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Daily Calendar for Thursday, August 15, 2013 | Almanac.com

Daily Calendar for Thursday, August 15, 2013

Born

  • Napoleon Bonaparte (Emperor of France) –
  • Walter Scott (Scottish novelist and poet) –
  • Florence Kling Harding (U.S. First Lady) –
  • Ethel Barrymore (actress) –
  • Edna Ferber (author) –
  • Julia Child (culinary expert) –
  • Rose Marie (actress) –
  • Oscar Peterson (jazz pianist) –
  • Linda Ellerbee (journalist) –
  • Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise Windsor (Princess Anne) –
  • Debra Messing (actress) –
  • Ben Affleck (actor) –
  • Jennifer Lawrence (actress) –

Died

  • Will Rogers (humorist) –
  • Wiley Post (first pilot to fly solo around the world) –

Events

  • Christopher Columbus first saw cacao beans–
  • Thomas Edison suggested using β€œHello” when answering phones–
  • First ship passed through the Panama Canal–
  • The colony of British India was divided into two independent nations, India and Pakistan–
  • The Beatles opened their United States tour at Shea Stadium In New York City. Over 50,000 fans attended the concert. At the time, this was a world record attendance for a rock concert–
  • The Woodstock Music and Art Festival opened on a field near Yasgur’s Farm at Bethel, NY. The three day concert drew a crowd of more than 400,000 people–
  • On duty at the Big Ear Radio Observatory at The Ohio State University, Dr. Jerry Ehman heard radio noise that lasted 37 seconds and came from the direction of a star nearly 220 light-years away. The signal traveled at a frequency whose use is prohibited by international agreement and that is unlike those of most natural radio sources. It is known as the Wow signal and hasn’t been heard since–
  • Discovery of second planet orbiting a star in Big Dipper announced–
  • A magnitude-8.0 earthquake struck Peru and at least 15 aftershocks followed, some as strong as magnitude-6.3–
  • American gymnast Nastia Liukin won an Olympic gold medal in the women’s gymnastics individual all-around competition. Her teammate, Shawn Johnson, won the silver medal.–
  • Nils Olav, a penguin at Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland, was knighted by British Maj. Gen. Euan Loudon on behalf of Norway’s King Harald V–
  • A 1,224-pound cupcake, baked by Ryan Abood, from Manchester, New Hampshire, was entered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest cupcake/fairy cake. Guinness representative Carl Saville inspected the cupcake, making sure that it met several criteria: it must be edible, cooked throughout, and resemble a cupcake. The cupcake was 4 feet tall and 10 feet wide. About 200 pounds of flour, 200 pounds of sugar, 200 pounds of butter and oil, and 1,000 eggs were used. It was baked in a specially designed 8 ft. x 8 ft. x 10 ft. oven for about 8 1/2 hours. The cupcake judging took place at an event in Royal Oak, Michigan. The attempt had been for a 7,000-pound cupcake, but due to a malfunction in baking equipment, a smaller version was hurriedly put together overnight for the Guinness event.–
  • Rare Eliasberg 1913 Liberty Head nickel sold for $4,560,000 at a Philadelphia auction, making it the most valuable non-precious metal coin. It was one of only five known to be made, with this one being of the finest grade.–

Weather

  • This was the hottest day of a dry period that caused the Great Tillamook Fire in Oregon–
  • A tremendous storm triggered flooding in the Mojave Desert that killed at least two people and forced the closure of Death Valley National Park–

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