Born On This Day:

• Nicholas-Jacques Conte, 1755
• Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1792
• William Henry Hudson, 1841
• Sir Harry Lauder, 1870
• Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, 1900
• Raul Wallenberg, 1912
• Yasser Arafat, 1929
• Martin Jarvis, 1941
• Rick Derringer, 1949
• Billy Bob Thornton, 1955
• Barack Obama, 1961
• Jeff Gordon, 1971

Died On This Day:

• King Henri I France, 1060
• Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, 1265
• King Wenceslas III Bohemia assassinated, 1306
• King Sebastian Portugal, 1578
• Hans Christian Andersen, 1875
• Eddie Condon, 1973
• Lord Thompson of Fleet, 1976
• Frank Fontaine, 1978
• Melvyn Douglas, 1981
• Jesse Unruh, 1987
• Victor Mature, 1999

Today's Events:

• 1265 - Battle of Evesham in England; Earl of Leicester defeated by Price Edward, later Edward I.
• 1693 - The legend that Dom Pierre Pérignon invented champagne today is false, but he did make substantial contribution to the method of production and quality.
• 1735 - Freedom of the media established in American colonies when John Peter Zenger acquitted of libel.
• 1870 - British Red Cross founded seven years after International Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland
• 1886 - Special delivery stamps first go on sale.
• 1892 - Lizzie Borden kills her parents with a hatchet in Fall River, MA; found not guilty 6/20/93
• 1914 - Germany invades Belgium WWI, and Britain declares war on Germany same day.
• 1916 - U.S. buys Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 Million; official possession to come in March 1917.
• 1921 - First tennis match broadcast on radio-Davis Cup on KDKA, Pittsburg.
• 1937 - An Okapi (sort of half zebra, half giraffe) first imported to a zoo in America-Bronx Zoo, N.Y.
• 1944 - Gestapo in Amsterdam, Holland finds Anne Frank and family's hiding place.
• 1949 - 6,000 killed in Ecuador earthquake; 50 towns destroyed.
• 1953 - World record black marlin weighing 1,560 lbs. caught off Cabo Blanco, Peru by A. C. Glassell Jr.
• 1958 - Billboard magazine's 'Hot 100' chart introduced. First number one is Ricky Nelson's Poor Little Fool.
• 1984 - Republic of Upper Volta changes name to Burkina Faso.
• 1997 - Jeanne Calment, oldest person in the world at 122 dies; b. 2/21/1875; disliked Van Gogh.

Feast Day of Saint:

• Dominic

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