On This Day:
Monday August 29, 2011
This is the 241st day of the year, with 124 days
remaining in 2011.
Fact of the Day: radio commercial
In 1922, the first radio commercial was broadcast on WEAF in
New York. Broadcasters realized that radio could earn
profits from the sale of advertising time. The first "spot"
was sponsored by the Queensboro Realty Corporation of
Jackson Heights to promote Hawthorne Court, a group of
apartment buildings in Queens. This first commercial cost
$100 for 10 minutes.
Holidays
Feast Day of St. Sabina of Rome, St. Edwold of Cerne, and
St. Medericus or Merry.
Slovakia:
National Day.
Events
1533
- Atahuallpa,
the 13th and last emperor of the Incas, died by
strangulation at the hands of Francisco
Pizarro's Spanish conquistadors. His death marked the
end of 300 years of Inca
civilization.
1831
- Michael
Faraday successfully demonstrated the first electrical
transformer.
1835
- The city of Melbourne,
Australia,
was founded.
1839
- Fifty-three Africans were seized near modern-day Sierra
Leone, taken to Cuba
and sold as slaves. On this day, the slaves, led by Cinque,
seized control of the ship, asking to be taken back to Africa.
The crew secretly changed course and took them back to Long
Island, where they stood trial.
1896
- The Chinese-American dish chop suey was invented in New
York City by the chef to visiting Chinese Ambassador Li
Hung-chang.
1966
- At Candlestick
Park, San
Francisco, the Beatles
played their last live concert.
1991
- The Supreme
Soviet voted to suspend formally all activities of the
Communist
Party.
1997
- At least 98 villagers are killed by the GIA
in the Rais
massacre, Algeria.
2003
- Ayatollah
Sayed
Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the Shia
Muslim leader in Iraq,
is assassinated
in a terrorist
bombing, along with nearly 100 worshippers as they leave a mosque
in Najaf.
2005
- Hurricane
Katrina devastates much of the U.S.
Gulf Coast from Louisiana
to the Florida
Panhandle, killing more than 1,836 and causing over
$115 billion in damage.
Births
1632
- John
Locke, English philosopher.
1809
- Oliver
Wendell Holmes, American physician, author, poet.
1915
- Ingrid
Bergman, Swedish actress.
1920
- Charlie
"Bird" Parker, American jazz saxophonist.
1923
- Richard
Attenborough, English film director.
1938
- Elliott
Gould (born Elliott Goldstein), American actor.
1941
- Robin
Leach, English television host.
1958
- Michael
Jackson, American pop singer.
Deaths
1769
- Edmund
Hoyle, English writer best known for his works on the
rules and play of card games.
1877
- Brigham
Young, American religious leader and second president
of the Mormon
church.
1891
- Pierre
Lallement, inventor of the bicycle.
1931
- David
T. Abercrombie, founder of Abercrombie
and Fitch.
1982
- Ingrid
Bergman, Swedish actress.
1987
- Lee
Marvin, American tough guy actor.
1990
- Manly
Palmer Hall, Canadian writer.
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