, and by his gallant and valorous execution of this decision, he has rendered a service to our country in the defeat of our enemies which will everlastingly be outstanding in the annals of our Nation's history.
    1943 - JERSTAD, JOHN L. (Air Mission) Medal of Honor.
Rank and organization: Major, U.S. Army Air Corps, 9th Air Force. Place and date: Ploesti Raid, Rumania, 1 August 1943. Entered service at: Racine, Wis. Born: 12 February 1918, Racine, Wis. G.O. No.: 72, 28 October 1943. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. On 1 August 1943, he served as pilot of the lead aircraft in his group in a daring low-level attack against enemy oil refineries and installations at Ploesti, Rumania. Although he had completed more than his share of missions and was no longer connected with this group, so high was his conception of duty that he volunteered to lead the formation in the correct belief that his participation would contribute materially to success in this attack. Maj. Jerstad led the formation into attack with full realization of the extreme hazards involved and despite withering fire from heavy and light antiaircraft guns. Three miles from the target his airplane was hit, badly damaged, and set on fire. Ignoring the fact that he was flying over a field suitable for a forced landing, he kept on the course. After the bombs of his aircraft were released on the target, the fire in his ship became so intense as to make further progress impossible and he crashed into the target area. By his voluntary acceptance of a mission he knew was extremely hazardous, and his assumption of an intrepid course of action at the risk of life over and above the call of duty, Maj. Jerstad set an example of heroism which will be an inspiration to the U.S. Armed Forces.
    1943 - JOHNSON, LEON W. (Air Mission) Medal of Honor.
Rank and organization: Colonel, U.S. Army Air Corps, 44th Bomber Group, 9th Air Force. Place and date: Ploesti Raid, Rumania, 1 August 1943. Entered service at: Moline, Kans. Born: 13 September 1904, Columbia, Mo. G.O. No.: 54, 7 September 1943. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry in action and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 1 August 1943. Col. Johnson, as commanding officer of a heavy bombardment group, let the formation of the aircraft of his organization constituting the fourth element of the mass low-level bombing attack of the 9th U.S. Air Force against the vitally important enemy target of the Ploesti oil refineries. While proceeding to the target on this 2,400-mile flight, his element became separated from the leading elements of the mass formation in maintaining the formation of the unit while avoiding dangerous cumulous cloud conditions encountered over mountainous territory. Though temporarily lost, he reestablished contact with the third element and continued on the mission with this reduced force to the prearranged point of attack, where it was discovered that the target assigned to Col. Johnson's group had been attacked and damaged by a preceding element. Though having lost the element of surprise upon which the safety and success of such a daring form of mission in heavy bombardment aircraft so strongly depended, Col. Johnson elected to carry out his planned low-level attack despite the thoroughly alerted defenses, the destructive antiaircraft fire, enemy fighter airplanes, the imminent danger of exploding delayed action bombs from the previous element, of oil fires and explosions, and of intense smoke obscuring the target. By his gallant courage, brilliant leadership, and superior flying skill, Col. Johnson so led his formation as to destroy totally the important refining plants and installations which were the object of his mission. Col. Johnson's personal contribution to the success of this historic raid, and the conspicuous gallantry in action, and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty demonstrated by him on this occasion constitute such deeds of valor and distinguished service as have during our Nation's history formed the finest traditions of our Armed Forces.
    1943 - KANE, JOHN R. (Air Mission) Medal of Honor.
Rank and organization: Colonel, U.S. Army Air Corps, 9th Air Force. Place and date: Ploetsi Raid, Rumania, 1 August 1943. Entered service at: Shreveport, La. Birth: McGregor, Tex. G.O. No.: 54, 9 August 1943. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry in action and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 1 August 1943. On this date he led the third element of heavy bombardment aircraft in a mass low-level bombing attack against the vitally important enemy target of the Ploesti oil refineries. En route to the target, which necessitated a round-trip flight of over 2,400 miles, Col. Kane's element became separated from the leading portion of the massed formation in avoiding dense and dangerous cumulous cloud conditions over mountainous terrain. Rather than turn back from such a vital mission he elected to proceed to his target. Upon arrival at the target area, it was discovered that another group had apparently missed its target and had previously attacked and damaged the target assigned to Col. Kane's element. Despite the thoroughly warned defenses, the intensive antiaircraft fire, enemy fighter airplanes, extreme hazards on a low-level attack of exploding delayed action bombs from the previous element, of oil fires and explosions and dense smoke over the target area, Col. Kane elected to lead his formation into the attack. By his gallant courage, brilliant leadership, and superior flying skill, he and the formation under his command successfully attacked this vast refinery so essential to our enemies' war effort. Through his conspicuous gallantry in this most hazardous action against the enemy, and by his intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, Col. Kane personally contributed vitally to the success of this daring mission and thereby rendered most distinguished service in the furtherance of the defeat of our enemies.
    1944 - Warsaw Uprising. Having received radio reports from Moscow promising aid from the red Army, the Polish Home army rose up against the Nazi oppressors. At 5pm, thousands of windows were thrown open and Polish patriots, 40,000 strong, began shooting at German soldiers in the streets. The Germans responded by throwing eight divisions into the battle. Despite appeals from the London-based Polish government-in exile, no assistance was forthcoming from the Allies, and after two months of horrific fighting the rebellion was quashed. 
    1944 - Anne Frank makes the last entry into her diary. To escape deportation to concentration camps, the Jewish family of Otto Frank hid for two years in the warehouse of his food products business at Amsterdam. Gentile friends smuggled in food and other supplies during their confinement. Thirteen-year-old Anne Frank, who kept a journal during the time of their hiding, penned her last entry in the diary Aug 1, 1944: ‘[I] keep on trying to find a way of becoming what I would like to be, and what I could be, if . . . there weren’t any other people living in the world.” Three days later (Aug 4, 1944) Grune Polizei raided the ‘Secret Annex” where the Frank family was hidden. Anne and her sister were sent to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where Anne died at age 15, two months before the liberation of Holland. Young Anne’s diary, later found in the family’s hiding place, has been translated into 30 languages and has become a symbol of the indomitable strength of the human spirit.
    1944 – Adam Clayton Powell is elected to Congress from New York’s Harlem, the first black congressmen from the east.
    1944 - Top Hits
“Amor” - Bing Crosby
“I’ll Be Seeing You” - Bing Crosby
“Long Ago and Far Away” - Helen Forrest & Dick Haymes
“Is You is or is You Ain’t (Ma’ Baby)” - Louis Jordan
    1945 – New York Giants’ Mel Ott becomes the first National Leaguer to hit 500 HRs.  Ott finished his career with 511 and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1951.
    1946 – President Harry Truman establishes the Atomic Energy Commission.
    1951 - Neal Hefti Band records his “Coral Reef.” Great trumpet player, greater arranger for Basie, Sinatra, and many others.
http://www.spaceagepop.com/hefti.htm
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Hefti,+Neal
    1952 - Top Hits
“I’m Yours” - Don Cornell
“Delicado” - Percy Faith
“Auf Wiedersehn, Sweetheart” - Vera Lynn
“Are You Teasing Me” - Carl Smith
    1953 - Birthday of guitarist Robert Cray, Columbus, GA
http://www.blueflamecafe.com/index.html
    1954 - An August 1st concert, promoted by Alan Freed, features Fats Domino, Muddy Waters, The Clovers, The Orioles, and others at the Moondog Jubilee of Stars Under the Stars at Ebbetts Field in Brooklyn, New York.   It is the first large racially mixed crowd at a concert of this size.
    1956 - RCA released two of Elvis Presley's hit singles: "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Love Me Tender".
    1957 - Dodger first baseman Gil Hodges hits his 13th career grand slam and the last grand slam in Brooklyn Dodger history. The bases-loaded shot establishes a new National League record, since passed by Hank Aaron and Willie McCovey.
    1957 – NORAD, North American Aerospace Defense Command, is formed between the US and Canada.
    1958 - Feeling that label head Sam Phillips is spending too much time promoting Jerry Lee Lewis and not enough promoting him, Johnny Cash leaves Sun Records and signs with Columbia.
     1959 - After nine weeks as the best-selling song in America, Johnny Horton's "The Battle of New Orleans" is pushed out of the number one spot by Paul Anka's "Lonely Boy".
   1960 - Chubby Checker's recording of "The Twist" was released by Cameo-Parkway Records. Checker wasn't the originator of the song that spawned the '60s greatest dance craze. That honor belonged to Hank Ballard, who wrote and recorded the tune as the "B" side of his 1958 hit "Teardrops on My Letter." But it was Chubby Checker who rode "The Twist" to stardom. His recording went to number one on the Billboard pop chart twice - in 1960 and again in 1962. 
http://www.send4fun.com/twist.htm
http://www.chubbychecker.com/
    1960 - 18 year-old singer Aretha Franklin made her first secular recordings for producer John Hammond at Columbia Records. She had recorded some gospel songs at her father's church in Detroit four years earlier.
http://www.aretha-franklin.com/bio.htm
http://www.artistdirect.com/showcase//urban/arethafranklin.html
    1960 - For his embodiment of decadent American culture, Elvis Presley is named "Public Enemy Number One" by the East Berlin newspaper Young World.
     1960 - Top Hits
“I’m Sorry” - Brenda Lee
“Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini” - Brian Hyland
“It’s Now or Never” - Elvis Presley
“Please Help Me, I’m Falling” - Hank Locklin
    1961 – US Defense Secretary Robert McNamara establishes the Defense Intelligence Agency, the nation's first centralized military espionage organization.
     1962 – Red Sox’ Bill Monbouquette no-hits the White Sox, 2-0.
    1962-Stan Lee and Steve Ditko introduced a new superhero for Marvel Comics in issue #15 of Amazing Fantasy that hit newsstands in August: Spider-Man. Nerdy teen Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider and soon discovers that he has the proportionate strength and agility of the spider---as well as web-shooting talents and “spider sense.”  The arachnid crime fighter got his own comic book in March, 1963, and quickly became the center of a multimedia empire.
     1963 - Arthur Ashe, first Black male to win Wimbledon, becomes first Black person named to the US Davis Cup team. 
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/features/1997/
arthurashe/biography.html
    1964 - The title track from The Beatles' movie "A Hard Day's Night" topped the record charts on both sides of the Atlantic. The film was originally titled "Beatlemania" until producers heard an offhanded comment by Ringo Starr as he flopped into a canvas chair and said "It's been a hard day's night, that was."
    1966 - Birmingham radio station WACI calls for the first "Beatles Burn-In," a bonfire of Beatles records to protest John Lennon's recent published comments that his group was "bigger than Jesus."
      1966 - Charles Whitman takes a stockpile of guns and ammunition to the observatory platform atop a 300-foot tower at the University of Texas and proceeds to shoot 46 people, killing 16.  Whitman, who had killed both his wife and mother the night before, was eventually shot to death after courageous Austin police officers, including Ramiro Martinez, charged up the stairs of the tower to subdue the attacker.  Packing food and other supplies, he proceeded to the observation platform, killing the receptionist and two tourists before unpacking his rifle and telescope and hunting the people below. An expert marksman, Whitman was able to hit people as far away as 500 yards. For 90 minutes, he continued firing while officers searched for a chance to get a shot at him. By the end of his rampage, 16 people were dead and another 30 were injured. The University of Texas tower remained closed for over 30 years before reopening in 1999.
    1968 - Top Hits
“Grazing in the Grass” - Hugh Masekela
“Stoned Soul Picnic” - The 5th Dimension
“Hurdy Gurdy Man” - Donovan
“Folsom Prison Blues” – Johnny
    1969 - The U.S. command in Saigon announces that 27 American aircraft were lost in the previous week, bringing the total losses of aircraft in the conflict to date to 5,690.
    1969—The California newspapers San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner and the Vallejo Times Herald received letters on this date from a killer claiming credit for three area murders that had occurred December 20, 1968, and July 4, 1969. Until these letters arrived, police authorities had not tied the killings together.  The letters included a cryptogram claiming (falsely) to reveal the killer’s identity. This was the beginning of a public terror campaign from a man calling himself the Zodiac.  The Zodiac killed two more people (perhaps more) and sent many letters threatening the school children of San Francisco, Ca. He was never identified.
    1970 - Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4" enters the Billboard Hot 100 where it will climb to #4. Many fans are confused about the song's meaning until it is explained that the tune was being written at 25 or 6 to four in the morning.
    1971 - The two Concerts for Bangladesh, organized by George Harrison, were held at Madison Square Garden in New York. Among the other performers were Bob Dylan, Ravi Shankar, Leon Russell and Ringo Starr. A three-record set, which won a Grammy Award, and a documentary film were made of the event. The concerts, album and film raised nearly $11 million US for the impoverished people of the newly-independent nation of Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan. But much of the money was impounded by the US Internal Revenue Service during a nine-year audit of the Beatles' Apple Corps Limited. $2 million was sent to UNICEF before the audit began, but it wasn't until 1981 that a check for the remainder was issued.
    1971 - “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour” premieres on CBS television.
     1972 - Chicago's “Chicago V” LP is certified gold
   1973 - The first big oldies revival kicks off in earnest as George Lucas' new film, “American Graffiti”, premieres in Los Angeles. Portraying a night in the life of several California teenagers in 1962, it made stars out of Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Cindy Williams, Mackenzie Phillips and more, and also inspired the ABC-TV smash “Happy Days.”
    1976 - Top Hits
“Kiss and Say Goodbye”- Manhattans
“Love is Alive” - Gary Wright
“Moonlight Feels Right” - Starbuck
“Teddy Bear” - Red Sovine
    1977 - Willie McCovey of the San Francisco Giants hit the 18th and last grand slam of his career.  His total still stands as the National League record.  Alex Rodriguez holds the major league record with 24.
http://www.eteamz.com/hallfame/files/AA06.txt
    1977 - "Elvis - What Happened," an expose by two of Presley's former bodyguards, was published. It sat in bookstores almost unnoticed until Presley's death two weeks later. Then it sold more than three-million copies. It is not available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, nor other on line used book stores at this time. Try the library in your neighborhood, and order by telephone or internet for a copy via the library system (you must have a library card and internet pin number---it is free).
    1978 – Atlanta Braves stop Pete Rose’ 44-game hitting streak with Rose whining that “they didn’t pitch to me”.
    1979 - Following her graduation from rabbinical college in Philadelphia, Linda Joy Holtzman was appointed spiritual leader of the Conservative Beth Israel congregation in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, making her the first female rabbi to head a Jewish congregation in America.
    1981 - The all music-video channel, MTV, debuted. VHq, another music channel owned by MTV Networks that is aimed at older pop music fans, premiered in 1985.
    1982 - Greg Louganis, US becomes first diver to score 700 (752.67) in 11 dives.
    1982 – Baseball Hall of Fame inductions:  Hank Aaron, the holder of the career home run record (755) and RBI record (2,297); Frank Robinson, the first player to win the MVP in both leagues and the first black manager in the majors; Travis Jackson, an outstanding offensive and defensive shortstop for the Giants during 1920's, and former commissioner Happy Chandler, who provided leadership in breaking baseball's color line.
   1984 - Top Hits
When Doves Cry - Prince
Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr.
State of Shock - Jacksons
Angel in Disguise - Earl Thomas Conley
    1986 - A powerful thunderstorm produced 100 mph winds and large hail in eastern Kansas and southwestern Missouri, causing 71 million dollars damage, and injuring nineteen persons. It was one of the worst thunderstorms of record for Kansas. Crops were mowed to the ground in places and roofs blown off buildings along its path, 150 miles long and 30 miles wide, from near Abilene to southeast of Pittsburg, KS.
   1986 – Bert Blyleven becomes the 10th pitcher in Major League history to strike out 3,000.  He finished his career with 3701 Ks and was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame in 2011.
   1987 - Record heat gripped parts of the Midwest. A dozen cities reported record high temperatures for the date, including Lincoln, NE, with a reading of 105 degrees, Moline, IL, with an afternoon high of 103 degrees, and Burlington, IA, with a reading of 102 degrees.
    1988 - Cincinnati AM radio station WCVG changes its format, becoming the first US all-Elvis radio station. The concept died out within the year.  Sirius XM Radio has an all-Elvis channel among its pay-for-play subscriptions.
    1988000Conservative political commentator and radio personality Rush Limbaugh began his nationally syndicated show on this date with 56 stations.  It quickly became the nation’s top-rated show and rejuvenated the radio talk format.  Today, more than 645 stations carry the program to an estimated 20 million
listeners.
     1989 - Hurricane Chantal made landfall along the Upper Texas coast about sunrise. Chantal deluged parts of Galveston Island and southeastern Texas with 8 to 12 inches of rain. Unofficial totals ranged up to twenty inches. Winds gusted to 82 mph at Galveston, and reached 76 mph in the Houston area. Tides were 5 to 7 feet high. The hurricane claimed two lives, and caused 100 million dollars damage.
    1989 - Gwendolyn King, became the first American of black African descent to head the Social Security Commission.
http://www.ssa.gov/history/king.html
    1993 – The Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers floods peak.
    1998 - Using the old Negro League teams represented in their respective cities, the Cardinal-Brave game Saturday featured throwback uniforms of the 1928 St. Louis Stars and the 1940 Atlanta Black Crackers.  This tradition has been repeated often during subsequent baseball seasons.
    1990 - The creation of what would become the World Wide Web was suggested this month in 1990 by Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Caliiau at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics at Switzerland. By October, they had designed a prototype Web browser. They also introduced HTML (Hypertex Markup Language) and the URL (Universal Resource Locator). Mosaic, the first graphical Web browser, was designed by Marc Andreesen, one of the founders of Netscape, and released in 1993. Until that time, there was “Archie,” “Gopher” and a few others. Mostly you had to
know the “numbers,” not name, to find the web site.  By early 1993, there were 50 Web servers worldwide.
    1990 - IBM sold off its typewriter and keyboard businesses. The move signaled IBM's increasing focus on the personal computer market. IBM also discontinued production of several of its PS/2 systems due to poor sales.
    1990 - Ashton Tate released a new version of its software package, dBase IV. Ashton Tate had dominated the database market in the 1980s but began to slide in the 1990s. At the height of the company's success in the mid-1980s, founder George Tate died of a heart attack at his desk.
    1993 - African-American Ronald H Brown, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, appointed head of the Department of Commerce by President-elect Bill Clinton.
    1993 – Reggie Jackson is enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
    1994 - Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley confirmed that they had been married by a judge in the Dominican Republic on May 26th. Publicists for the bride and groom had been denying the marriage took place since word of it leaked out on July 10th. 
    1995 - Selling 331,000 copies, Selena's “Dreaming of You,'' her first English album, debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard chart. The slain Tejano singer becomes the first Latin artist ever to debut at No. 1.
    1996 – Atlanta Olympics wrap-up: Michael Johnson left his fellow runners in the dust to win gold in the 200 meters in a record 19.32 seconds. He was the first male Olympian to complete the 200/400-meter Olympic double. And French sprinter Marie-Jose Perec became only the second woman in history to win a gold medal in both the 200-meter and the 400-meter runs at the same Olympics. Perec joined American Valerie Brisco-Hooks, who won both the 200 and 400 races in 1984 in Los Angeles. The U.S. women’s soccer team claimed the gold medal and capped the first women’s soccer competition at the Olympics, beating China 2-1. And last, but certainly not least, Dan O’Brien won the gold in the decathlon, four years after failing to make the U.S. Olympic team. 
    2001 - For the 33rd time in the team's history, the Tigers turn a triple play as Mariner Mark McLemore lines out to second baseman Damion Easley, who throws to shortstop Deivi Cruz to double up Tom Lampkin. Cruz then relays the ball to first baseman Shane Halter catching Ichiro Suzuki off first to complete Detroit's first triple killing since July 3, 1992, when the victim was also Seattle.
    2001 – Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has a Ten Commandments monument installed in the judiciary building, leading to a lawsuit to have it removed and his own removal from office.
      2007 - The I-35W Mississippi River Bridge, an eight-lane bridge across St Anthony Falls spanning the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapses during the evening rush hour, killing 13 people and injuring 145.  Re-construction was completed rapidly, and it opened on September 18, 2008.
    2013 - Russia grants NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden one year of temporary political asylum; Snowden leaves Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport.