On this day

3114 BC – The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, notably the Mayans, begins.

1858 - The Eiger in the Swiss Bernese Alps was ascended for the first time by Irishman Charles Barrington accompanied by guides Christian Almer and Peter Bohren.

1909 - The first recorded use of the new emergency wireless signal SOS.

1918 - World War I: The end of the Battle of Amiens that ultimately led to the end of the First World War. The battle is also notable for the large number of surrendering German forces. It was one of the first major battles involving armoured warfare and marked the end of trench warfare on the Western Front.

1934 – The first civilian prisoners arrive at the Federal prison on Alcatraz Island.

1942 - Barnes Wallis patented his bouncing bomb, used successfully to destroy German dams in the 2nd World War.

1942 – Actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil receive a patent for a frequency hopping, spread spectrum communication system that later became the basis for modern technologies in wireless telephones and Wi-Fi.

1965 – Race riots (the Watts riots) begin in the Watts area of Los Angeles, California.

1992 - The Mall of America, the biggest shopping mall in America, opened in Bloomington, Minnesota.

1998 - British Petroleum stunned the money markets by announcing it had agreed to merge with Amoco Corp of the United States in a deal billed as the largest industrial merger.

1999 - Up to 350m people throughout Europe and Asia witnessed the last total solar eclipse of the century.

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

(09-08-2012 12:43 )skully Wrote:  1984 - Daley Thompson won the Olympic decathlon at the Summer Games in Los Angeles.

Whenever people talk about Olympic heroes, Daley Thompson is always one of the first two I think of in terms of achievement in their sports. He and Steve Redgrave are my two favourite British Olympians of all time. When we think of the troubles that both have had to overcome to get to the top of their field, their achievements are even more impressive.

Francis Morgan Ayodele 'Daley' Thompson was born to a Nigerian father and a Scottish mother in Notting Hill, London on 30th July, 1958. When he was just twelve years old, his father who was a taxi driver, was killed in a shooting in Streatham. Thompson had to overcome both this personal tragedy and some tough years spent in a Sussex boarding school. He originally had aspirations of becoming a professional footballer before settling on athletics.

He competed and won in his first decathlon event at a meet in Cwmbran, Wales in 1975. The AAA championship quickly followed the year after before he was to make his Olympic debut at the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal. He finished 18th place, but followed this with the European Junior Title and the first of three Commonwealth titles in 1978.

Medals

Olympic Games

Prior to the 1980 Moscow Olympics, Thompson hit a world record of 8,648 points at the meeting in Gotzis, Austria. He followed this up with a comfortable gold medal in Moscow.

The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics saw Thompson retain his title. This time around the event became known for the competition between Thompson and his long time rival throughout the 1980s from West Germany, Jurgen Hinsen. During the 1500 metres, it was thought that Thompson had failed to tie the world record by just one point, when he eased off. However, a photo finish proved that Thompson should have been credited with one more point in the 110 metre hurdles discipline, and thus in fact had succeeded in equalling Hinsen's record. He finished the event with a massive 8,847 points - an unmatched record that stood until 1992. During the medal ceremony in 1984, Thompson famously whistled "God Save The Queen" during the national anthem and in a TV interview afterwards said ""I've got the Big G, boys - the Big G!".

Apart from two Olympic decathlon golds (a feat which to this day only American Bob Mathias has equalled and which still stands as the UK record), Thompson won two European championships golds (Athens '82 and Stuttgart '86); one world championship gold (Helsinki '83) and three Commonwealth golds (Edmonton '78, Brisbane '82 and Edinburgh '86).

Legacy

Forced to retire from athletics in 1992 after a succession of hamstring injuries, he then played football for Mansfield Town, Stevenage Borough and Ilkeston and worked as a fitness coach for Wimbledon FC. His image and name were used to promote Lucozade drinks and at least three athletics based computer games.

Thompson is one of the ambassadors for the London 2012 Summer Games, earning considerable praise for his focus on highlighting benefits that a home games could bring to schools. He currently runs a boot fitness camp in Esher with other camps set up around the country, again with a large focus of getting more sports back in to schools.

My favourite was when David Coleman came out with "Britain's Olympic Gold Medallist.......Daley Cathlon"!!!

30 BC – Cleopatra VII Philopator, the last ruler of the Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty, commits suicide, allegedly by means of an asp bite.

1624 – The president of Louis XIII of France's royal council is arrested, leaving Cardinal Richelieu in the role of the King's principal minister.

1851 - Isaac Singer was granted a patent on his sewing machine.

1865 - Joseph Lister became the first doctor to use disinfectant during surgery.

1877 – Asaph Hall discovers the Mars moon Deimos.

1898 – The Hawaiian flag is lowered from Iolani Palace in an elaborate annexation ceremony and replaced with the flag of the United States to signify the transfer of sovereignty from the Republic of Hawaii to the United States.

1944 – Nazi German troops end the week-long Wola massacre, during which time at least 40,000 people were killed indiscriminately or in mass executions.

1953 – Nuclear weapons testing: the Soviet atomic bomb project continues with the detonation of Joe 4, the first Soviet thermonuclear weapon.

1964 - The death of Ian Fleming, the English novelist best known for his James Bond series of spy novels.

1964 – Charlie Wilson, one of the Great Train Robbers, escapes from Winson Green Prison in Birmingham, England, United Kingdom.

1981 – The IBM Personal Computer is released.

2000 – The Oscar class submarine K-141 Kursk of the Russian Navy explodes and sinks in the Barents Sea during a military exercise.

1521 – Tenochtitlán (present day Mexico City) falls to conquistador Hernán Cortés.

1704 – War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Blenheim – English and Imperial forces are victorious over French and Bavarian troops.

1814 – The Convention of London, a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United Provinces, is signed in London.

1910 - The death of Florence Nightingale, English nurse who came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed 'The Lady with the Lamp' after her habit of making rounds at night.

1913 - The first production in the UK of stainless steel by Sheffield born Harry Brearley.

1918 – Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) established as a public company in Germany.

1961 – The German Democratic Republic closes the border between the eastern and western sectors of Berlin to thwart its inhabitants' attempts to escape to the West.

1964 - The last hangings in Britain took place when two men, Gwynne Evans and Peter Allen, were hanged for the murder of John Alan West, a van driver from Seaton, Cumbria. Evans was hanged at Manchester's Strangeways Prison and at exactly the same time (8 am), Peter Allen was hanged at Liverpool's Walton Prison.

1991 - Britain introduced the Dangerous Dog Act in which aggressive dogs must be muzzled and held on a leash in public.

2008 – South Ossetian War: Russian units occupy the Georgian city of Gori.

1880 – Construction of Cologne Cathedral, the most famous landmark in Cologne, Germany, is completed.

1888 - An audio recording of English composer Arthur Sullivan's The Lost Chord, one of the first recordings of music ever made, was played during a press conference in London to introduce Thomas Edison's phonograph.

1893 – France becomes the first country to introduce motor vehicle registration.

1941 - British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and American President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the Atlantic Charter.

1945 - World War II: Following the dropping of atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered to the Allies, ending World War II.

1947 – Pakistan gains Independence from the British Empire and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.

1969 – Operation Banner: British troops are deployed in Northern Ireland.

1974 – The second Turkish invasion of Cyprus begins; 140,000 to 200,000 Greek Cypriots become refugees. 6,000 massacred, 1,619 missing.

2003 – A Widescale power blackout in the northeast United States and Canada.

2007 – The 2007 Kahtaniya bombings kills at least 796 people.

293 BC – The oldest known Roman temple to Venus is dedicated.

1040 – King Duncan I is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth. The latter succeeds him as King of Scotland.

1248 – The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid.

1842 - The first regular British detective force was formed as a division of the Metropolitan Police, under the joint command of Inspector Pearce and Inspector John Haynes. In 1878 it became known as the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

1843 – Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark.

1939 - The Cunard liner Queen Mary recaptured the Blue Riband from the SS Normandie, crossing the Atlantic in 3 days, 22 hours and 40 minutes.

1941 - Corporal Josef Jakobs was executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 7:12 a.m. making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for treason.

1963 – Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland.

1971 – Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom.

1977 – The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the Wow! signal from the notation made by a volunteer on the project.

1858 - U.S. President James Buchanan and Britain's Queen Victoria exchanged messages inaugurating the first transatlantic telegraph line.

1897 - Endowed by the sugar merchant Henry Tate, the Tate Gallery, in London, was opened.

1913 – Completion of the Royal Navy battlecruiser HMS Queen Mary.

1930 – The first color sound cartoon, called Fiddlesticks, is made by Ub Iwerks.

1930 - The first British Empire Games (now the Commonwealth Games) were held at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

1960 - Britain granted independence to the crown colony of Cyprus.

1960 – Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico at 102,800 feet (31,300 m), setting three records that still stand today: High-altitude jump, free fall, and highest speed by a human without an aircraft.

1962 - Unhappy with Pete Best's role in The Beatles, Brian Epstein and the other three members decided to sack him. He played his last gig the following night at The Cavern, Liverpool.

1984 - John De Lorean was acquitted in Los Angeles of charges that he conspired to import 100 kg of cocaine, and used the proceeds to save his financially-troubled Northern Ireland sports car company.

1989 – A solar flare from the Sun creates a geomagnetic storm that affects micro chips, leading to a halt of all trading on Toronto's stock market.

1743 - John "Jack" Broughton, English bare-knuckle boxer published a set of rules to control boxing and introduced boxing gloves. The new rules forbade hitting an opponent when he was down, kicking, gouging head butting and grasping an opponent below the waist.

1896 - Bridget Driscoll of Croydon, Surrey, became the first pedestrian in Britain to die after being hit by a car. It is said she froze in panic at the sight of the oncoming car, which was travelling at just four miles per hour.

1908 – Fantasmagorie, the first animated cartoon, created by Émile Cohl, is shown in Paris.

1943 – World War II: The Royal Air Force begins Operation Hydra, the first air raid of the Operation Crossbow strategic bombing campaign against Germany's V-weapon programme.

1959 – Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, the much acclaimed and highly influential best selling jazz recording of all time, is released.

1978 – Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.

1980 – Azaria Chamberlain disappears, probably taken by a dingo, leading to what was then the most publicised trial in Australian history.

1982 – The first Compact Discs (CDs) are released to the public in Germany.

1998 – Monica Lewinsky scandal: US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony that he had an "improper physical relationship" with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. On the same day he admits before the nation that he "misled people" about the relationship.

(17-08-2012 10:46 )skully Wrote:  1896 - Bridget Driscoll of Croydon, Surrey, became the first pedestrian in Britain to die after being hit by a car. It is said she froze in panic at the sight of the oncoming car, which was travelling at just four miles per hour.

The speed limit at the time had only just been raised to 14mph, and there was conflicting witness evidence as to what speed the vehicle was actually doing, but even if it was going at the "reckless pace" described by one witness, it was mechanically impossible for it to have been doing more than 8mph.

After six hours deliberation the jury brought in a verdict of accidental death and the driver was exonerated of any blame. The local Coroner, Percy Morrison, hoped that "such a thing would never happen again."

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents estimate 550,000 people had been killed on UK roads by 2010 and the World Health Organisation estimate that each year somewhere around 1.2 million people are killed and over 50 million injured in road accidents.