August 25, 2016

Today is Thursday August 25, 2016 The 238th day of 2016-- 128 left It is a leap year Sunrise this morning 6:35 a.m. set: 7:47 p.m. 13:12 hours of daylight Moonrise: 12:17 a.m. set: 2:35 p.m. SPECIAL CELEBRATIONS TODAY; Today is National Park Service Day, Second Hand Wardrobe Day, Natl. Bananna Split Day, Ntl Whiskey Sour Day , Kiss and Make up Day and Independence Day in Uruguay. This day in History: 1718 - Hundreds of colonists from France arrived in Louisiana. Some settled in present-day New Orleans. 1814 - The U.S. Library of Congress was destroyed by British forces. 1825 - Uruguay declared independence from Brazil. 1840 - Joseph Gibbons received a patent for the seeding machine. 1875 - Captain Matthew Webb swam from Dover, England, to Calais, France making him the first person to swim the English Channel. The feat took about 22 hours. 1902 - "Al-Hoda" began publication in New York City making it the first Arabic daily newspaper in the U.S. 1916 - The National Park Service was established as part of the U.S. Department of the Interior. 1920 - Ethelda Bleibtrey won the 100-meter freestyle swimming competition in Antwerp, Belgium. She was the first woman to win an Olympic competition for the U.S. 1920 - The first airplane to fly from New York to Alaska arrived in Nome. 1921 - The U.S. signed a peace treaty with Germany. 1939 - The movie "Wizard of Oz" opened around the United States. 1940 - Arno Rudolphi and Ann Hayward were married while suspended in parachutes at the World’s Fair in New York City. 1941 - Soviet and British troops invaded Iran. This was in reaction to the Shah's refusal to reduce the number of German residents. 1941 - Allied forces invaded Iran. Within four days the Soviet Union and England controlled Iran. 1941 - U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt signed the bill appropriating funds for construction of the Pentagon. 1944 - Paris, France, was liberated by Allied forces ending four years of German occupation. 1944 - Romania declared war on Germany. 1946 - Ben Hogan won the PGA in Portland, OR. It was his first major golf title. 1949 - NBC Radio debuted "Father Knows Best." The show went to TV in 1954. 1950 - U.S. President Truman ordered the seizure of U.S. railroads to avert a strike. 1972 - In Great Britain, computerized axial tomography (CAT scan) was introduced. 1978 - The Turin shroud believed to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ went on display for the first time in 45 years. 1981 - The U.S. Voyager 2 sent back pictures and data about Saturn. The craft came within 63,000 miles of the planet. 1983 - The U.S. and the Soviet Union signed a $10 billion grain pact. 1987 - Saudi Arabia denounced the "group of terrorists" that ran the Iranian government. 1988 - Iran and Iraq began talks in Geneva after ending their eight years of war. 1990 - Military action was authorized by the United Nations to enforce the trade embargo that had been placed on Iraq after their invasion of Kuwait. 1991 - Byelorussia declared independence from the Soviet Union. 1992 - It was reported by researchers that cigarette smoking significantly increased the risk of developing cataracts. 1993 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 3,652.09, an all-time high. 1995 - Harry Wu, human rights activist, returned to the United States. He said the spying case against him in China was "all lies." 1997 - The tobacco industry agreed to an $11.3 billion settlement with the state of Florida. 1998 - A survey released said that 1/3 of Americans use the If Today is your Birthday you share your special day with: Allen Pinkerton 1819 Bret Harte 1836 Emile Kocher 1841 Charles Richet 1850 Sir Hans Adolf Krebs 1900 Clara Bow 1905 Ruby Keeler 1909 Michael Rennie 1909 Walt Kelly 1913 Van Johnson 1916 Frederick Robbins 1916 Mel Ferrer 1917 Donald DeFore 1917 - Actor Richard Greene 1918 Leonard Bernstein 1918 George C. Wallace 1919 Monty Hall 1923 - Game show host ("Let's Make a Deal") Althea Gibson 1927 Sean Connery 1930 - Actor Page Johnson 1930 Regis Philbin 1931 - Talk show host, game show host ("Who Wants to be a Milllionaire") Tom Skerritt 1933 - Actor ("Picket Fences") Wayne Shorter 1933 - Jazz saxophonist Hugh Hudson 1936 David Canary 1938 Marshall Brickman 1941 - Filmaker Walter Williams (The O'Jays) 1942 Anthony Heald 1944 Jacques Demers 1944 Rollie Fingers 1946 - Baseball player Anne Archer 1947 John Savage 1949 Gene Simmons 1949 - Musician (KISS) Henry Paul (Blackhawk) 1949 Willy DeVille (William Paul Borsey Jr.) 1953 - Singer, songwriter Rob Halford 1951 - Singer (Judas Priest) Elvis Costello 1954 - Musician Tim Burton 1958 - Director Ally Walker 1961 - Actress Billy Ray Cyrus 1961 - Country singer Vivian Campbell 1962 - Musician (Def Leppard) Morgan Englund 1964 Blair Underwood 1964 - Actor Joanne Whalley-Kilmer 1964 Albert Belle 1966 - Baseball player Terminator X (Public Enemy) 1966 Rachel Ray 1968 - TV Chef Robert Horry 1969 Jo Dee Messina 1969 Claudia Schiffer 1971 - Model Kel Mitchell 1978- Actor Rachel Bilson 1981 - Actress ("The O.C.") Blake Lively 1987 - Actress ("Gossip Girl") Tags: almanac