Born On This Day:

• St. Antony of Padua, 1195
• Frederick William I, King of Prussia, 1688
• Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769
• Sir Walter Scott, 1771
• Thomas de Quincey, 1785
• Walter Crane, 1845
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1875
• Ethel Barrymore, 1879
• Edna Ferber, 1887
• T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia), 1888
• Bil Baird, 1904
• Julia Child, 1912
• Wendy Hiller, 1912
• Mike Connors, 1921
• Phyllis Schlafly, 1924
• Robert Bolt, 1924
• Oscar Peterson, 1925
• Tom Mboya, 1930
• Jim Dale, 1935
• Vernon Jordan, 1935
• Linda Ellerbee, 1944
• Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, 1950
• Debra Messing, 1968
• Ben Affleck, 1972

Died On This Day:

• Saint Stephen I, 1038
• Macbeth, King of Scotland, 1057
• Wiley Post killed, 1935
• Will Rogers killed, 1935
• Artur Schnabel, 1951
• René Magritte, 1967
• Oscar Levant, 1972
• John Cameron Swayze, 1995

Today's Events:

• 1057 - Macbeth mortally wounded at the Battle of Lumphanan, Scotland; Victorious was future King Malcolm III.
• 1237 - City of Berlin founded.
• 1635 - First recorded hurricane in America near Plymouth rock.
• 1790 - John Carroll consecrated as first Catholic bishop in America in chapel at Dorset, England.
• 1843 - Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen open for business with special guest Hans Christian Andersen.
• 1848 - The dental chair patented by designer M. Waldo Hanchett of Syracuse, N.Y.
• 1914 - Panama Canal officially opened; first passage from Atlantic to Pacific Oceans made by SS Ancon.
• 1935 - Will Rogers and Wiley Post go down in airplane.
• 1939 - 'Wizard of Oz' premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood.
• 1945 - V-J Day. Allied victory over Japan in World War II. WWII
• 1947 - After 200 years of British rule, India and Pakistan become independent.
• 1969 - Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens, 450,000 rock fans gather in fields of alfalfa near Bethel, N.Y.
• 1998 - Real IRA strikes Omagh in Northern Ireland killing 29; worst single atrocity in Northern Ireland's troubles.
• 2003 - Biggest power cut in history at 16:10 (2010GMT) in Eastern US and Canada; 50 million affected.
• 2007 - Devastating 7.9 earthquake hits coast of Peru killing 350+; epicenter in Pacific Ocean 90 miles southeast of Lima.

Feast Day of Saint:

• Tarsicius
• The Blessed Virgin Mary

Holiday:

• Independence Day Bahrain (1971), Congo (1960), India (1947)
• Foundation Day in Panama City
• Liberation Day South Korea (1948)
• Assumption Day celebrated

Non-Specific Holiday:

• NAGA PANCHAMI, Hindu Festival of the Serpent God
• RAKHI, Hindu Festival to Pledge Protection
• CHUNG-CH'IU, Mid-autumn festival, Harvest or Moon Festival (fifteenth day of the eighth moon)
• TISH'AH B'AB (Jewish) Anniversary of fall of Jerusalem and destruction of first & 2nd temples Ab 9
• JANAM (OR JANMA) ASHTAMI, Hindu Birthday Festival of Krishna
• ANANT CHATURDASI, Hindu Eternal Anniversary of 14th day of Month Bhaedra
• CH'UNG YANG, Festival of High Places in China (ninth day of the ninth moon)
• Japanese visit graves of ancestors mid August
• GANESHA CHATURTHI, Hindu Festival of the Elephant God end of August
• FRIENDSHIP DAY - first Sunday in August in USA