Today in History - onthisday.com

 

                                                                                        Aug 19

43 BC Octavian, later known as Augustus, compels the Roman Senate to elect him consul

1477 When Maximilian, Archduke of Austria, presented his young wife with a diamond ring he began a tradition that has lasted for five and a half centuries.

1661 The world's "most mysterious book," a codex known as the Voynich manuscript and written in an unknown script, is sent by the rector of Charles University in Prague to a Jesuit scholar (now in Yale University's Beinecke Library and still undeciphered) 

1839 Louis Daguerre's daguerreotype photographic process with complete working instructions is published "free to the world" in Paris as a gift from the French government

1900 Start of the first and only Olympic cricket match as Great Britain defeats France by 158 runs in Paris

1942 World War II: Over 4,000 Canadian and British soldiers are killed, wounded, or captured during a raid on Dieppe, France

1950 ABC begins broadcasting Saturday morning kids' shows (Animal Clinic and Acrobat Ranch)

1970 The Chinese community in South Africa is granted "white" status 

1988 Iran and Iraq begin a ceasefire in their eight-year-old war at 11 pm EDT

1991 Conservative members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union attempt to depose Mikhail Gorbachev in a coup d'état [1] www.onthisday.com/russia/conservative_coup.php

2008 Lady Gaga's debut album, "The Fame," is released by Interscope Records (Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album 2010)

2010 Operation Iraqi Freedom winds down as the last of the United States Brigade Combat Teams cross the border into Kuwait [1] www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna38744453

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Aug 18

1926 First televised weather map is broadcast by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington, DC

1590 Governor of Roanoke Island colony John White returns from England to find no trace of the colonists he left there three years earlier

1737 First public admission to the Salon de Paris art exhibition at the Louvre in Paris

1838 United States Exploring Expedition headed by Charles Wilkes departs for the Pacific Ocean and Antarctica

1886 French astronomer Pierre Janssen discovers helium in the solar spectrum during an eclipse

1919 Anti-Cigarette League of America forms in Chicago, Illinois

1920 State Representative Harry T. Burn (24) casts the deciding vote in Tennessee's and thus America's ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, allowing women's suffrage after reading a letter from his mother

1940 Battle of Britain: Air battle known as "The Hardest Day" occurs; the Luftwaffe loses approximately 69 aircraft and the RAF 68 in one of the largest ever air battles

1956 Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel" reach #1 on the charts, staying for 11 weeks (a record for a single release) 

2008 Belarusian weightlifter Andrei Aramnau breaks three world records in the snatch, clean and jerk, and total on his way to winning the men's 105 kg gold medal at the Beijing Olympics

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                                                                      Aug 17

1876 Richard Wagner's opera "Götterdämmerung" (Twilight of the Gods) premieres in Bayreuth

1903 Joseph Pulitzer donates $1 million to Columbia University and begins the Pulitzer Prizes in the United States

1908 Projection in Paris of the first animated cartoon, "Fantasmagorie," created by Émile Cohl 

       1933 MLB player Lou Gehrig plays his record 1,308th consecutive game

1945 Korea is divided into North and South Korea along the 38th parallel

1945 Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta declare Indonesia (formerly the Dutch East Indies) independent from the Netherlands

1947 The Radcliffe Line is revealed, setting the border between Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan

1979 "Monty Python's Life of Brian" directed by Terry Jones, starring Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, and John Cleese, and funded by George Harrison's HandMade Films, premieres in US theaters

                                                  

1998 Monica Lewinsky scandal: US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony he had an "improper physical relationship" with the intern and on the same day admits before the nation he "misled people" about the relationship

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Aug 16

1513 Battle of the Spurs at Guinegate (now Enguinegatte): King Henry VIII of England and Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I defeat French forces, capturing the town and routing the French cavalry

1743 Champion of England titleholder Jack Broughton publishes "Rules of the Ring," the earliest boxing code

1858 Britain's Queen Victoria telegraphs US President James Buchanan for the first time via transatlantic telegraph cable; he replies, "It is a triumph more glorious, because far more useful to mankind, than was ever won by conqueror on the field of battle"

1896 Gold is first discovered in the Klondike at Bonanza Creek in Yukon, Canada, by George Carmack

1930 First British Empire Games open in Hamilton, Canada

1930 The first color sound cartoon "Fiddlesticks" is released by Ub Iwerks (formerly of Walt Disney Studios)

1945 The last Chinese Emperor and ruler of the Japanese puppet state Manchukuo, Puyi, is captured by Soviet troops while preparing to board a plane to escape to Japan

1946 Direct Action Day: Widespread riots erupt in Calcutta between Muslims and Hindus over whether Pakistan should be a separate state, killing over 4,000 and leaving 100,000 homeless

1974 American punk rock band "The Ramones" debut in concert at CBGB in New York City

1989 A solar flare from the Sun creates a geomagnetic storm that affects microchips, leading to a halt in all trading on Toronto's stock exchange

2008 Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt sets a new world record of 9.69 seconds to win the 100 m gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics

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                                                                                  Aug 15

1461 Empire of Trebizond surrenders to forces of Sultan Mehmed II, the last remnant of the Byzantine Empire to fall; Emperor David is exiled and later executed

1483 Sistine Chapel to Our Lady of the Assumption in Vatican City is consecrated with a Mass by Pope Sixtus IV

1620 The Mayflower sets sail from Southampton, England, with 102 Pilgrims bound for the New World

1851 Second US National Women's Rights Convention convenes in Brinley Hall, Worcester, Massachusetts

1900 Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi, her family, and court retainers flee Peking for Xi'an as foreign troops move through the capital in an attempt to quell the Boxer Rebellion

New Zealand's All Blacks play their first rugby test match against Australia's Wallabies at the Sydney Cricket Ground, the All Blacks win 22-3

1918 "The Sinking of the Lusitania" by Winsor McCay is produced; at 12 minutes long, it is the longest work of animation at that time

1939 The Wizard of Oz, an American musical fantasy film adaptation of L. Frank Baum's book, premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood; directed by Victor Fleming and King Vidor with a cast featuring Judy Garland (Dorothy), Ray Bolger (Scarecrow), Jack Haley (Tin Man), Bert Lahr (Cowardly Lion), Frank Morgan (Wizard), Billie Burke (Glinda), and Margaret Hamilton (Wicked Witch); songs by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg

1947 India gains independence from the United Kingdom and remains a dominion until 1950

1969 Woodstock Festival opens in Bethel, New York, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm; performers include Richie Havens, Tim Hardin, Ravi Shankar, Melanie, Arlo Guthrie, and Joan Baez

1998 Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland, the worst terrorist incident of The Troubles, kills 29 people and injures about 220

2021 Afghan President Ashraf Ghani flees the country as Taliban forces enter the capital Kabul and take control

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                                                                  August 14th

1040 King Duncan I of Scotland is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth, who succeeds him as king (not murdered in his sleep as in Shakespeare's play)

1281 During Kublai Khan's second Mongol invasion of Japan, his invading Chinese fleet of 3,500 vessels disappears in a typhoon near the Japanese coast 

1842 US Army Colonel Worth declares the Second Seminole War over after nearly seven years; over 3,000 surviving members of the Seminole Nation are forcibly relocated from Florida to Oklahoma, with only about 300 permitted to remain 

1901 First claimed powered flight by Gustave Whitehead in his No. 21 aircraft near Bridgeport, Connecticut 

1909 Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, home of the Indy 500, hosts its first motorized event, a series of motorcycle races

1936 America's Last Public Hanging The last man to be publicly hanged in the United States met his fate on this day in history. It was a squalid affair watched by about 10,000 people. 

1938 BBC's first feature film on TV (The Student of Prague)

1945 V-J Day, the Empire of Japan surrenders unconditionally to the Allies, ending World War II (August 15 in Japan and other countries depending on the time zone)

1947 Pakistan gains independence from the United Kingdom

1969 British Army deploys on the streets of Northern Ireland, beginning Operation Banner

1980 17,000 workers strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, beginning the Solidarity movement

1987 Oakland's Mark McGwire sets the rookie home run record at 39 en route to 49

1995 "Battle of Brit Pop" rival bands Oasis (Roll with It) and Blur (Country House) release singles on the same day

The Feel Good Factor on DNTCCC: Surf’s pup: Some 20 dogs make a splash at annual World Dog Surfing Championships in California

Surf’s pup: Some 20 dogs make a splash at annual World Dog Surfing Championships in California

This year’s overall winner was five-year-old Labrador retriever Rippin Rosie, followed closely by Iza, a French bulldog from Pleasanton, and Bradley “Shortboard” Cooper from Long Beach.

By Shir Perets, Jerusalem Post, August 9, 2026

https://www.jpost.com/omg/article-904670

Sally jumps off her board while competing in the World Dog Surfing Championships on August 01, 2026 in Pacifica, California.

(photo credit: Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

Some 20 dogs competed in the 10th annual World Dog Surfing Championships at Linda Mar Beach in California last Saturday.

The sport was first conceived in 2006 by K. Reed, author of "The Dog's Guide to Surfing."

In the years since, the sport evolved into what it is today, and has inspired similar events across the world, including many in California, Florida, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

This year’s overall winner was five-year-old Labrador retriever Rippin Rosie, followed closely by Iza, a French bulldog from Pleasanton, and Bradley “Shortboard” Cooper, a mixed-breed from Long Beach.

Additionally, Rosie - alongside her owner, Steve Drottar - took first place in the stand-up paddleboarding category.

Iza Surf Dog competes during the World Dog Surfing Championships in Pacifica, California, on August 1, 2026. The event helps local charities raise money by sponsoring a contestant or a team, with a portion of the proceeds going to dog, environmental, and surfing nonprofit organizations. (Photo by Go (credit: Godofredo A. VÁSQUEZ / AFP via Getty Images)

Hundreds of spectators cheered for the dogs as they made a splash

The winners were announced by Rep. Sam Liccardo, former San Jose mayor, to a crowd of hundreds, who cheered for the pups all day from the shore.

The oldest contestant was 11-year-old Charlie, a yellow Lab from the San Diego area, whose surfing journey actually began by accident when owner Jedd Niebor placed the dog onto a surfboard for a quick photo, which turned into an impromptu surf lesson.

Spectators are encouraged to sponsor contestants each year, with a portion of all proceeds going to a number of local charities.

Dogs surf at the World Dog Surfing Championship in California

The Feel Good Factor on DNTCCC a pet friendly blog

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Today in History - onthisday.com

 

                                                                                                    August 13th

1514 French King Louis XII (52) marries by proxy Mary Tudor (18), sister of Henry VIII, at Greenwich Palace, England

1521 Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés capture Aztec Emperor Cuauhtémoc in Tenochtitlan, bringing the Aztec Empire to an end

1536 Buddhist monks from Kyoto's Enryaku-ji Temple set fire to 21 Nichiren temples throughout Kyoto in the Tenbun Hokke Disturbance (Traditional Japanese date: July 27, 1536)

1642 Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens discovers Mars's southern polar cap

1788 Prussia joins the Anglo-Dutch alliance to form the Triple Alliance to prevent the spread of the Russo-Swedish War of 1788-90

1913 Otto Witte, German acrobat and fantasist, is purportedly crowned King of Albania

1937 Second Sino-Japanese War: Japanese forces start the Battle of Shanghai, a three-month conflict involving over one million troops

1942 The Manhattan Project commences under the direction of US General Leslie Groves with the aim of developing an atomic bomb

1961 Construction of the Berlin Wall begins in East Germany 

1967 "Bonnie and Clyde" crime film directed by Arthur Penn and starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway is released

2013 "Crash My Party," the fourth studio album by Luke Bryan, is released (Billboard Album of the Year 2014)

2008 American super-swimmer Michael Phelps wins three gold medals, all in world record time, in one day at the Beijing Olympics: 200 m IM (1:54.23), 200 m butterfly (1:52.03), and 4x200m freestyle relay (6:58.56)

Today in History - onthisday.com

                                                                                                    August 12th

1121 Battle of Didgori: Georgian army under King David the Builder wins a decisive victory over the renowned Seljuk commander Ilghazi

1480 Ottoman troops conquer Otranto in southern Italy after a 15-day siege, killing 12,000, enslaving 5,000, and beheading 800 Christians for refusing to convert to Islam

1851 American inventor Isaac Singer patents his famous sewing machine

1883 The last quagga (a zebra subspecies with fewer stripes) dies at Artis Magistra Zoo in Amsterdam 

1908 Ford Motor Company builds its first Model T car, which Henry Ford himself tests on a hunting trip to Wisconsin and northern Michigan

1927 Silent film "Wings," starring Clara Bow and directed by William A. Wellman, premieres in NY as the first film and one of only two silent films to win an Academy Award for Best Picture

1964 Mickey Mantle switch-hits a home run for the record 10th and final time in a game, with one going 502 feet

1981 Don Estridge unveils the company's first personal computer, the IBM PC, at New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel, priced at $1,565 with 16 kilobytes of RAM, helping bring computing to the masses 

1991 Heavy metal band Metallica releases its fifth album, "Metallica," which debuts at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart 

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                                                 August 11

3114 BC 3114-08-11 BCE is traditionally considered the start date of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, notably the Maya

                                                                   

1929 New York Yankees slugger Babe Ruth becomes the first MLB player to hit 500 home runs (off Willis Hudlin) in a 6-5 loss to the Indians at League Park, Cleveland

1945 Allies refuse Japan's offer to surrender on the condition that Emperor Hirohito retains his status

1954 Formal peace treaty ends over seven years of fighting in Indochina between the French and the Communist Viet Minh

1978 Second studio album by Chic, "C'est Chic," is released, featuring the single "Le Freak" (Billboard Album of the Year 1979)

1988 Al-Qaeda is formed at a meeting between Osama Bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Dr. Fadl in Peshawar, Pakistan

2003 NATO takes over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan in its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year history

Fun Fact About August 11. During a radio voice test, US President Reagan jokes that he "signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes." August 11, 1984