DAY IN HISTORY

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Today is the 218th day of 2019 and the 47th day of summer. TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1787, the “Great Debate” over the future of the U.S. Constitution began at the Constitutional Convention.

In 1926, Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim across the English Channel.

In 1945, the U.S. B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped the “Little Boy” atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act,

which outlawed some voting qualifications thought to disenfranchise black voters.

In 2012, NASA’S Curiosity rover landed on Mars.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), poet; Alexander Fleming (1881-1955), biologist/ pharmacologist; Lucille Ball (1911-1989), actress/comedian; Robert Mitchum (1917-1997), actor; Andy Warhol (1928-1987), artist/filmmaker; Michelle Yeoh (1962- ), actress; David Robinson (1965- ), basketball player; Mike Greenberg (1967- ), sportscaster; M. Night

Shyamalan (1970- ), filmmaker; Vera Farmiga (1973- ), actress; Max Kellerman (1973- ), sportscaster.

TODAY’S FACT: In 1991, CERN computer scientist Tim Berners-lee published the first website and webpage, which offered information about the World Wide Web project.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1963, Philadelphia’s NBA team changed its name from the Nationals to the 76ers.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “Break, break, break, / On thy cold gray stones, O Sea! / And I would that my tongue could utter / The thoughts that arise in me.” — Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Break, Break, Break”

TODAY’S NUMBER: 4,862 — ring count of Prometheus, a bristlecone pine tree cut down for research purposes on this day in 1964 by U.S. Forest Service personnel in eastern Nevada. Scientists believe the tree may have been more than 5,000 years old, making it the oldest non-clonal organism ever discovered.

TODAY’S MOON: Between new moon (July 31) and first quarter moon (Aug. 7).