TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2018

1851 - The schooner America outraced the Aurora off the English coast to win a trophy that became known as the America’s Cup.

1864 - The International Red Cross is founded.

1864 - Twelve nations sign the First Geneva Convention. 1872 - Ernest Giles begins his first expedition into the Australian desert.

1872 - The northern and southern sections of the 3200km Overland Telegraph Line are joined, linking Adelaide to Darwin and on to the world through Java. It changed communications forever.

1906 - The Victor Talking Machine Company of Camden, NJ began to manufacture the Victrola record player. The hand-cranked unit, with horn cabinet, sold for $200.

1917 - Stockman Jim Darcy dies, causing a chain of events that eventually leads to the founding of the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

1932 - The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) made its first TV broadcast. 1934 - Bill Woodfull of Australia becomes the only cricket captain to twice regain The Ashes.

1941 - World War II: German troops reach Leningrad, leading to the 872-day siege of Leningrad that started a few weeks later.

1944 - World War II: Holocaust of Kedros in Crete by German forces

1944 - World War II: Romania is captured by the Soviet Union. 1949 - Queen Charlotte earthquake, magnitude 8.1: Canada’s largest earthquake since the 1700 Cascadia earthquake

1950 - Althea Gibson becomes the first black competitor in international tennis.

1959 - Stephen Rockefeller married Anne Marie Rasmussen. Anne had once been a maid for the powerful and wealthy Rockefeller family. 1962 An attempt to assassinate French president Charles de Gaulle fails. Frederick Forsyth used this incident as a basis for his novel The Day of the Jackal.

1973 - Henry Kissinger was named Secretary of State by U.S. President Nixon. Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize that year.