Correction: Membership Count
American Association of Commercial Finance Brokers

An early version of Leasing News showed an incorrect tally of the AACFB membership count. Here is the correct version.

The "Chart by History" was Correct:

Here is the complete article, for those who may have missed it:

Six-Month Leasing/Finance Associations'
    Membership Count and by Category
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2021/07_30.htm#assoc

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Marlin Capital Solutions
10-Q Quarterly report 7/30/2021

Full 10-Q:
https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001260968/42fab7e0-5e49-46b3-9566-62c64eca9cee.html

You really have to go to page 54 and 55 to explain all of this:

"Deposits issued by MBB (Marlin Business Bank -sec) represent our primary funding source for new originations, primarily through the issuance of FDIC insured deposits. We are currently executing our De-banking process, after which time our primary sources of liquidity   will transition to third-party bank and securitization financing as opposed to   FDIC-insured deposits. We currently expect that this transition will occur during the fourth quarter of 2021."

HPS Investment Partners has billions to deploy post closing
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2021/07_26.htm#marlin

 

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License and Registration United States
By Kenneth C. Greene, Attorney
Segment 6

Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, and,
importantly, New Jersey (quotes debanked.com)

(A State-by-State Analysis of License Requirements for Lenders and Brokers

Previous states covered Alabama through Missouri (1)

Before we begin, it has been brought to my attention that I have not mentioned the special rules for motor vehicle leasing, as certain states require a special license for that. For instance, Connecticut requires a Motor Vehicle Leasing and Rental License to engage in those activities.

Connecticut State Law Title 14 Chapter 246 Sec. 14-15
https://law.justia.com/codes/connecticut/2019/title-14/chapter-246/section-14-15/ (2019)

Similarly, Missouri requires a Dealer License. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 301.560 (2021) A bill to change the law similar to California is pending in the legislature.

Missouri Dealer Application Check List
https://missouridealerseminars.com/pdf/Missouri%20Checklist%20PDF.pdf (2021)

As licensing for vehicle leasing is another fairly comprehensive topic, I will address this issue in a subsequent series. For now, though, those of you who lease motor vehicles should be sure to check for licensing requirements in those states in which the vehicles are leased. [Big thanks to Vickie Rocco at Entegra Capital for bringing this to my attention – we welcome all comments and corrections!]

26. MONTANA: True to form for the “M” states, no license is needed for a commercial loan broker or lender. Mortgage lenders and consumer lenders do need licenses. A consumer license is required for any person that engages, directly or indirectly, in the business of making consumer loans in any amount. Montana limits interest on consumer loans to 36% per year, exclusive of the fees authorized by Mont. Code Ann. 32-5-301(3) and (4) (2019). A consumer loan means credit offered or extended to an individual primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, including loans for personal, family, or household purposes that are not primarily secured by a mortgage, deed of trust, trust indenture, or other security interest in real estate. Any loan made or collected in violation of Mont. Code Ann. § 32-5-103(1) by a person other than a licensee or a person exempt under Mont. Code Ann. § 32-5-103(5) is void, and the person does not have the right to collect, receive, or retain any principal, interest, fees, or other charges. Pretty fierce penalty, so best to heed that law.

27. NEBRASKA: Nor does Nebraska require a license for commercial lenders or brokers. And, as in many states, consumer and mortgage lenders must be licensed. Any person that makes, holds, services, or otherwise participates in consumer loans made to Nebraska residents with an interest rate greater than 16% per annum, a principal balance of less than $25,000, and a duration ranging from 6 to 145 months must obtain this license. Nebraska Installment Loan Act Chapter 45, Article 10 §§45-1001 et seq. (2010). That clearly includes consumer loan brokers. Under the Nebraska Loan Broker Act, Chapter 45, Article 1, Section f, “Loan broker” means any person who:

(i) For or in expectation of consideration from a borrower, procures, attempts to procure, arranges, or attempts to arrange a loan of money for a borrower;
(ii) For or in expectation of consideration from a borrower, assists a borrower in making an application to obtain a loan of money;

(iii) Is employed as an agent for the purpose of soliciting borrowers as clients of the employer; or

(iv) Holds himself or herself out, through advertising, signs, or other means, as a loan broker.

Loan brokers are not allowed to arrange or help obtain a loan secured by residential property in Nebraska without a mortgage banker license.

In addition, loan brokers, whether commercial or consumer, may not collect advance fees from borrowers. Neb. Rev. Statutes Chapter 45-191 (1993). Advance fee includes any fee, deposit, or consideration which is assessed or collected, prior to the closing of a loan, by a loan broker and includes, but is not limited to, any money assessed or collected for processing, appraisals, credit checks, consultations, or expenses. Neb. Rev. Statutes Chapter 45-190 (1993)In addition, loan brokers must provide prospective borrowers with written disclosure statements.

Nebraska Loan Broker Disclosure Requirements:
https://www.nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=45-191.01
https://www.nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=45-191.02

Violations of these laws can be misdemeanors or felonies, so it would be wise to observe them!

28: NEVADA: Nevada does not appear to require a license for commercial lenders. The Nevada Installment Loan and Finance Act, Nev. Rev. Stat. §§ 675.010 to 675.490 (2019) allows a lender to charge any rate agreed to by the parties, but § 604A.400 prohibits operating as a “high-rate loan service,” i.e., one that charges more than 40%, without a license, and even with a license limits high-rate loans to 90 days. As a result, for loans longer than 90 days, the APR is capped at 40%.

One caveat about Nevada. I spent hours reading through the entire Installment Loan and Finance Act in the hope of finding an exemption for commercial loans. I did not find one. The term “installment loan”, although understandable in common parlance, is not a term I encounter frequently in my work. My research suggests that this is in fact a consumer product, like a car loan, home mortgage, or credit card loan. I contacted a few colleagues in Nevada, called the Nevada Financial Institutions Division (F.I.D.), and even called the Attorney General. None of my attorney friends knew the answer, the F.I.D. merely gave me general advice and the AG refused to provide legal advice, suggesting I contact the F.I.D. or a local attorney. The irony of it all is, like everything else in Nevada, it’s a gamble. So, although I believe my analysis is correct, and no license is required in order to make commercial loans, if anyone has a different opinion or experience, please let us know.

29: NEW HAMPSHIRE: Neither does New Hampshire require a license for commercial lenders. Mortgage lenders do need licenses, as do persons or companies engaged in the business of making small loans, title loans, and payday loans. This includes acts or offers to act as an intermediary, finder or agent for the purpose of negotiating, arranging, finding or procuring loans or commitments for loans (aka loan brokers). A “small loan” is a title loan, payday loan, open-end loan, or closed-end loan that:

1. Is $10,000 or less;
2. Has an annual percentage rate of 10 percent or more except for the lawful fees, if any, actually and necessarily paid out by the lender to any public officer, for filing or recording in any public office any instrument securing such loan and except for the reasonable costs, charges, and expenses, including court costs actually incurred in connection with a repossession of the security or an actual sale of the security; and
3. Is for personal, family, or household use.

New Hampshire Statute Title XXXVI, Chapter 399-A:1(XX)

30: NEW JERSEY: New Jersey, at the moment, does not require a commercial lenders license. A consumer lender license is required for the making of a loan that is to be used primarily for personal, family or household purposes in an amount of $50,000 or less and that is payable in one or more installments. New Jersey Consumer Finance Licensing Act, N.J.S.A 17:11C-1 et. seq. Mortgage lenders need licenses as well.

What is critical for anyone in the industry to know is that New Jersey is almost definitely about to enact disclosure laws, similar to those in California and New York (though, naturally, not identical, as that would be too easy). New Jersey's disclosure Bill S2262 (now, S233 in its latest iteration) was introduced in 3/18 but is not law yet, but probably will be after the session this year.

Some highlights from the bill, though not finalized yet, are disclosures on loans, factoring, and merchant cash advances on transactions less than $500,000. In addition to APR requirements, brokers who arrange such financing would be required to disclose their fee to prospective applicants separately from the financing contract and prior to the consummation of the transaction.

DeBanked.com has been concerned particularly about one of the features, writing: 

“The New Jersey’s bill is similar to the law that New York is putting into effect on January 1st. As part of it, non-loan products will be required to calculate an APR even if one cannot be mathematically calculated by ‘estimating’ one.

“Brokers would be impacted too:

“A broker who charges any fees or commission that would be paid by the recipient of the financing shall provide, at the time of extending a specific offer for a commercial financing transaction and in a form and manner prescribed by the commissioner, a written disclosure, in a document separate from the provider’s contract with the recipient, stating the following, if the information is not contained within the disclosure offered by the provider directly to the recipient:

“(1) a list of all fees or commissions that would be paid to the broker by the recipient in connection with the commercial financing;

“(2) the total dollar amount of charges listed pursuant to the bill;

“and (3) any increase to the annual percentage rate due to the charges listed above and the resulting dollar cost.

“You can read the Senate Commerce Committee’s report here:
https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/S0500/233_S1.PDF“

A special segment at the end of the fifty states will cover the new disclosure laws in California, New York, New Jersey and may touch on the legislation pending in Connecticut.

In our next article we continue with New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota and Ohio.

(1)
Segment 1 - 06/28/21
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California 
https://leasingnews.org/PDF/Alabama_California.pdf
Segment 2 – 07/06/21
Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida and Georgia
https://leasingnews.org/PDF/segment2.pdf
Segment 3  - 07/12/21
Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana and Iowa
https://leasingnews.org/PDF/segment3_2021.pdf
Segment 4 - 07/19/21
Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine and Maryland
https://leasingnews.org/PDF/Segment4.pdf
Segment 5 - 07/26/21
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi and Missouri
https://leasingnews.org/PDF/segment5.pdf

Ken Greene
Law Office of Kenneth Charles Greene
5743 Corsa Avenue Suite 208
Westlake Village, California 91362
Tel: 818.575.9095
Fax: 805.435.7464
ken@kengreenelaw.com
Alternate: kengreenelaw@outlook.com
https://leasingnews.org/Advisory%20Board/Greene_Law.htm

This article is presented by the Law Office of Kenneth Charles Greene. All copyrightable text, the selection, arrangement, and presentation of all materials (including information in the public domain), and the overall design of this presentation are the property of the Law Office of Kenneth Charles Greene. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to download and reprint materials from this article for the purpose of viewing, reading, and retaining for reference. Any other copying, distribution, retransmission, or modification of information or materials from this article, whether in electronic or hard copy form, without the express prior written permission of Kenneth C. Greene, is strictly prohibited. The materials available from this article are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact your attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Use of and access to these materials does not create an attorney-client relationship between the Law Office of Kenneth Charles Greene and the user or viewer. The opinions expressed herein are the opinions of the individual author

Top Ten Leasing News
July 26 to July 30

(Top stories opened by readers)

(1) Marlin Business Service Served with Lawsuit
    Affecting Pending Sale and Merger
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2021/07_26.htm#marlin

(2) New Hires/Promotions in the Leasing Business
    and Related Industries
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2021/07_30.htm#hires

(3) Balboa Capital Reports 93% Year-Over-Year Increase
    in Q2 Originations, Hires 25 New Employees
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2021/07_30.htm#balboa

(4) Disclosure Laws Update
    By Kenneth C. Greene, Attorney
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2021/07_28.htm#disclosure

(5) License and Registration United States
  By Kenneth C. Greene, Attorney
    Segment 5
     Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi and Missouri
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2021/07_26.htm#license

(6) Ascentium Capital LLC Reports 41%
    Second Quarter Growth Over Prior Year
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2021/07_28.htm#asc

(7) U.S. Airports Make Thousands of Dollars
        from Lost Change
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2021/07_28.htm#us

(8) Mortgage Rates Continue a Downward Spiral
    from themreport.com
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2021/07_26.htm#mortgage

(9) Six Month Leasing-Finance Associations'
    Membership Count and by Category
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2021/07_30.htm#assoc

(10) Myth of Being #1 on the Google Search Page
    FinTech #102 by Brittney Holcomb
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2021/07_26.htm#myth

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Help Wanted Ads

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The U.S. GDP grew at an annual rate of 6.5 percent in the second quarter of 2021, according to the first preliminary estimate released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Once again, personal consumption expenditure was the main driver behind the upswing, as private domestic investment and the trade deficit pulled in the other direction.

Personal consumption, by far the largest component of the GDP, increased by 11.8 percent compared to the preceding quarter at an annualized rate, thanks to a steep increase in spending on services. The following chart breaks down the Q2 2021 GDP into its four components and shows how much each component contributed to the total growth of 6.5 percent.

Felix Richter, Statista

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California Launches Cannabis Agency
to Ease Industry Regulation

America’s state legal cannabis sector has seen major growth in the past few years as more states have legalized cannabis. California, which legalized recreational marijuana five years ago, has since sold $4.4 billion worth of cannabis, making its cannabis sector one of, if not the most, successful cannabis markets in America. Now in a move that is meant to simplify how California regulates its massive and swiftly growing cannabis space, Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a law creating a single agency to regulate cannabis.

The policy, which Newsom first proposed in January 2020, will consolidate licensing authority from the three departments responsible for regulating California’s cannabis space: the Manufactured Cannabis Safety Branch under the Department of Health, the Bureau of Cannabis Control under the Department of Consumer Affairs, and CalCannabis under the Department of Food and Agriculture. Under the new law, a single Department of Cannabis Control will now handle the licensing, enforcement and environmental oversight duties that these three departments were previously tasked with.

According to the budget summary for Newsom’s 2020–2021 budget plan where he introduced the new policy, a single department for cannabis regulation that would “centralize and align critical regulatory functions.” Additionally, it would create a single point of contact for individuals within the cannabis space as well as local governments rather than three different departments. The Department of Cannabis Control (“DCC”), which is under the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, will also be in charge of California’s track and trace system, which follows cannabis and cannabis products through the state’s legal supply chain.

Lindsey Robison, executive director of the California Cannabis Industry Association, which represents more than 400 licensed cannabis enterprises, has applauded the new law. She says navigating three agencies with different protocols and processes has often been a bone of contention for many cannabis businesses, and having all their functions housed under a single agency will help with communication, transparency and, hopefully, process times for applications.

According to the acting deputy director of the DCC Christina Dempsey, Newsom’s administration wants to make the legal market more attractive than the illicit market. Despite having one of the largest cannabis industries in the country, California is still plagued by the cannabis black market. Not only do illegal cannabis grows deprive the state of tax revenue, but they also steal tons of water and electricity and are responsible for violence, forced labor and the destruction of the ecosystem.

Employees of the three agencies will continue using their offices until further notice. In addition, because existing licenses will be transferred to the DCC, cannabis businesses will not need to apply for new licenses until existing licenses expire. Furthermore, law enforcement and local government will continue working with their existing contacts, and policies for grant funding for researchers will remain the same. The Department of Cannabis Control will reside at 2920 Kilgore Road in Rancho Cordova.

Source: cannabissnewswire

##### Press Release ############################

FT Partners Q2 2021 Fintech Insights
Global Financing and M&A Statistics

Highlights of the Report:

• Following what was a record quarter in Q1, FinTech financing activity continued to skyrocket in Q2 2021; the quarter represented the largest and most active quarter ever for FinTech financing
• So far in 2021 there have been 185 financing rounds of $100 million or more, which is an unprecedented level
• In addition to overall increased activity this year, financing data from the first half of 2021 showed a significant increase in the average and median size of rounds raised by FinTech companies globally, across all stages from Seed to Series D and beyond
• Venture capital and strategic investor interest in FinTech is off the charts with several firms having made ten or more new investments in the sector just in the first half of 2021
• M&A activity in Q2 2021 was strong with over 350 transactions announced – the second highest quarterly amount ever, only behind Q1 2021 which had 380 deals
• Announced M&A dollar volume in Q2 2021 totaled approximately $44.3 billion, which brought the total for the first half of 2021 to $135.6 billion
• There were 32 M&A transactions with announced values of $1 billion or more in the first half of 2021
• With a total of 21 FinTech SPAC transactions announced in the first half of 2021, the total for the year so far already surpassed the record-breaking number of SPAC mergers that were announced in 2020 (15)
• There were 23 FinTech IPOs globally in the first half of 2021, and there are several high-profile FinTech companies that are currently on file or eyeing to go public later this year
• In addition to providing both aggregate data and breakdowns on a sector, geographical and individual transaction basis, our report also includes links to 115+ individual transaction profiles published by FT Partners Research so far this year, along with links to numerous other research publications

FT Partners' data, analytics, and insights on FinTech stem from our deep domain knowledge and the Firm's proprietary database, which has been meticulously and methodically compiled. The FT Partners Research Team assembles and curates this information through primary research and it represents years of focus and diligence. We believe this report provides the most complete set of global FinTech transactions, trends, and insights, and we are proud to release this information to our clients, partners, friends, and the FinTech sector globally.

FT Partners' business has been extremely strong as the FinTech sector continues to thrive and grow. In 2021, FT Partners has advised on several landmark capital raises and M&A transactions building upon our track record of representing many of the absolute best FinTech companies globally.

Full Report (87 pages)
https://ftpartners.docsend.com/view/pnfggkc5qgp9ef2s

#### Press Release #############################

Mixed breed
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania   Adopt-a-Dog

Skai

A-49853
Female
7 years
59 lbs.
Adoption fee: $150
Grays Ferry Clinic 9

Wiggly, playful, and cuddly: meet new staff-favorite, Skai!

For an older lady, she still has a lot of pep in her step. She loves to go on walks, play with tennis balls, and lean into your legs to get all the rubs you can give. Skai loves to show off her adorable belly, and she is generous with kisses. This well-behaved house hippo knows sit and lie down, though she could use a little help continuing to work on her leash manners.

This sweet pup was in her previous home for her whole seven years of life, where she celebrated her birthday with a burger and fries with her favorite human. Unfortunately for Skai and her previous owner, they could no longer keep her. But that's great news for her future adopter who will be so lucky to welcome this goofy sweetheart into their lives.

Mixed breed (It’s impossible to identify breed mix by sight alone, so for most dogs, their mix is only a guess. We get to know each dog as an individual and strive to make matches based on personality, not on breed label.)

​All our dog meets are by appointment only; to get started, please complete the adoption application. To learn more about this dog, please contact us at adoptions@phillypaws.org or 215-298-9680 ext. 16

Before going home, all dogs and puppies are:

• spayed or neutered;
• vaccinated for: distemper, hepatitis, parainfluenza, and parvovirus (DHPP – for puppies, the first in a series of three vaccinations that should be completed by the adopter either at your veterinarian’s office or by returning to a PAWS clinic), bordetella, and rabies;
• dewormed (often the first in a series of treatments that should be completed by the adopter);
• treated for fleas (treatment must continue monthly to keep your pet flea-free); and,
• microchipped. If your pet is ever lost, a microchip with your contact info can be its ticket home.
• Dogs must go home in a collar or harness and leash, for safety. You can bring your own or they are available for purchase at our facilities. Adopters living in Philadelphia must also purchase a city dog license at the time of adoption ($18).

2900 Grays Ferry Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19146
215-298-9680
gfclinic@phillypaws.org

PAWS Adoption Center
100 N 2nd St,
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 238-9901

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Maya, Female, 6 Years Old
100% - Malamute

In response to an Alaskan Malamute in the Roseville, California Adopt-a-Dog in Fridays' News Edition, Hugh Swandel, Senior Vice President, Meridian OneCap Credit Corp., sent an email: “Maya appreciates your support of Adopt-A-Dog and agrees with the Malamute description,” meaning the description of the dog’s behavior with other dogs was "Right on:”

"Gentle as can be … except with other dogs or when the ‘predator/prey gene kicks in,” he explained. “They need a lot of work to be happy (2 X 1 Hour per day with challenging tasks)."

I thanked him for sending and noted "great looking dog!"

He shot back, "She knows it!"

I noted to Hugh, “Just like a beautiful woman knows it!”

“Exactly,” he responded

Betty in Roseville
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2021/07_30.htm#adopt

News Briefs---

US economic growth decelerates, made worse
      by decoupling from China
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1230204.shtml

Zoom reaches $85 million settlement over
     user privacy, 'Zoombombing'
https://www.reuters.com/technology/zoom-reaches-85-mln-settlement-lawsuit-over-user-privacy-zoombombing-2021-08-01/

Less than 0.001% of fully vaccinated Americans died
     after a Covid-19 breakthrough case, CDC data shows
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2021/08/01/less-than-0-001-of-fully-vaccinated-americans-died-after-a-covid-19-breakthrough-case-cdc-data-shows-2/

Biden Takes Steps to Tighten Oversight
     of American-Made Standards
https://www.truckinginfo.com/10148276/biden-calls-for-stricter-oversight-of-american-made-manufacturing

Vaccinated People May Spread the Virus,
    Though Rarely, C.D.C. Reports
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/30/health/cdc-vaccinated-delta.html

Florida COVID-19 cases surge with 100,000+
    reported in past week
https://www.local10.com/news/florida/2021/07/30/florida-covid-19-cases-surge-to-100000-in-past-week/

Disney and Walmart mandate employees to be vaccinated
    as COVID-19 cases spike nationwide
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/07/31/disney-walmart-vaccine-mandate-delta/

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You May Have Missed---

Home Prices Are Soaring. Is That the Fed’s Problem?
    "Low interest rates are one reason..."
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/31/business/economy/home-prices-interest-rates-fed.html

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Sports Briefs---

Jimmy Garoppolo Throws Two Interceptions on Day 4 of Camp
https://www.si.com/nfl/49ers/news/jimmy-garoppolo-throws-two-interceptions-on-day-4-of-49ers-camp

Kevin Durant makes history as Team USA blasts
    Czech Republic to advance to quarterfinals
https://sports.yahoo.com/kevin-durant-makes-history-as-team-usa-blasts-czech-republic-to-advance-to-quarterfinals-135449211.html

Bruce Arians: Bucs players will be close to 100 percent
     vaccinated by 1st game
https://www.theredzone.org/Blog-Description/EntryId/16881/Bruce-Arians--Bucs-players-will-be-close-to-100-percent-vaccinated-by-1st-game

Carson Wentz will rest
   and rehab before deciding on foot surgery
https://www.theredzone.org/Blog-Description/EntryId/16880/Carson-Wentz-will-rest-and-rehab-before-deciding-on-foot-surgery

Katie Ledecky Thanks the Family Who Let Her Train
    in Their Pool During COVID as She Wins Another Gold
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/katie-ledecky-thanks-family-let-074338076.html

How new Giant Kris Bryant became a huge Barry Bonds fan
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/giants/article/The-story-of-how-new-Giant-Kris-Bryant-became-a-16356042.php

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California Nuts Briefs---

COVID delta variant may spur new
    San Francisco Bay Area mask mandates
https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/07/30/covidelta-variant-may-spur-new-bay-area-mask-mandates/

More than 700,000 acres burned in 2 Northern California
     counties since 2018: What’s left?
https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/07/31/almost-700000-acres-burned-since-2018-whats-left/

California unemployment claims jump
     to highest level since reopening
https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/07/29/california-unemployment-claims-jump-highest-level-reopening-jobs-edd/

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“Gimme that Wine”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJnQoi8DSE8

California Wine Country Rebuilds as Threats Persist
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/29/dining/drinks/california-wine-climate-change-fires.html

Gallo and Graham: Wine's Marvel Team-up
https://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2021/07/gallo-and-grahm-wines-marvel-team-up

Your Next Lesson: Rosé From the Dark Side
    By Eric Asimov
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/01/dining/drinks/wine-school-dark-roses.html

Free Wine App
https://www.nataliemaclean.com/mobileapp/

Wine Prices by vintage
http://www.winezap.com
http://www.wine-searcher.com/

This Day in History

     1498 - Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sets foot on the South 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.
    1610 - During Henry Hudson’s search for the Northwest Passage, he sailed into what is now known as Hudson Bay. On his fourth voyage to North America, Hudson worked his way around Greenland’s west coast and into the bay, mapping much of its eastern coast. His ship, Discovery, became trapped in the ice over the winter and the crew survived onshore at the southern tip of James Bay. When the ice cleared in the spring, Hudson wanted to explore the rest of the area, but the crew mutinied on June 22, 1611. They left Hudson and others adrift in a small boat. No one knows the fate of Hudson or the crew members stranded with him, but historians see no evidence that they survived for long afterwards.  
    1619 - First blacks (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.htm
    1754 - Pierre "Peter" Charles L'Enfant (d. 1825), the designer of the layout of Washington, DC, was born in Paris.  L'Enfant was recruited to join in the Revolutionary War and served as a military engineer in the Continental Army with Lafayette.  Despite his aristocratic origins, L'Enfant closely identified with the United States, changing his first name from Pierre to Peter.  L'Enfant served on General George Washington's staff at Valley Forge.   He was wounded at Savannah, recovered and became a prisoner of war.   Following the American Revolutionary War, L'Enfant established a successful and highly profitable civil engineering firm in New York City. He achieved some fame as an architect by redesigning the City Hall in New York for the First Congress of the US, better known as Federal Hall.  President Washington appointed L'Enfant in 1791 to plan the new "Federal City" under the supervision of three Commissioners, whom Washington had appointed to oversee the planning and development of the federal territory that would later become designated the District of Columbia. Included in the new district were the river port towns of Georgetown and Alexandria.     
    1776 – This is the day of the signing of the American Declaration of Independence.  The statement adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776 announced that the American colonies, then at war with the Kingdom of Great Britain, regarded themselves as thirteen newly independent sovereign states, and no longer under British rule. Instead, they formed the new nation. After ratifying the text on July 4, Congress issued the Declaration of Independence in several forms. It was initially published, widely distributed and read to the public. The source copy used for this printing has been lost and may have been a copy in Thomas Jefferson's hand.  Jefferson's original draft, complete with changes made by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, and Jefferson's notes of changes made by Congress, are preserved at the Library of Congress. The best-known version of the Declaration, a signed copy that is popularly regarded as the official document, is displayed at the National Archives in Washington, DC.  This engrossed copy was ordered by Congress on July 19 and signed on August 2.  
    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
    1779 - Birthday of Francis Scott Key (d. 1842) at Frederick County, MD. American attorney, social worker, poet and author of the US national anthem. Key was on board a ship off Baltimore 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.”
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 III 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 his 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.  The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax imposed on a domestic product by the newly formed federal government. It became law in 1791 and was intended to generate revenue for the war debt incurred during the Revolutionary War. The tax applied to all distilled spirits, but American whiskey was by far the country's most popular distilled beverage in the 18th century, so the excise became widely known as a "whiskey tax."  Farmers resisted the tax. In these regions, whiskey often served as a medium of exchange. Many of the resisters were war veterans who believed that they were fighting for the principles of the Revolution, against taxation without representation, while the federal government maintained that the taxes were the legal expression of Congressional taxation powers.  Throughout western Pennsylvania, protesters used violence and intimidation to prevent federal officials from collecting the tax. Resistance came to a climax in July, 1794, when a US Marshal arrived in western Pennsylvania to serve writs to distillers who had not paid the excise. The alarm was raised, and more than 500 armed men attacked the fortified home of tax inspector Gen. John Neville. Washington responded by sending peace commissioners to western Pennsylvania to negotiate with the rebels, while at the same time calling on governors to send a militia force to enforce the tax. Washington himself rode at the head of an army to suppress the insurgency, with 13,000 militiamen provided by the governors of surrounding states. The rebels all went home before the arrival of the army, and there was no confrontation.
http://www.whiskeyrebellion.org/rebell.HTM
    1812 - A rare tornado hits Westchester County, NY.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nylnphs/HH/2.htm
    1834 - Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi (d. 1904) was born in Colmar, France.  He is best known for designing Liberty Enlightening the World, commonly known as the Statue of Liberty, the gift from the French to the Americans in honor of the centennial of American independence.
    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
    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
    1861 - Congress passed the first income tax. The revenues were intended for the war effort against the South. The tax was never enacted. 
    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 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 – President U. S. Grant signed Proclamation 230 admitting Colorado to the Union as the 38th state.  The Territory of Colorado was organized on February 28, 1861 when outgoing President Buchanan signed an Act of Congress.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/aug01.html
http://www.sfcablecar.com/hist1.html
    1876 - "Wild Bill" Hickok was shot and killed while playing poker at a saloon in Deadwood in present-day South Dakota.  The hand he supposedly held at the time of his death (including the ace of spades, the ace of clubs, the eight of spades and the eight of clubs) has become known as the “Dead Man’s Hand.”       
    1892 - Jack Leonard "J. L." Warner (d. 1978) was born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, Canada.  He was an American film executive who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, CA. Warner's career spanned some forty-five years, its duration surpassing that of any other of the seminal Hollywood studio moguls.
    1907 – The Major League debut of Walter Johnson saw the Senators’ rookie lose to the Detroit Tigers, 3-2.  The first hit he surrendered was a bunt single to Ty Cobb.
    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/
    1921 - With the jurors lifting them onto their shoulders, the eight White Sox players accused of throwing the 1919 World Series were acquitted by the jury. The next day, Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis said the overwhelming evidence clearly shows the Black Sox fixed the games with gamblers and all involved will be banned from playing professional baseball again.
    1923 – Upon the death of President Warren G. Harding, Vice-President Calvin Coolidge took office as the 30th President.  Doctors found that not only was Harding's heart causing problems, but he also had pneumonia, a serious matter in the days before effective antibiotics. When treated with caffeine and digitalis, Harding seemed to improve. By the afternoon of August 2, 1923, doctors allowed Harding to sit up in bed, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.  That evening, about 7:30 pm, twisted convulsively and collapsed, and she raced to get the doctors. They attempted stimulants, but were unable to revive him, and President Harding died of a heart attack at the age of 57.  
    1924 – James Baldwin (d. 1987) novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic, was born in NYC.  His essays, as collected in “Notes of a Native Son” (1955), explored palpable yet unspoken intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th-century America.  It was on the required summer reading list for incoming freshman in the Cornell Class of 1968.
    1924 – “Ahhchie.”  John Carroll O'Connor (d. 2001) was born in Manhattan.  He found everlasting fame as the bigoted working man Archie Bunker, the main character in the 1970s CBS television sitcom “All in the Family” (1971-79).  The show broke ground in its depiction of issues previously considered unsuitable for a U.S. network television comedy, such as racism, homosexuality, women's liberation, rape, religion, miscarriage, abortion, breast cancer, the Vietnam War, menopause, and impotence. Through depicting these controversial issues, the series became arguably one of television's most influential comedic programs, as it injected the sitcom format with more dramatic moments and realistic, topical conflicts.  The show is often regarded in the United States as one of the greatest television series of all time.   O'Connor later starred in the sequel, “Archie Bunker’s Place” (1979-83), and in the NBC/CBS television crime drama “In the Heat of the Night” from 1988-95, where he played the role of southern Police Chief William (Bill) Gillespie. In 1996, O'Connor was ranked number 38 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.  
    1932 – Lamar Hunt (d. 2006) was born in El Dorado, AR.  He was the principal founder of the American Football League (AFL) and Major League Soccer (MLS), as well as MLS's predecessor, the North American Soccer League (NASL), and co-founder of World Championship Tennis. He was also the founder and owner of the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL, the Kansas City Wizards of MLS, and at his death, owned two MLS teams. In Kansas City, Hunt also helped establish the two theme parks. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1972; into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1982; and into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1993.  He is credited with coining the term “Super Bowl” to describe what was originally known as the AFL-NFL Championship Game.
    1933 - California introduces sales tax due to the devastating depression.
http://www.salestaxcpa.com/id50.htm
    1937 - The Marihuana Act of 1937 was passed by Congress, rendering marijuana and all its by-products illegal. This act was overturned in 1969 in Leary v. United States and was repealed by Congress the next year. 
    1939 - Glenn Miller Band records “In the Mood,” (Bluebird 10415). Non-royalty contract gives him only $175.  It topped the charts for 13 straight weeks in 1940 in the U.S. and, one year later, was featured in the movie “Sun Valley Serenade.”  The first recording of "In the Mood" was released by Edgar Hayes and his Orchestra in 1938.  In 1983, the Glenn Miller recording from 1939 was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.  In 1999, NPR included the 1939 Glenn Miller recording on RCA Bluebird on the NPR 100, the list of "The 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century.  In 2004, the 1939 Glenn Miller recording on RCA Victor was inducted into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry which consists of recordings that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
    1939 – Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard wrote to President Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan Project to develop a nuclear weapon while warning of the potential development of "extremely powerful bombs of a new type." It urged the United States to take steps to acquire stockpiles of uranium ore and accelerate the research of Enrico Fermi and others into nuclear chain reactions. Roosevelt called on Lyman Briggs of the National Bureau of Standards to head the Advisory Committee on Uranium to investigate the issues raised by the letter. Briggs held a meeting on 21 October 1939, which was attended by Szilárd, Eugene Wigner and Edward Teller. The committee reported back to Roosevelt in November that uranium "would provide a possible source of bombs with a destructiveness vastly greater than anything now known."
    1941 - Willys introduces the “jeep.” General Dwight D. Eisenhower said that America could not have won World War II without it.  In 1908, John Willys bought the Overland Automotive Division of Standard Wheel Company and, in 1912, renamed it Willys-Overland Motor Company. From 1912 to 1918, Willys was the second-largest producer of automobiles in the United States after Ford.  Willys-Overland was one of several bidders when the War Department sought an automaker that could begin rapid production of a lightweight truck based on a design by American Bantam.  Production of the Willys MB, better known as Jeep, began in 1941, shared between Willys, Ford, and American Bantam. 8,598 units were produced that year and 359,851 units before the end of World War II. Willys-Overland ranked 48th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts.  In total, 653,568 military Jeeps were manufactured.  The origin of the name "Jeep" has been debated for many years. Some people believe "Jeep" is a phonetic pronunciation of the abbreviation GP, from "General Purpose", that was used as part of the official Army nomenclature. The first documented use of the word "Jeep" was the name of a character Eugene the Jeep in the Popeye comic strip, known for his supernatural abilities (e.g. walking through walls). It was also the name of a small tractor supplied to the U.S. Army by Minneapolis-Moline in 1937.  Whatever the source, the name stuck and on February 13, 1943, Willys-Overland filed a trademark application on the use of the term "Jeep" with the U.S Patent Office.  After several denials by the patent office and appeals by Willys-Overland, the trademark "Jeep" was finally awarded to the company on June 13, 1950.  Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner, American Motors Corp.  Chrysler and the Jeep division operated under Chrysler Group LLC, until 2014, when Chrysler folded into Fiat Chrysler.  Jeeps have been built under license by various manufacturers around the world, including Mahindra in India, EBRO in Spain, and several in South America. Mitsubishi built more than 30 models in Japan between 1953 and 1998.  Jeep is now part of Stellantis N.V. is a Dutch-domiciled multinational automotive manufacturing corporation, formed in 2021 on the basis of a 50-50 cross-border merger between Fiat Chrysler and the French PSA Group.  As of May 2021, Stellantis is the sixth-largest automaker worldwide.  
http://jeepin.com/history.shtml   
    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 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.
    1943 – PT109 was rammed by a Japanese destroyer and sunk. Lt. John F. Kennedy saved all but two of his crew. 
    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 Polizel 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 - 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
    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
    1954 - A 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 Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York.
    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.
    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 - 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
    1962 - Robert Zimmerman legally changed his name to Bob Dylan. 
    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/
    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."
    1964 – North Vietnamese gunboats in the Gulf of Tonkin allegedly fired on the U.S. destroyer USS Maddox.  The outcome of the incident was the passage by Congress of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted President Lyndon Johnson the authority to assist any Southeast Asian country whose government was considered to be jeopardized by "communist aggression." The resolution served as Johnson's legal justification for deploying U.S. conventional forces and the commencement of open warfare against North Vietnam. 
    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.
    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 - 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.
    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 25.
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. For several years, it was unavailable at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, nor other online used book stores.
    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.
    1979 – Yankees C Thurman Munson, at the height of his career, crashed at Canton, OH practicing take offs and landings in his private plane, and perished.
    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 - 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, are inducted in the Hall of Fame.
    1983 - U.S. House of Representatives approved a law that designated the third Monday of January would be a federal holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The law was signed by President Reagan on November 2. 
    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.
    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. 
    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 African descent to head the Social Security Commission.
http://www.ssa.gov/history/king.html
    1998 - Using the old Negro League teams represented in their respective cities, the Cardinals-Braves game Saturday featured throwback uniforms of the 1928 St. Louis Stars and the 1940 Atlanta Black Crackers.
    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 (Hypertext Markup Language) and the URL (Universal Resource Locator). Mosaic, the first graphical Web browser, was designed by Marc Andreessen and released in 1993.  Andreessen was one of the founders of Netscape.   
    1990 - IBM sold off its typewriter and keyboard businesses on this day in 1990. 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. Later, IBM exited the PC business altogether by selling it to Lenovo.
    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.
    1990 – Iraq invaded Kuwait, triggering Operation Desert Storm.  Iraq president Saddam Hussein ordered the Iraqi Army to invade Kuwait to repel Kuwait’s serious threat to Iraq due to their overproducing oil that was driving down oil prices.  Hussein installed a military government after securing the capital, then annexed Kuwait on the claim the Kuwait was historically part of Iraq.  President George H. W. Bush ordered Operation Desert Storm that lasted all of 100 hours before Kuwait was liberated from Iraqi ‘rule.’
    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.
    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.
    1995 - Peggy Lee gave her final major public performance, at the Hollywood Bowl. 
    1996 - Olympic 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.
    2007 - Mattel recalled nearly a million Chinese-made toys from its Fisher-Price division that were found to have excessive amounts of lead. 
    2010 - The U.S. Government estimated the Deepwater Horizon oil spill dumped nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
    2013 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration identified Cyclospora in salads made by Taylor Farms; the parasite caused illness in over 223 diners in Nebraska and Iowa.
    2018 – Apple became the first US company to be valued over $1 trillion.  The company employs 123,000 full-time employees and maintains 504 retail stores in 24 countries as of 2018.  It operates the iTunes Store, which is the world's largest music retailer. As of January 2018, more than 1.3 billion Apple products are actively in use worldwide.  The company also has a high level of brand loyalty and is ranked as the world's most valuable brand.