Sunday, August 28, 2011

28th of August

Today is the 240th day of the year and 125 days are remaining.

683 - Kinich Janaab Pakal, ruler of the Maya polity of Palenque for 68 years, passes away at 80 years of age.

1189 - During the Third Crusade, the Crusaders begin the Siege of Acre under Guy of Lusignan.

1349 - Nearly 6,000 Jews are killed in Mainz, Germany because they are accused of being the cause of the plague.

1609 - Henry Hudson discovers the Delaware Bay, the outlet of the Delaware River.

1619 - Ferdinand II is elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

1859 - A geomagnetic storm causes the Aurora Borealis to shine so brightly, that it is seen clearly over parts of the United States, Europe and even Japan.

1867 - The United States takes possession of the unoccupied Midway Atoll in the Pacific.

1898 - Caleb Bradham renames his carbonated soft drink "Pepsi-Cola."

1914 - The Royal Navy defeats the German fleet in the Battle of Heligoland Bight.

1940 - American actor, known for his stage work and as Dr. Bob Kelso on Scrubs, Ken Jenkins is born.

1943 - In Denmark, a general strike against the Nazi occupation is started.

1944 - Marsielle and Toulon in France are liberated from the German occupation.

1955 - Black teenager Emmett Till is murdered in Mississippi, galvanizing the nascent of the American Civil Rights Movement.

1957 - Strom Thurmond, begins a filibuster to prevent the Senate from voting on the Civil Rights Act of 1957; the U.S. Senator stopped speaking 24 hours and 18 minutes later, the longest filibuster ever conducted by on single Senator.

1961 - Motown releases what would be its first #1 hit, "Please Mr. Postman" by The Marvelettes.

1963 - Martin Luther King Jr., delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, D.C.

1981 - The National Centers for Disease Control, announce a high incidence of pneumocystis and Kaposi's sarcoma.  These will soon be recognized as an immune disorder, which will be called AIDS.

2003 - An electricity blackout cuts off power to around 500,000 people living in south east England and brings 60% of London's underground rail network to a halt.

2005 - Hurricane Katrina begins to make landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi in the afternoon, and brings the most severe damage to Slidell and New Orleans.

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