Friday! History, Music, Space, Cinema, Sports, Quotes, More!

On This Date In 1071 The Battle of Manzikert was fought between the Byzantine Empire and Seljuq forces led by Alp Arslan near Manzikert (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). It resulted in one of the most decisive defeats of the Byzantine Empire and the capture of the Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes. The Battle of Manzikert played an important role in breaking the Byzantine resistance and preparing the way for Turkish settlement in Anatolia.

On This Date In 1346 The Battle of Crécy took place near Crécy in northern France, and was one of the most important battles of the Hundred Years’ War. The combination of new weapons and tactics have caused many historians to consider this battle the beginning of the end of chivalry.

On This Date In 1758 The Battle of Fort Frontenac took place on August 26 and 27 during the Seven Years’ War (referred to as the French and Indian War in North America) between France and Great Britain. British Lieutenant Colonel John Bradstreet led an army of over 3,000 men to take the French fort under the command of Pierre-Jacques Payen de Noyan et de Chavoy, an elderly veteran of King George’s War.

On This Date In 1791 John Fitch and James Rumsey, rivals battling over claims to the invention, each were granted a federal patent for the steamboat. They devised different systems for their steamboats. See more: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/aug26.html

On This Date In 1794 President George Washington wrote to Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee, Virginia’s governor and a former general, regarding the Whiskey Rebellion, an insurrection that was the first great test of Washington’s authority as president of the United States. In the letter, Washington declared that he had no choice but to act to subdue the “insurgents,” fearing they would otherwise “shake the government to its foundation.”

On This Date In 1838 Ralph Waldo Emerson met influential British writer Thomas Carlyle, with whom he would correspond for 38 years. Carlyle and the English romantic poets would have an important effect on Emerson’s work.

On This Date In 1861 The Battle of Kessler’s Cross Lanes took place in Nicholas County, Virginia (now West Virginia) as part of the Operations in Western Virginia Campaign during the American Civil War. Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd, commanding Confederate forces in the Kanawha Valley, crossed the Gauley River to attack Col. Erastus Tyler’s 7th Ohio Regiment encamped at Kessler’s Cross Lanes. The Union forces were surprised and routed. Floyd then withdrew to the river and took up a defensive position at Carnifex Ferry. During the month, Gen. Robert E. Lee arrived in western Virginia and attempted to coordinate the forces of Brig. Gens. Floyd, Henry A. Wise, and William W. Loring.

On This Date In 1883 The best known eruption of Krakatoa culminated in a series of massive explosions from August 26 - 27, which was among the most violent volcanic events in modern and recorded history. With a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 6.3 the eruption was equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT - about 13,000 times the nuclear yield of the Little Boy bomb that devastated Hiroshima, Japan during World War II, and four times the yield of the Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear device ever detonated.

On This Date In 1910 Mother Teresa (August 26, 1910 - September 5, 1997), was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. A Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, she founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India in 1950. For over 45 years she ministered in her own way to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying, while guiding the Missionaries of Charity’s expansion, first throughout India and then in other countries. Following her death she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and given the title Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

On This Date In 1914 The Battle of Le Cateau was fought after the British, French and Belgians retreated from the Battle of Mons and had set up defensive positions in a fighting withdrawal against the German advance at Le Cateau-Cambrésis.

On This Date In 1914 The German 8th Army, under the leadership of Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, struck with lethal force against the advancing Russian 2nd Army, led by General Aleksandr Samsonov, in East Prussia during the opening weeks of the First World War.

On This Date In 1920 The 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote, was formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution by proclamation of Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby. The amendment was the culmination of more than 70 years of struggle by woman suffragists.

On This Date In 1939 “The Angels Wash Their Faces”, a lively comedy-drama directed by Ray Enright, features 28-year-old Ronald Reagan as Deputy District Attorney Patrick “Pat” Remson in the kind of second-banana part that Hollywood used to call a “juvenile” role. Instead of having a conventional top banana, the picture has no fewer than six collective stars: the Dead End Kids, a scruffy but lively group who made dozens of movies between 1937 and 1958. http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/161295|0/The-Angels-Wash-Their-Faces.html

On This Date In 1939 The first televised Major League baseball game was broadcast on station W2XBS, the station that was to become WNBC-TV. Announcer Red Barber called the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York.

On This Date In 1948 The temperature hit 108 degrees Fahrenheit in New York City during a week-long heat wave that killed at least 33 people. The intense heat hit the entire northeastern United States, but it was New York City and Philadelphia that suffered the most.

On This Date In 1957 The Soviet Union announced that it had successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of being fired “into any part of the world.” The announcement caused great concern in the United States, and started a national debate over the “missile gap” between America and Russia.

On This Date In 1959 The British Motor Corporation (BMC) launched its newest car, the small, affordable - at a price tag of less than $800 - Mark I Mini. The diminutive Mini went on to become one of the best-selling British cars in history.

On This Date In 1964 Lyndon B. Johnson was nominated to run for the presidency at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. His running mate would be Hubert H. Humphrey. Former Vice President Johnson had assumed the reigns of government in November 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

On This Date In 1967 Badly injured after ejecting when his North American F-100F was shot down over North Vietnam, Major George E. Day was captured and severely tortured. He later managed to escape and eventually made it to the DMZ. After several attempts to signal U.S. aircraft, he was ambushed and recaptured, and was later moved to prison in Hanoi, where he continued to strongly resist his captors. Finally released in 1973, Major Day was awarded the Medal of Honor for his conspicuous gallantry while a POW.

On This Date In 1970 The Women’s Strike for Equality took place, a nationwide demonstration for women’s rights held on the 50th anniversary of women’s suffrage. It was described by Time magazine as “the first big demonstration of the Women’s Liberation movement.” http://womenshistory.about.com/od/feminism/a/strike_for_equality.htm

On This Date In 1972 The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, in what was then West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972.

On This Date In 1974 Charles Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 - August 26, 1974), American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist, died. He spent his final years on the Hawaiian island of Maui, where he died of lymphoma at age 72. He was buried on the grounds of the Palapala Ho'omau Church in Kipahulu, Maui.

On This Date In 1978 Pope John Paul I, born Albino Luciani (October 17, 1912 - September 28, 1978), reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and as Sovereign of Vatican City from August 26, 1978 until his death 33 days later of a heart attack. His reign is among the shortest in papal history, resulting in the most recent Year of Three Popes. John Paul I was the first Pope born in the 20th century. In Italy he is remembered with the affectionate appellatives of “Il Papa del sorriso” (“The smiling Pope”) and “Il sorriso di Dio” (“God’s smile”).

On This Date In 1978 Lt. Colonel Sigmund Jahn, a German pilot, became the first German to fly in space as part of the Soviet Union’s Intercosmos program. He trained in Star City near Moscow for two years, and flew on board Soyuz 31, which launched August 26, 1978 to the Soviet space station Salyut 6, and returned on Soyuz 29, landing September 3, 1978. He spent 7 days, 20 hours, and 49 minutes in space.

On This Date In 1980 The Harvey’s Resort Hotel bombing took place when three men planted a bomb containing 1,000 pounds of dynamite at Harvey's Resort Hotel (now “Harveys”) in Stateline, Nevada, United States. The mastermind behind the bomb, millionaire John Birges, was attempting to extort $3 million from the casino, claiming he had lost $750,000 gambling there. Bomb technicians were unsuccessful in attempting to disarm the device, and it exploded, destroying much of the casino, although no one was injured.

On This Date In 1981 “Dead Set”, a live album by the Grateful Dead, was released on Arista Records. Dead Set is essentially the electric brother of the acoustic “Reckoning”: both of the albums come from the same recorded concerts.

On This Date In 1986 18-year-old Jennifer Levin was found dead in New York City’s Central Park less than two hours after she was seen leaving a bar on the city’s Upper East Side with 19-year-old Robert Chambers, who was soon arrested and charged with murder.

On This Date In 2001 Flooz.com, a dot-com venture, based in New York City that went online in February 1999, and promoted by comic actress Whoopi Goldberg in a series of television advertisements, announced its closure. Over its short history, flooz.com reportedly exhausted from $35 to $50 million in venture capital.

On This Date In 2002 “A Rush of Blood to the Head”, the second studio album by English alternative rock band Coldplay, was released in the United Kingdom by record label Parlophone. Produced by the band and British record producer Ken Nelson, the recording of the album began a week after the September 11 attacks in the United States, which gave the band a fresh perspective on songwriting.

On This Date In 2004 “Virtua Quest”, known in Japan as Virtua Fighter Cyber Generation: Judgment Six No Yabou, a Virtua Fighter spinoff title for the GameCube and PlayStation 2 video game consoles, was released.

On This Date In 2008 “Motörizer”, the nineteenth studio album by the British heavy metal band Motörhead, was released.

On This Date In 2008 “Satisfied”, the fourth studio album by American Christian rock band DecembeRadio, was released through Slanted Records.

On This Date In 2008 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed Decrees recognising the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as sovereign states.

On This Date In 2010 Federal prosecutors announced in court they were dropping the case against Robert Blagojevich, the brother of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.

Hat tip to any included contributing sources, along with: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page , http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history , http://timelines.com/

Happy Birthday Maurice Tempelsman (1929), Tom Heinsohn (1934), Alison Steadman (1946), Emiliano Diez (1947), Leon Redbone (1949), Stan Van Gundy (1959), Ola Ray (1960), Marius Kloppers (1962), Shirley Manson (1966), Riley Weston (1966), Melissa McCarthy (1970), Macaulay Culkin (1980), and Chris Pine (1980).

RIP Frederick V (1596 – 1632), Robert Walpole (1676 – 1745), Antoine Lavoisier (1743 – 1794), Prince Albert (1819 – 1861), Lee De Forest (1873 – 1961), Tommy Andrews (1890 – 1970), Peggy Guggenheim (1898 – 1979), Maxwell Taylor (1901 – 1987), Christopher Isherwood (1904 – 1986), Mother Teresa (1910 – 1997), Julio Cortazar (1914 – 1984), Jan Clayton (1917 – 1983), Yvette Vickers (1928 – 2010), Geraldine Ferraro (1935 – 2011), Don LaFontaine (1940 – 2008), and Michael Jeter (1952 – 2003).

The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense. Thomas Alva Edison

What is required is sight and insight; then you might add one more -- excite. Robert Frost

Purity of speech, of the mind, of the senses, and then of a compassionate heart are needed by one who desires to rise to the divine platform. Chanakya

Success, happiness, peace of mind and fulfillment - the most priceless of human treasures - are available to all among us, without exception, who make things happen - who make “good” things happen - in the world around them. Joe Klock

All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination, Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth. Napoleon Hill

When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and your discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be. Patanjali

Christine singing the song "Colors Of The Wind" from the movie "Pocahontas" at the 2006 "Momarked" in Norway. Christine is famous for beeing the Norwegian respensentant for Norway in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest. She sang the song "Alvedansen" which means "The Dance of the Elves"

A supermassive black hole has been apprehended in the act of devouring a star. In March 2011, NASA's SWIFT satellite saw intense, mysterious gamma ray bursts. Now scientists have figured out what happened a long time ago in that galaxy far, far away…

The International Space Station once again flown over thenow Category 3 storm and its outlook seems even more ominous. This fly-over occurred on August 24th, 2011.

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is a beauty, admire it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is life, fight for it!

Mother Teresa