DAY IN HISTORY
Thursday, August 6, 2020
Today is the 219th day of 2020 and the 48th 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 Philadelphia.
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 (19281987), 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: “And the parson made it his text that week, and he said likewise, / That a lie which is half a truth is ever the blackest of lies, / That a lie which is all a lie may be met and fought with outright, / But a lie which is part a truth is a harder matter to fight.” — Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “The Grandmother”
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 full moon (Aug. 3) and last quarter moon (Aug. 11).