The Day in History-August 19th

In 1940, 60 years ago, The new Civil Aeronautics Administration awarded honorary license number 1 to Orville Wright on this day.
In 1962, COVER STORY IN "PARADE" America's Teenagers: Should they have credit cards?
In 1993, Dow Jones hits record high of 3612.13.
In 1993, Mattel & Fisher Price toys merge.
In 1996, the Netscape 3.0 browser was released on the internet.
In 1998, 2 years ago, Federal appeals court says Internet companies don't have to pay fees to support nation's telephone system.
In 1998, 2 years ago, the Teamsters Union and UPS reached an agreement which ended a 15-day strike by 185-thousand workers.
In 3580, B.C., according to the Tonight Show, a Sumerian craftsman invented the wheel; the next day, a lawyer advertises "If you're injured by the wheel, call me."

Government and Politics on August 19th
In 1692, a clergyman and 5 women were convicted of witchcraft and executed in Salem, Massachusetts.
In 1826, Canada Co. was chartered to colonize Upper Canada (Ontario).
In 1919, Afghanistan declares independence from UK.
In 1934, a plebiscite in Germany approved the vesting of sole executive power in Adolf Hitler as Fuhrer. Over 90% of the voters voted him into office.
In 1934, Hitler elected Fuhrer (95.7% of German voters); Plebescite in Germany approved sole executive power to Adolph Hitler.
In 1955, US raises import duty on cycling 50%.
In 1956, The U.S. withdraws financial aid to Egypt for the Aswan Dam due to Egypt's connection to the Soviet Union.
In 1960, 40 years ago, a tribunal in Moscow convicted American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers of espionage. Powers later died at the controls of the KNBC-TV helicopter in Los Angeles after running out of fuel returning from a fire.
In 1961, US vice-president Lyndon B Johnson visits West Berlin.
In 1974, U.S. Ambassador Rodger P. Davies was fatally wounded by a bullet that penetrated the American embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus, during an anti-American protest by Greek Cypriots.
In 1974, COVER OF TIME President Gerald Ford ("the healing begins")
In 1976, President Gerald Ford won the presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention in Kansas City. (*)
In 1988, during a news conference in his hometown of Huntington, Ind., Republican vice-presidential nominee Dan Quayle defended his service in the National Guard during the Vietnam War, and insisted he had gotten in fairly.
In 1989, Polish President Wojciech Jaruzelski formally nominated Tadeusz Mazowiecki to become Poland's first non-Communist prime minister in four decades.
In 1991, Soviet hard-liners announced to a shocked world that Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev had been removed from power. Russian federation President Boris N. Yeltsin, defying the coup plotters, called for a general strike.
In 1991, The last hurrah of Soviet totalitarianism happened when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was detained at his vacation dacha. Military and KGB hardliners -- upset at Gorbachev's attempts to compromise with reforms -- staged a coup (koo). It failed. They fell. But so did Gorbachev. And so, not long after that, did the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
In 1992, George Bush and Dan Quayle were nominated for re-election. Bush aides were confident that they could defeat the Democratic nominees, Bill Clinton and Al Gore.
In 1992, the third night of the Republican National Convention in Houston, billed as "family values night," featured first lady Barbara Bush and Marilyn Quayle, wife of Vice President Quayle, as speakers.
In 1994, President Clinton abruptly halted the nation's three-decade open-door policy for Cuban refugees, ordering the Coast Guard to intercept boat people at sea and take them to the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay.
In 1996, a judge sentenced former Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker to four years' probation for his Whitewater crimes.
In 1996, Ralph Nader accepted the presidential nomination of the Green Party in Los Angeles, denouncing tax breaks for corporations and calling for a "political alternative" to the two mainstream parties.
In 1998, 2 years ago, President Clinton spent a quiet 52nd birthday with his family on Martha's Vineyard as controversy continued to swirl over his admissions to a grand jury concerning his relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
Royalty and Religious events on August 19th
In 1399, Richard II, King of England, surrenders to Henry, his cousin and heir and abdicates
In 1561, Mary Queen of Scots arrives in Leith Scotland to assume throne after spending 13 years in France.
In 1662, Blaise Pascal died. He argued that reason alone could not deal with everything we think about, therefore there is a place for religion. "Pascal's Wager" says it makes sense to believe in God because if there is a God it means eternal happiness, and if there isn't, nothing has been lost.
In 1698, Russian czar Peter the Great begins term.

Human Achievement and Science events on August 19th
In 1787, W Herschel discovers Enceladus, a moon of Saturn.
In 1839, Louis Daguerre announced the invention of the daguerreotype photographic process, the first process to allow an image to be chemically fixed as a permanent picture.
In 1848, The first report of the California gold strike was published in the "New York Herald" newspaper.
In 1856, Gail Borden of Brooklyn, NY, patented his process for condensed milk this day. You've heard of Borden's condensed milk ... "The milk from contented cows." This slogan was one of the great American advertising campaigns. Borden's is still in business and is one of the largest dairy product concerns in the world. The familiar flat-topped cans of Borden's condensed milk are still available, as are Borden's ice cream, cheese and other products -- all with the seal of approval by Borden's famous mascot, Elsie, the cow.
In 1891, William Huggins describes astronomical application of spectrum.
In 1947, J Arens & D van Villages synthetises vitamin A.
In 1957, The first balloon flight to exceed an altitude of 100,000 feet is made by D. G. Simons at Crosby, Minnesota.
In 1960, 40 years ago, Sputnik 5, carrying two dogs, was launched into space and were later retrieved as the first living organisms from space.
In 1964, NASA launches Syncom 3 communications satellite which relays the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games from Tokyo.
In 1979, the Crew of Soyuz 32 returned to Earth aboard Soyuz 34 after a 175 day flight.
In 1985, 15 years ago, Japan launches its 2nd probe of Halley's Comet, Suisei.

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