This Week in History: Jul. 31st-Aug. 6th

July 31- 1620: “Religious refugees” historically referred to as “The Pilgrims” leave Leiden, Holland aboard the Speedwell, bound for England and the “New World.” 1790: The first patent is issued by the new government of the United States to Samuel Hopkins, for an improved process “making of Pot ash and Pearl ash” for fertilizer. The document is signed by President George Washington, Attorney General Edmund Randolph, and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. 1912: The US Congress passes the Sims Act, prohibiting distribution of photographs and films of boxing matches. The law was passed in the aftermath of African-American Jack Johnson’s victory over Caucasian boxer Jim “Fireman” Flynn on July 4 of that year, and fears that pictures or films could spark race riots. 1961: The State of Israel welcomes its one-millionth immigrant.

Aug 1- 1774: English chemist Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen, as he is able to isolate it in its gaseous state. 1834: Slavery is abolished throughout the British Empire. 1961: Six Flags Over Texas opens in Arlington, TX, the first of what would become a nationwide chain of amusement parks. The name came from the six nations whose flags had historically flown over Texas: Spain, France, Mexico, Republic of Texas, the United States, and the Confederate States of America. 1976: Actors Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton divorce – FOR THE SECOND TIME! 1981: MTV debuts in the United States at 12:01 am EDT, opening with the music video “Video Killed the Radio Star,” performed by The Buggles.

Aug 2- 1790: The first US Census begins. Initial tallies of the decennial count showed a population of 3,939,214, including 697,624 slaves. 1864: Saratoga Racecourse, the first thoroughbred racetrack in the United States, opens for four days of racing in Saratoga Springs, NY. 1961: The Beatles perform their first gig as the “house band” for the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England. 2018: Apple, Inc. becomes the first public company to reach a value of $1 TRILLION!

Aug 3- 1492: Christopher Columbus and the three ships under his command – the Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria – set sail from Palos de la Frontera, Spain, hoping to discover a new sailing route to India. 1914: Germany invades Belgium and declares war on France, marking the official beginning of World War I. 1936: African-American track star Jesse Owens earns the first of his four Gold Medals at the Berlin Olympic Games, with Adolf Hitler in attendance. Owens wins the 100 meter race in 10.3 sec. 1958: The nuclear-powered USS Nautilus passes directly underneath the geographic North Pole at 11:15 pm EDT. 1979: Singer-songwriter Eric Carmen divorces his wife after less than one year of marriage (in case anyone wondered why he was “All By Myself.”)!

Aug 4- 1944: Anne Frank and her family are arrested by the German Gestapo, supposedly tipped-off by a never-identified informant. 1961: Barack Obama, 44th US president and the first African-American to hold the office, is born in Honolulu, HI. 1962: Glamorous movie actress Marilyn Monroe dies in her Los Angeles home, the result of suicide by overdose according to the City’s medical examiner. Her body would be discovered the following morning. 2015: Muppets Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy announce the end of their “on-again, off-again” relationship through posts on their individual Twitter (now X) accounts.

Aug 5- 1864: Union troops, led by Rear Admiral David Farragut, defeat Confederate forces in the Battle of Mobile (AL) Bay. During the battle he famously orders his sailors, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” 1914: The first electric traffic light in the US begins operating at the corner of E. 105th St. and Euclid Ave. in Cleveland, OH. (One wonders if drivers lined up to experience the novelty and created a tremendous traffic jam in downtown Cleveland!). 1926: Daredevil escape-artist Harry Houdini appears to stay in a coffin submerged in the NY Hotel Shelton’s swimming pool for 90 minutes before escaping. 1957: American Bandstand, a music-performance and dance show hosted by Dick Clark, debuted on ABC-TV, live from Philadelphia, PA. The popular show aired for more than three decades and introduced American viewers to many artists destined for stardom, including Prince, Sonny and Cher, and the Jackson 5.

The Jackson 5 in a studio group portrait in 1969. Gilles Petard/Redferns

Aug 6- 1890: At Auburn Prison in upstate NY, convicted murderer William Kemmler becomes the first man to be executed by the electric chair. 1926: American swimmer Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim across the English Channel. Her time of 14 hours, 34 minutes was nearly two hours FASTER than any of the five men who had swum the Channel before her! When she returned home, she was honored with a ticker-tape parade and a crowd of more than two million people cheering her success. 1945: A US B-29 Superfortress bomber, piloted by Col. Paul Tibbets, Jr. and dubbed the “Enola Gay” in honor of Tibbets’ mother, drops an atomic bomb weighing some 9,700 pounds and named “Little Boy” over Hiroshima, Japan. The blast destroys five square miles of the city and was estimated to have killed 120,000 people. 1965: President Lyndon Baines Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act, outlawing discrimination against minorities seeking to vote.