**August 16, 1863: **President Lincoln signs Emancipation Proclamation.
I don’t think so: Emancipation Proclamation - Wikipedia
August 16, 1977 - Elvis Presley died in Memphis, Tenn.
August 16, 1888 birthdate of T.E. Lawrence (you know, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’)
August 18, 1992, Larry Bird announced his retirement from the Boston Celtics. One of the best players ever.
August 18, 1976 – North Korean soldiers killed two American soldiers in the Joint Security Area of the Korean Demilitarized Zone, heightening tensions over a 100-foot poplar tree that blocked the line of sight between a United Nations Command checkpoint and an observation post.
I saw recently that Robert Pattinson is playing him in the movie Queen of the Desert and thought “Well that’s kind of insensiti… oh, he’s not the title character. Carry on then.”
August 19, 1969: Remnants of Hurricane Camille move into Nelson County, Virginia from the west and bring disaster. The official forecast called for showers and clearing by morning. Then this happened. 30 inches of rain in eight hours killed nearly 200 people. Birds were said to drown in the trees, as it rained like being under a waterfall. Many bodies have never been found. Some bodies found were never identified. Over 1% of the entire population of the Nelson County died that night. I now live at the base of those hills in the first picture.
August 19, 1909: The first race at Indy, Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The race was five miles long, twice around the 2½ mile long rectangular “oval”, and was won by Austrian engineer Louis Schwitzer at an average speed of 57.4 MPH. There were 12,000 spectators.
Six people died during the race! Two drivers, two mechanics, and two spectators died because the track’s surface was so unstable - the track surface was crushed rock and tar. It was a disaster.
August 20, 1911: The first round-the-world telegraph message is sent from the office of The New York Times. It takes a little over 16 minutes and is relayed by 16 different telegraph offices. The message reads: “This message sent around the world.”
August 24, 1992: Catagory 5 Hurricane Andrew decimates Southern Florida.
**August 25, 2005 **: Hurricane Katrina kills 14 people in Florida before moving into the Gulf of Mexico and significantly intensifying.
August 25, 1537 – The Honourable Artillery Company, currently the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, was formed by Royal Charter from King Henry VIII.
**August 25, 1835: **The New York Sun began “The Great Moon Hoax,” a series of six articles about the supposed discovery of life and even civilization on the Moon. The discoveries were falsely attributed to Sir John Herschel, one of the best-known astronomers of his time.
August 25th, 1958: The most important day ever for college students - Momofuku Ando marketed the first package of precooked instant (Ramen) noodles.
August 27, 1883: Krakatoa volcano eruptsinto a massive disaster. Though the eruption actually began yesterday, the four explosions today caused massive tsunamis and killed some 36,000 people. These explosions were actually heard 3000 miles away. The sounds of the eruption were so loud that they burst the eardrums of sailors on a ship 64 miles away. The average temperature on the planet dropped 1.2 degrees for the next 5 years.
August 28, 1938: Northwestern University awards honorary degree to dummy Charlie McCarthy … as “master of innuendo and the snappy comeback."
August 29, 2005: Hurricane Katrina makes landfall in Louisiana.
August 29, 1966: The Beatles give their last paid public concert, in Candlestick Park, San Francisco.
September 2, 1935: The strongest hurricane to directly hit the US does just that. Close too 500 die when this Cat 5 storm wth 185 mph sustained winds obliterates the Florida keys…
September 2, 1752: Last Julian calendar day in Britain and British colonies (no Sept 3-Sept 13th)