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Sandcastle & Sculpture Day-KALW Almanac-8/19/2015

  • 231st Day of 2015 134 Remaining
  • Autumn Begins in 35 Days
  • Sunrise:6:29
  • Sunset:7:57
  • 13 Hours 28 Minutes
  • Moon Rise:11:06am
  • Moon Set:10:37am
  • Phase:22%
  • 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:2:01am/2:43pm
  • Low:8:12am/9:00pm
  • Holidays
  • National Sandcastle and Sculpture Day
  • National Aviation Day
  • “Black Cow” Root Beer Float Day
  • National Hot & Spicy Food Day
  • National Potato Day
  •  
  • World Humanitarian Day
  • World Photography Day
  • Apple Spas-Russia
  • Independence Day-Afghanistan
  • Annual Pilgrimage-Montserrat
  • On This Day
  • 1812 --- The U.S. Navy frigate Constitution defeats the British frigate Guerrière in a furious engagement off the coast of Nova Scotia. Witnesses claimed that the British shot merely bounced off the Constitution‘s sides, as if the ship were made of iron rather than wood. By the war’s end, “Old Ironsides” destroyed or captured seven more British ships. The success of the USS Constitution against the supposedly invincible Royal Navy provided a tremendous boost in morale for the young American republic.
  • 1848 --- The discovery of gold in California was reported by the New York Herald.
  • 1856 --- Gail Borden was granted patent #15,553 for a process to make condensed milk, which he had developed in 1853.
  • 1909 --- In front of some 12,000 spectators, automotive engineer Louis Schwitzer wins the two-lap, five-mile inaugural race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. Conceived by local businessmen as a testing facility for Indiana’s growing automobile industry, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway would later become famous as the home to the now world-famous Indianapolis 500 race, which was first held in 1911. In that inaugural race, Schwitzer (then the chief engineer at Stoddard-Dayton) drove a stripped-down Stoddard Dayton touring car with a four-cylinder engine. He achieved an average speed of 57.4 mph on the new track, which was then covered in macadam, or crushed pieces of rock layered and bound by tar. Later, the speedway would be covered with 3.2 million paving bricks, which earned it its enduring nickname, “The Brickyard.”
  • 1917 --- Team managers John McGraw and Christy Mathewson were arrested for breaking New York City's blue laws. The crime was their teams were playing baseball on Sunday. 
  • 1953 --- The Iranian military, with the support and financial assistance of the United States government, overthrows the government of Premier Mohammed Mosaddeq and reinstates the Shah of Iran. Iran remained a solid Cold War ally of the United States until a revolution ended the Shah’s rule in 1979.
  • 1960 --- The USSR launched Sputnik 5 into Earth orbit carrying 2 dogs, 40 mice, 2 rats and a variety of plants. The capsule was successfully returned to Earth the next day on August 20.
  • 1960 --- Captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for his confessed espionage. On May 1, 1960, Powers took off from Pakistan at the controls of an ultra-sophisticated Lockheed U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. A CIA-employed pilot, he was to fly over some 2,000 miles of Soviet territory to BodØ military airfield in Norway, collecting intelligence information en route. Roughly halfway through his journey, he was shot down by the Soviets over Sverdlovsk in the Ural Mountains. Forced to bail out at 15,000 feet, he survived the parachute jump but was promptly arrested by Soviet authorities.
  • 1964 --- The first American tour by the Beatles began in San Francisco, CA. The tour would cover 26 cities. The Beatles’ set that night and throughout the tour that followed featured only 12 songs, most often in this order: ”Twist and Shout”, “You Can’t Do That”, “All My Loving”,  ”She Loves You”, “Things We Said Today”, “Roll Over Beethoven”, “Can’t Buy Me Love”, “If I Fell”, “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, “Boys”, “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Long Tall Sally” At other stops on the tour, the Beatles’ performances would last approximately 33 minutes, but the show that night in San Francisco lasted some five minutes longer—not because of any difference in the Beatles’ performance, but because of police intervention to stem the growing pandemonium. Within the first few seconds of the first song that night, at least one radio journalist traveling with the Beatles had been trampled to the ground along with a young female fan who broke a leg in the melee. And thanks to an offhand comment by George Harrison about the group’s favorite candy in the days leading up to the show, the Beatles themselves were pelted with flying jelly beans throughout that night’s set. Though John, Paul, George and Ringo were uninjured, they left the Cow Palace that night by ambulance after their limousine was swarmed by berserk fans.
  • 1969 --- Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis began three days of recording sessions that yielded the album "Bitches Brew."
  • 1980 --- A fire aboard a plane bound for Saudi Arabia forces an emergency landing. The Saudi Airlines flight began in Karachi, Pakistan, headed for Jidda, Saudi Arabia, with a stopover in Riyadh. The first leg of the flight was uneventful, and the Lockheed L-1011 took off from Riyadh with no problems. Shortly after takeoff from Riyadh, however, the pilot reported a fire onboard the plane and told air-traffic controllers that he needed immediate clearance to head back to the airport. The fire started while passengers onboard were cooking with a portable butane stove. Apparently, this was not unusual, as Middle Eastern airlines are often willing to accommodate their Muslim passengers’ needs to follow the strict dietary laws of their religion. The pilot was able to land the plane back at Riyadh safely and headed to the end of the runway where a rescue crew was waiting.
  • 1991 --- Yankel Rosenbaum, a visiting student from Australia, is stabbed to death by an angry mob in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York. The crowd, consisting of young black men, had been intent on seeking revenge against Jewish people for the death of seven-year-old Gavin Cato, who had been struck by a car driven by a Hasidic Jew three hours earlier. Following Rosenbaum’s murder, rioting continued against Jews forfour days in Crown Heights, while many complained that the response by police and Mayor David Dinkins was inadequate. In October, 16-year-old Lemrick Nelson was charged with the murder of Rosenbaum but was acquitted after a racially charged trial the following year. But the case did not end there. Due in part to lobbying by the victim’s brother, Norman Rosenbaum, the federal government charged Nelson with violating Rosenbaum’s civil rights in 1994. In the meantime, a state report criticized Mayor Dinkins and the police for their lack of action during the riots—a claim that helped Rudolph Giuliani defeat Dinkins in the next mayoral election. In 1996, a videotape of the Crown Heights incident came to light, showing Charles Price inciting a mob to assault Jews in retaliation for Cato’s death. He shouted, “Kill the Jews!” and, “An eye for an eye!” In February 1997, a jury convicted both Nelson and Price for their roles in Rosenbaum’s murder. Nelson was sentenced to 19 years in prison, while Price received 21 years, despite his claim that he had been exercising his right to freedom of speech.
  • 2005 --- A Texas jury found pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. liable for the death of a man who'd taken the once-popular painkiller Vioxx.
  • 2010 --- A federal grand jury indicted retired baseball player Roger Clemens for allegedly lying to Congress about steroid use.
  • Birthdays
  • William Jefferson Clinton (42nd President)
  • Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel
  • Orville Wright
  • Seth Thomas
  • Charles E Hires
  • Ton Duc Thang
  • Ogden Nash
  • Gene Roddenberry
  • Malcolm Forbes
  • Diana Muldaur
  • Ginger Baker
  • Jill St John
  • Mary Matalin
  • Peter Gallagher
  • Adam Arkin
  • John Stamos
  • Tabitha Soren
  • Matthew Perry