- 239th Day of 2015 126 Remaining
- Autumn Begins in 27 Days
- Sunrise:6:36
- Sunset:7:45
- 13 Hours 9 Minutes
- Moon Rise:6:17pm
- Moon Set:4:11am
- Phase:94%
- Full Moon August 29 @ 11:37am
- Full Sturgeon Moon / Full Green Corn Moon
- Full Grain Moon/Full Red Moon
- The fishing tribes are given credit for the naming of this Moon, since sturgeon, a large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water, were most readily caught during this month. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because, as the Moon rises, it appears reddish through any sultry haze. It was also called the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.
- Tides
- High:10:21am/9:33pm
- Low:3:33am/3:31pm
- Holidays
- National Pots de Crème Day
- Kiss Me Day
- Just Because Day
- National Banana Lovers Day
- Tarzan Day
- Thoughtful Thursday
- The Duchess Who Wasn’t Day
- Independence Day-Moldova
- On This Day
- 1776 --- During the American Revolution, British forces under General William Howe defeat Patriot forces under General George Washington at the Battle of Brooklyn in New York. On August 22, Howe’s large army landed on Long Island, hoping to capture New York City and gain control of the Hudson River, a victory that would divide the rebellious colonies in half. On August 27, the Red Coats marched against the Patriot position at Brooklyn Heights, overcoming the Americans at Gowanus Pass and then outflanking the entire Continental Army. Howe failed to follow the advice of his subordinates and storm the redoubts at Brooklyn Heights, and on August 29 General Washington ordered a brilliant retreat to Manhattan by boat, thus saving the Continental Army from capture. At the Battle of Brooklyn, the Americans suffered 1,000 casualties to the British loss of only 400 men. On September 15, the British captured New York City.
- 1789 --- The Declaration of the Rights of Man was adopted by the French National Assembly.
- 1859 --- The first oil well was successfully drilled in the U.S. by Colonel Edwin L. Drake near Titusville, PA.
- 1883 --- The most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history occurs on Krakatau (also called Krakatoa), a small, uninhabited volcanic island located west of Sumatra in Indonesia. Heard 3,000 miles away, the explosions threw five cubic miles of earth 50 miles into the air, created 120-foot tsunamis and killed 36,000 people.
- 1892 --- The original Metropolitan Opera House in New York was seriously damaged by fire.
- 1912 --- Edgar Rice Burroughs' first Tarzan novel, 'Tarzan of The Apes' was first published in 'All Story' magazine (October issue, published August 27).
- 1921 --- The owner of Acme Packing Company bought a pro football team for Green Bay, WI. J.E. Clair paid tribute to those who worked in his plant by naming the team the Green Bay Packers.
- 1953 --- “Roman Holiday”, featuring Audrey Hepburn in her first starring movie role, premieres in New York City. Hepburn’s performance in ”Roman Holiday,”as a European princess who ditches her official duties and falls for an American journalist (played by Gregory Peck) while on tour in Rome, earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress and instantly established her as a leading Hollywood star.
- 1962 --- Mariner 2 was launched by the United States. In December of the same year the spacecraft flew past Venus. It was the first space probe to reach the vicinity of another planet.
- 1965 --- Elvis Presley played host to the Beatles at his home in Bel-Air, CA.
- 1967 --- Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles, was found dead of an accidental drug overdose in his Sussex, England, home. The following day, the headline in the London Daily Mirror read “EPSTEIN (The Beatle-Making Prince of Pop) DIES AT 32.” Brian Epstein was, by all accounts, the man who truly got the Beatles off the ground, and in John Lennon’s estimation, it was difficult to see how they’d manage to go on without the man who had managed every aspect of the Beatles’ business affairs up until his unexpected death. “I knew that we were in trouble then,” John later recalled. “I didn’t really have any misconceptions about our ability to do anything other than play music. I was scared. I thought, ‘We’ve fooking had it.'”
- 1970 --- Vice-President Spiro Agnew meets with South Vietnamese president Nguyen Van Thieu in Saigon. In a speech at Ton Son Nhut air base, Agnew praised the South Vietnamese people for suffering “so much in freedom’s cause” and promised that “there will no lessening of U.S. support.”
- 1971 --- Alice Waters' Chaz Panisse restaurant opened in Berkeley.
- 1979 --- Lord Louis Mountbatten is killed when Irish Republican Army (IRA) terrorists detonate a 50-pound bomb hidden on his fishing vessel Shadow V. Mountbatten, a war hero, elder statesman, and second cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, was spending the day with his family in Donegal Bay off Ireland’s northwest coast when the bomb exploded. Three others were killed in the attack, including Mountbatten’s 14-year-old grandson, Nicholas. Later that day, an IRA bombing attack on land killed 18 British paratroopers in County Down, Northern Ireland.
- 1982 --- Oakland Athletics outfielder Rickey Henderson steals his 119th base of the year, breaking Hall of Famer Lou Brock’s 1979 record for stolen bases in a season. Henderson stole bases in 1982 at an unprecedented pace. By August 27, when the A’s visited Milwaukee, Henderson had already racked up 118 steals, tying Brock’s major league record. In the third inning, Henderson walked on four pitches to reach first base. The Brewers knew he would look to steal, so they pitched out to catcher Ted Simmons, who threw to shortstop Robin Yount. Henderson had indeed taken off, and he proved too fast for the Brewers’ battery, stealing his 119th base on the year. The game was stopped and Brock and American League President Lee MacPhail joined the teams on the field to congratulate the new record-holder. Henderson, however, was not done for the day. After a walk in the sixth inning, he stole second again. In the eighth inning, after his third walk, he stole second and third base, giving him 122 steals on the year at the end of the game. Henderson finished the season with 130 stolen bases, a single-season record that still stands.
- 1984 --- U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced that the first citizen to go into space would be a teacher. The teacher that was eventually chosen was Christa McAuliffe. She died in the Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986.
- 1992 --- John Lennon's handwritten lyrics to "A Day In The Life" sold for $87,000 at an auction.
- 2003 --- The world's largest battery was connected to provide emergency power in Fairbanks, Alaska. The $35 million re-chargable battery weighs 1,300 tons and in the event of a blackout, it can provide 40 megawatts of power for up to 7 minutes, while backup generators are being started. Total city blackouts occur every 2 or 3 years due to the extreme weather conditions.
- 2007 --- Michael Vick, a star quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, formally pleads guilty before a Richmond, Virginia, judge to a federal felony charge related to running a dogfighting ring. That December, the 27-year-old Vick, once the highest-paid player in the NFL, was sentenced to 23 months in federal prison.
- Birthdays
- Margaret Hungerford
- Lyndon B Johnson (36th President)
- Hannibal Hamlin
- Martha Raye
- Ira Levin
- Daryl Dragon
- Tuesday Weld
- Barbara Bach
- Paul Reubens “Pee Wee Herman”
National Pots de Creme Day-KALW Almanac-8/27/2015
