THIS DAY IN HISTORY

[IceWizard]

Michael Phelps wins eighth medal







2004
August 21



On August 21, 2004, American swimmer Michael Phelps wins his eighth medal of the 2004
Athens Olympics in spite of sitting out his eighth scheduled event, the final of the 4 x 100-meter
medley relay. Phelps left Athens with six gold and two bronze medals. His eight total medals tied
him with Soviet gymnast Aleksandr Dityatin for the most medals ever won by a competitor at
a single Olympic Games.

Michael Phelps entered the 2004 Olympics intent on breaking American swimming phenomenon
Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals in one Olympics. He got off to a fast start, setting a world
record in his first race, the 400-meter individual medley, and Olympic records with victories in the
100-meter butterfly, 200-meter butterfly and 400-meter individual medley. Phelps then settled for
third place in the 200-meter freestyle and the 4 x 100-meter freestyle medley, and entered the
final day of the swimming competition with five gold and two bronze medals. Though this put him
short of Spitz’s record seven golds, he had already tied Spitz’s record of four individual golds in
one Olympics.

Phelps sat out the finals of the 4 x 100-meter medley so that his teammate Ian Crocker could leave
Athens with a gold medal. The veteran U.S swimmer Crocker had failed to qualify in the 100-meter
freestyle and had swum poorly in the 4 x 100-meter freestyle final in which the U.S. won the bronze.
Crocker then lost the 100-meter butterfly by .04 seconds to Phelps, who qualified for the 4 x 100
medley team with his win. Phelps swam the butterfly leg of the race in the preliminaries, but then
ceded his spot in the final to Crocker.

Aaron Piersol, the first of the U.S. relay team into the water, swam an impressive 53.45-second backstroke
leg. Next up was Brendan Hansen in the breaststroke, and then Crocker, who rewarded Phelps’ faith in
him by swimming the second-fastest butterfly leg in relay history. A strong finish in the freestyle leg by
Jason Lezak gave the U.S. the gold and a world record time of 3:30.68, which knocked a full three
seconds off the former mark.

Phelps won gold medals at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics.




ALSO ON THIS DAY




1980S
1980
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA) is founded

On August 21, 1980, animal rights advocates Ingrid Newkirk
and Alex Pacheco found People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals. Rising from humble beginnings, PETA will soon
become the world’s foremost and most controversial animal
rights organization. Newkirk’s interest in ...
read more





US GOVERNMENT
1974
The Equal Educational Opportunities Act takes effect

The Equal Educational Opportunities Act takes effect on
August 21, 1974. The new law addressed civil rights issues
in education, barring states from discriminating against
students based on gender, race, color, or nationality and
requiring public schools to provide for students ...
read more


AMERICAN REVOLUTION
1754
Bloody Ban Tarleton born in Britain

On August 21, 1754, Banastre Tarleton is born as the fourth
child of John Tarleton, the former lord mayor of Liverpool,
and a money lender, merchant and slave trader. After completing
his education at Oxford, Tarleton became the most feared
officer in the British army during the ...
read more


AFRICA
1961
Jomo Kenyatta, Kenyan independence leader,
is freed from prison

Jomo Kenyatta, leader of the Kenyan independence movement,
is released by British colonial authorities after nearly nine years
of imprisonment and detention. Two years later, Kenya achieved
independence and Kenyatta became prime minister. Once portrayed
as a menacing symbol of ...
read more





SLAVERY
1831
Nat Turner launches massive insurrection in Virginia

Believing himself chosen by God to lead his people out of slavery,
Nat Turner launches the largest ever insurrection by enslaved people
in the United States. Turner, an enslaved man and educated minister,
planned to capture Virginia's Southampton county armory and
then march 30 ...
read more


US POLITICS
1858
Lincoln-Douglas debates begin

Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois and Abraham Lincoln,
a Kentucky-born lawyer and one-time U.S. representative
from Illinois, begin a series of famous public encounters on
the issue of slavery. The two politicians, the former a Northern
Democrat and the latter a Republican, ...
read more


1950S
1959
Hawaii becomes 50th state

The modern United States receives its crowning star when
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a proclamation admitting
Hawaii into the Union as the 50th state. The president also
issued an order for an American flag featuring 50 stars arranged
in staggered rows: five six-star ...
read more





VIETNAM WAR
1971
Antiwar protestors raid draft offices

Antiwar protestors associated with the Catholic Left raid
draft offices in Buffalo, New York, and Camden, New Jersey,
to confiscate and destroy draft records. The FBI and local
police arrested 25 protestors. ...
read more





ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1920
Christopher Robin’s birthday

Daphne Milne, wife of writer A.A. Milne, gives birth to a
son, who the couple name Christopher Robin Milne on
August 21, 1920. Christopher Robin will be immortalized
in A.A. Milne’s books Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at
Pooh Corner. A.A. Milne was born in London in 1882, the ...
read more





NATURAL DISASTERS & ENVIRONMENT
1986
Gas cloud kills Cameroon villagers

An eruption of lethal gas from Lake Nyos in Cameroon kills
nearly 2,000 people and wipes out four villages on
August 21, 1986. Carbon dioxide, though ubiquitous in
Earth’s atmosphere, can be deadly in large quantities,
as was evident in this disaster. Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun ...
read more





CRIME
1911
Theft of "Mona Lisa" is discovered

An amateur painter sets up his easel near
Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris,
only to discover that the masterpiece is missing. Earlier
in the day, in perhaps the most brazen art theft of all time,
Vincenzo Perugia had walked into the Louvre,
removed the famed ...
read more





COLD WAR
1991
Attempted coup against Gorbachev collapses

Just three days after it began, the coup against Soviet
leader Mikhail Gorbachev collapses. Despite his success
in avoiding removal from office, Gorbachev’s days in
power were numbered. The Soviet Union would soon
cease to exist as a nation and as a Cold War threat
to the United ...
read more


CIVIL WAR
1863
Guerillas massacre residents of Lawrence, Kansas

The vicious guerilla war in Missouri spills over into Kansas
and precipitates one of the most appalling acts of violence
during the war when 150 men in the abolitionist town of
Lawrence are murdered in a raid by Southern partisans.
The Civil War took a very different form in ...
read more


INVENTIONS & SCIENCE
1897
Olds Motor Works founded

Ransom Eli Olds of Lansing, Michigan, founds Olds
Motors Works—which will later become Oldsmobile—on
August 21, 1897. Born in Geneva, Ohio, in 1864, Olds
went to work for his family’s machine-repair and
engine-building business in 1883. In 1896,
Olds completed his first ...
read more





WORLD WAR II
1944
The seeds of the United Nations are planted

On August 21, 1944, representatives from the United States,
Great Britain, the Soviet Union and China meet in the
Dumbarton Oaks estate at Georgetown, Washington, D.C.,
to formulate the formal principles of an organization that
will provide collective security on a worldwide ...
read more

[IceWizard]

Nolan Ryan registers 5,000th strikeout






1989
August 22




On August 22, 1989, Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers becomes the first pitcher in major league history
to register 5,000 career strikeouts. Ryan would go on to rack up a total of 5,714 strikeouts, over 1,500
more than his closest competition.

Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. was born January 31, 1947, in Refugio, Texas and raised in Alvin, southeast of Houston.
As a high school sophomore, he was scouted by Red Murff of the New York Mets. Ryan’s coach regaled Murff
with tales of the young pitcher’s intimidating fastballs, so powerful they had broken catchers’ bones. Murff
was impressed–his report said Ryan had the “best arm I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Nolan joined the Mets in 1968, and was soon a highly regarded fireballer. In what is often pointed to as one
of the most short-sighted moves in baseball history, the Mets traded Ryan to the Angels for third baseman
Jim Fregosi after the 1971 season. With the Angels, Ryan struck out a total of 383 batters in 1973, setting a
new major league record. Ryan migrated to the National League after the 1979 season and pitched for the
Houston Astros from 1980 to 1988. He then joined the American League’s Rangers prior to the 1989 season.

A fan favorite, Ryan was 42 years old and a 21-year major league veteran in 1989, but continued to deliver
consistently powerful pitching. He was 14-7 coming into the game on August 22, with 219 strikeouts, and
needed just six more to reach the 5,000-strikout milestone. Rickey Henderson led off the top of the fifth
inning with Ryan sitting on 4,999. Henderson, as he did so often in his long career–he retired as the all-time
walks leader–worked the count full, fouling off two pitches at a 3-2 count before swinging at and missing a
low, 96-mile-per-hour fastball. After the game, Henderson told The New York Times, ”It was an honor to be
the 5,000th. As Davey Lopes says, ‘If he ain’t struck you out, you ain’t nobody.’ ”

Ryan had requested before the game that play not be stopped to honor him. Instead, after the fifth inning,
Ryan was saluted by President George H.W. Bush in a videotaped message.
(The president’s son George W. Bush was then the owner of the Rangers.)

Despite a typically solid performance by Ryan, who had 13 strikeouts for the day and allowed only five hits
and two walks, the Rangers lost the game 2-0. Ryan finished the season with a 16-10 record and a 3.20 ERA.,
and led the American League in strikeouts with 301. It was the 10th of 11 times in his 27-year career that
Ryan led his league in strikeouts.

Ryan is most famous for his record seven no-hitters;
the last came in 1991 when he was 44 years old.




ALSO ON THIS DAY


SPORTS
1965
Juan Marichal hits catcher with bat,
instigating epic MLB brawl

At San Francisco's Candlestick Park on August 22, 1965,
Giants pitcher Juan Marichal steps up to the plate to lead
off the home half of the third inning against the Los Angeles
Dodgers. After the second pitch, a ball low and away,
catcher John Roseboro returns the ball to pitcher ...
read more





CRIME
1922
Michael Collins assassinated

Irish revolutionary and Sinn Fein politician Michael Collins is
killed in an ambush in west County Cork, Ireland. In the early
part of the century, Collins joined Sinn Fein, an Irish political
party dedicated to achieving independence for all Ireland.
From its inception, the ...
read more





ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1969
Zager and Evans end a six-week run at #1 with
their smash-hit “In The Year 2525
(Exordium & Terminus)"

The American pop-rock duo Zager and Evans end a six-week run
at the top of the charts with their ponderously titled single
“In The Year 2525." It would be their one and only hit.  Zager
and Evans never returned to the pop charts after their triumphant
debut in the summer of ’69. ...
read more





19TH CENTURY
1851
U.S. wins first America’s Cup

On August 22, 1851, the U.S.-built schooner America bests a fleet
of Britain’s finest ships in a race around England’s Isle of Wight.
The ornate silver trophy won by the America was later donated to
the New York Yacht Club on condition that it be forever
placed in international ...
read more


19TH CENTURY
1864
International Red Cross founded

The Geneva Convention of 1864 for the Amelioration of the
Condition of the Wounded and Sick of Armies in the Field is
adopted by 12 nations meeting in Geneva. The agreement,
advocated by Swiss humanitarian Jean-Henri Dunant, called
for nonpartisan care to the sick and wounded in ...
read more


CRIME
1992
Shootings at Ruby Ridge

In the second day of a standoff at Randy Weaver’s remote
northern Idaho cabin atop Ruby Ridge, FBI sharpshooter
Lon Horiuchi wounds Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris, and
then kills Weaver’s wife, Vicki. Randy Weaver, an alleged
white supremacist, had been targeted by the federal ...
read more





GREAT BRITAIN
1485
Battle of Bosworth Field

In the last major battle of the War of the Roses, King Richard III
is defeated and killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field by
Henry Tudor, the earl of Richmond. After the battle, the royal
crown, which Richard had worn into the fray, was picked out
of a bush and placed on Henry’s ...
read more


SPORTS
1950
Althea Gibson becomes first African American
on U.S. tennis tour

On August 22, 1950, officials of the United States Lawn Tennis
Association (USLTA) accept Althea Gibson into their annual
championship at Forest Hills, New York, making her the first
African American player to compete in a U.S. national tennis
competition. Growing up in Harlem, ...
read more





VIETNAM WAR
1972
Demonstrators disrupt Republican National
Convention in Miami Beach

Delegates entering the Republican National Convention in
Miami Beach are harassed by 3,000 antiwar demonstrators,
many painted with death masks. The rest of the convention is
marked by demonstrations outside the meeting hall; hundreds
of protestors are arrested and many are ...
read more





ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1935
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Proulx is born

Annie Proulx, author of celebrated books and stories including
The Shipping News and "Brokeback Mountain," is born on
August 22, 1935 in Norwich, Connecticut. Her mother was a
painter and her father a self-made executive in a textile company.
Annie lived in various towns in New ...
read more


CRIME
1933
The Barker clan kills an officer in their fruitless robbery

The notorious Barker gang robs a Federal Reserve mail truck
in Chicago, Illinois, and kills Officer Miles Cunningham. Netting
only a bunch of worthless checks, the Barkers soon returned
to a crime with which they had more success—kidnapping.
A few months later, the Barkers ...
read more





COLD WAR
1968
Czechs protest against Soviet invasion

In the streets of Prague and in the United Nations headquarters
in New York City, Czechs protest against the Soviet invasion of
their nation. The protests served to highlight the brutality of
the Soviet action and to rally worldwide condemnation of the
Soviet Union. On the night ...
read more


CIVIL WAR
1862
President Lincoln replies to Horace Greeley

President Abraham Lincoln writes a carefully worded letter
in response to an abolitionist editorial by Horace Greeley, the
editor of the influential New York Tribune, and hints at a
change in his policy concerning slavery. From the outset of
the Civil War, Lincoln proclaimed the ...
read more


INVENTIONS & SCIENCE
1962
Citroen helps de Gaulle survive assassination attempt

On August 22, 1962, President Charles de Gaulle of France
survives one of several assassination attempts against him
thanks to the superior performance of the presidential automobile:
The sleek, aerodynamic Citroen DS 19, known as “La Deesse”
(The Goddess).  When the Citroen DS ...
read more


AMERICAN REVOLUTION
1776
Redcoats land at Long Island

On August 22, 1776, the British arrive at Long Island,
between Gravesend and New Utrecht, with “near twenty
four thousand men ready to land in a moment,” according
to one observer. General William Howe’s large army came
to Long Island hoping to capture New York City and gain ...
read more


WORLD WAR II
1944
Romania occupied by Soviet troops

On August 22, 1944, Soviet forces break through to
Jassy, in northeastern Romania, convincing Romania’s
king to sign an armistice with the Allies and concede
control of his country to the USSR. As early as 1937,
Romania had come under control of a fascist
government that bore ...
read more

[IceWizard]

Sacco and Vanzetti executed






1927
August 23




Despite worldwide demonstrations in support of their innocence, Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and
Bartolomeo Vanzetti are executed for murder on August 23, 1927.

On April 15, 1920, a paymaster for a shoe company in South Braintree, Massachusetts, was shot and killed
along with his guard. The murderers, who were described as two Italian men, escaped with more than $15,000.
After going to a garage to claim a car that police said was connected with the crime, Sacco and Vanzetti were
arrested and charged with the crime. Although both men carried guns and made false statements upon their
arrest, neither had a previous criminal record. On July 14, 1921, they were convicted and sentenced to die.

Anti-radical sentiment was running high in America at the time, and the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti was regarded
by many as unlawfully sensational. Authorities had failed to come up with any evidence of the stolen money,
and much of the other evidence against them was later discredited. During the next few years, sporadic protests
were held in Massachusetts and around the world calling for their release, especially after Celestino Madeiros,
then under a sentence for murder, confessed in 1925 that he had participated in the crime with the Joe Morelli
gang. The state Supreme Court refused to upset the verdict, and Massachusetts Governor Alvan T. Fuller denied
the men clemency. In the days leading up to the execution, protests were held in cities around the world, and
bombs were set off in New York City and Philadelphia. On August 23, Sacco and Vanzetti were electrocuted.

In 1961, a test of Sacco’s gun using modern forensic techniques apparently proved it was his gun that killed the
guard, though little evidence has been found to substantiate Vanzetti’s guilt. In 1977, Massachusetts Governor
Michael Dukakis issued a proclamation vindicating Sacco and Vanzetti, stating that they had been treated unjustly
and that no stigma should be associated with their names.



ALSO ON THIS DAY




PANDEMICS
2021
FDA fully approves the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

On August 23, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
fully approves the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for people
aged 16 and older, following a manufacturing review and analysis
of the company’s expanded clinical trial, which included
approximately 44,000 participants ...
read more


SPORTS
1947
First Little League World Series champion crowned

On August 23, 1947, the first Little League World Series
championship game—the culmination of a three-day
tournament in Williamsport, Pa.—features teams from
Pennsylvania. Before roughly 2,500 fans, Maynard, a team
from Williamsport, defeats Lock Haven, 16-7,
to win the title at ...
read more





WORLD WAR II
1945
Marcario García becomes first Mexican national
to receive U.S. Medal of Honor

Though he had landed on the beaches of Normandy and
been wounded in battle fighting with the U.S. Army,
Staff Sergeant Marcario García was not yet a U.S. citizen
when President Harry S. Truman awarded him the Medal of Honor
on August 23, 1945. García became the first Mexican ...
read more





Rudolph Valentino
ROARING TWENTIES
1926
Star of the silent-screen Rudolph Valentino dies

The death of silent-screen idol Rudolph Valentino at the
age of 31 sends his fans into a hysterical state of mass
mourning. In his brief film career, the Italian-born actor
established a reputation as the archetypal screen lover.
After his death from a ruptured ulcer was ...
read more





WORLD WAR II
1939
Germany, Soviet Union sign non-aggression pact

On August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union sign
a non-aggression pact, stunning the world, given their
diametrically opposed ideologies. But the dictators were,
despite appearances, both playing to their own political
needs. After Nazi Germany’s invasion of Czechoslovakia, ...
read more


SPORTS
1989
Pete Rose gets booted from baseball

On August 23, 1989, as punishment for betting on
baseball, Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose accepts
a settlement that includes a lifetime ban from the game.
A heated debate continues to rage as to whether Rose,
a former player who remains the game’s all-time hits
leader, should ...
read more





U.S. PRESIDENTS
1814
Dolley Madison saves portrait from British

On this day in 1814, first lady Dolley Madison saves a
portrait of George Washington from being looted by
British troops during the War of 1812. According to
the White House Historical Society and Dolley’s personal
letters, President James Madison left the White House
on August ...
read more


ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1970
Lou Reed plays his last show with the Velvet Underground

The most famous and widely quoted observation about
rock pioneers the Velvet Underground is generally credited
to guitarist Brian Eno, who supposedly said that while
only a handful of people bought their albums in their
original release, every one of those people was inspired to ...
read more





ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
2000
First Survivor finale airs

On August 23, 2000, Richard Hatch, a 39-year-old
corporate trainer from Rhode Island, wins the season-one
finale of the reality television show Survivor and takes
home the promised $1 million prize. In a four-to-three
vote by his fellow contestants, Hatch,
who was known for ...
read more





1990S
1999
New York City reports first cases of West Nile virus

The first cases of an encephalitis outbreak are reported
in New York City on August 23, 1999. Seven people die
from what turns out to be the first cases of West Nile
virus in the United States. A cluster of eight cases of
St. Louis encephalitis was diagnosed among
patients in the ...
read more


CRIME
2006
Austrian teen escapes after eight years in captivity

Natascha Kampusch, an Austrian teenager who was
kidnapped at age 10, escapes from her captor,
Wolfgang Priklopil, after more than eight years. Shortly
after her escape, Priklopil died by suicide. On March 2, 1998,
Kampusch was abducted from a street in Vienna while walking to ...
read more





CIVIL WAR
1861
Confederate spy Rose O’Neal Greenhow is arrested

Allan Pinkerton, head of the new secret service agency of
the Federal government, places Confederate spy Rose O’Neal
Greenhow under house arrest in Washington, D.C. Greenhow
was a wealthy widow living in Washington at the outbreak
of the war. She was well connected in the capital ...
read more


AMERICAN REVOLUTION
1784
State of Franklin declares independence

On August 23, 1784, four counties in western North Carolina
declare their independence as the state of Franklin. The
counties lay in what would eventually become Tennessee.
The previous April, the state of North Carolina had ceded
its western land claims between the Appalachian ...
read more


WORLD WAR I
1914
Battle of Mons

On August 23, 1914, in their first confrontation on European
soil since the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, four divisions of
the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), commanded by
Sir John French, struggle with the German 1st Army over
the 60-foot-wide Mons Canal in Belgium, near the ...
read more

[IceWizard]

Mount Vesuvius erupts






79 AD
August 24



On August 24, after centuries of dormancy, Mount Vesuvius erupts in southern Italy, devastating the
prosperous Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and killing thousands. The cities, buried under
a thick layer of volcanic material and mud, were never rebuilt and largely forgotten in the course of
history. In the 18th century, Pompeii and Herculaneum were rediscovered and excavated, providing
an unprecedented archaeological record of the everyday life of an ancient civilization, startlingly
preserved in sudden death.

The ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum thrived near the base of Mount Vesuvius at the Bay of
Naples. In the time of the early Roman Empire, 20,000 people lived in Pompeii, including merchants,
manufacturers, and farmers who exploited the rich soil of the region with numerous vineyards and orchards.
None suspected that the black fertile earth was the legacy of earlier eruptions of Mount Vesuvius.
Herculaneum was a city of 5,000 and a favorite summer destination for rich Romans. Named for the mythic
hero Hercules, Herculaneum housed opulent villas and grand Roman baths. Gambling artifacts found in
Herculaneum and a brothel unearthed in Pompeii attest to the decadent nature of the cities. There were
smaller resort communities in the area as well, such as the quiet little town of Stabiae.

At noon on August 24, 79 A.D., this pleasure and prosperity came to an end when the peak of Mount Vesuvius
exploded, propelling a 10-mile mushroom cloud of ash and pumice into the stratosphere. For the next 12 hours,
volcanic ash and a hail of pumice stones up to 3 inches in diameter showered Pompeii, forcing the city’s
occupants to flee in terror. Some 2,000 people stayed in Pompeii, holed up in cellars or stone structures, hoping
to wait out the eruption.

A westerly wind protected Herculaneum from the initial stage of the eruption, but then a giant cloud of hot ash
and gas surged down the western flank of Vesuvius, engulfing the city and burning or asphyxiating all who
remained. This lethal cloud was followed by a flood of volcanic mud and rock, burying the city.

The people who remained in Pompeii were killed on the morning of August 25 when a cloud of toxic gas poured
into the city, suffocating all that remained. A flow of rock and ash followed, collapsing roofs and walls and
burying the dead.

Much of what we know about the eruption comes from an account by Pliny the Younger, who was staying west
along the Bay of Naples when Vesuvius exploded. In two letters to the historian Tacitus, he told of how
“people covered their heads with pillows, the only defense against a shower of stones,” and of how “a dark
and horrible cloud charged with combustible matter suddenly broke and set forth. Some bewailed their own fate.
Others prayed to die.” Pliny, only 17 at the time, escaped the catastrophe and later became a noted Roman
writer and administrator. His uncle, Pliny the Elder, was less lucky. Pliny the Elder, a celebrated naturalist, at
the time of the eruption was the commander of the Roman fleet in the Bay of Naples. After Vesuvius exploded,
he took his boats across the bay to Stabiae, to investigate the eruption and reassure terrified citizens. After
going ashore, he was overcome by toxic gas and died.

According to Pliny the Younger’s account, the eruption lasted 18 hours. Pompeii was buried under 14 to 17 feet
of ash and pumice, and the nearby seacoast was drastically changed. Herculaneum was buried under more than
60 feet of mud and volcanic material. Some residents of Pompeii later returned to dig out their destroyed homes
and salvage their valuables, but many treasures were left and then forgotten.

Archaeologists have long debated whether the mountain actually erupted on August 24. Some have pointed to
autumnal fruits discovered in the ruins as a sign that the date is too early. An inscription uncovered in 2018
also suggests the eruption could have taken place two months later in mid-October.

In the 18th century, a well digger unearthed a marble statue on the site of Herculaneum. The local government
excavated some other valuable art objects, but the project was abandoned. In 1748, a farmer found traces of
Pompeii beneath his vineyard. Since then, excavations have gone on nearly without interruption until the present.
In 1927, the Italian government resumed the excavation of Herculaneum, retrieving numerous art treasures,
including bronze and marble statues and paintings.

The remains of 2,000 men, women, and children were found at Pompeii. After perishing from asphyxiation, their
bodies were covered with ash that hardened and preserved the outline of their bodies. Later, their bodies
decomposed to skeletal remains, leaving a kind of plaster mold behind. Archaeologists who found these molds
filled the hollows with plaster, revealing in grim detail the death pose of the victims of Vesuvius. The rest of the
city is likewise frozen in time, and ordinary objects that tell the story of everyday life in Pompeii are as valuable
to archaeologists as the great unearthed statues and frescoes. It was not until 1982 that the first human remains
were found at Herculaneum, and these hundreds of skeletons bear ghastly burn marks that testifies to horrifying deaths.

Today, Mount Vesuvius is the only active volcano on the European mainland. Its last eruption was in 1944 and its
last major eruption was in 1631. Another eruption is expected in the near future, which could be devastating for the
700,000 people who live in the “death zones” around Vesuvius.




ALSO ON THIS DAY




SPACE EXPLORATION
2006
Pluto is demoted

In Prague on August 24, 2006, the International
Astronomical Union votes to demote Pluto from
the ninth planet from the Sun to one of dozens of
known dwarf planets. The vote followed a week of
debate by the IAU, who voted on multiple proposals
including one that kept not just ...
read more





CRIME
2012
Killer in Norway massacre is sentenced

On August 24, 2012, the man who killed 77 people
in a July 22, 2011, bombing and shooting attack in
Norway is sentenced to 21 years in prison, the
maximum allowed under Norwegian law.
Anders Behring Breivik, a 33-year-old right-wing
extremist with anti-Muslim views, carried out ...
read more





FRANCE
1572
Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre

King Charles IX of France, under the sway of his
mother, Catherine de Medici, orders the assassination
of Huguenot Protestant leaders in Paris, setting off
an orgy of killing that results in the massacre of tens
of thousands of Huguenots all across France.
Two days earlier, ...
read more


MEXICO
1821
Spain accepts Mexican independence

Eleven years after the outbreak of the Mexican War
of Independence, Spanish Viceroy Juan de O’Donojú
signs the Treaty of Córdoba, which approves a plan
to make Mexico an independent constitutional monarchy.
In the early 19th century, Napoleon’s occupation
of Spain led to the ...
read more


WORLD WAR I
1914
Poet Alan Seeger volunteers in French army

On August 24, 1914, the American poet Alan Seeger
volunteers for service in the French Foreign Legion
during the First World War. Born in New York City in
1888, Seeger attended Harvard University, where his
illustrious classmates in the Class of 1910 included
the poet John Reed ...
read more





VIETNAM WAR
1969
U.S. unit refuses commander’s order

Company A of the Third Battalion, 196th Light Infantry
Brigade refuses the order of its commander, Lieutenant
Eugene Schurtz, Jr., to continue an attack that had been
launched to reach a downed helicopter shot down in the
Que Son valley, 30 miles south of Da Nang. The unit had ...
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SPORTS
1875
Captain Webb becomes first person
to swim the English Channel

On August 24, 1875, Captain Matthew Webb of
Great Britain becomes the first man to successfully
swim the English Channel without assistance. After
the feat, Webb became an international celebrity,
admired for both his prowess in the water and his
penchant for risk-taking. Born in ...
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WAR OF 1812
1814
British troops set fire to the White House

On August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812 between
the United States and England, British troops enter
Washington, D.C. and burn the White House in retaliation
for the American attack on the city of York in Ontario, Canada,
in June 1813. When the British arrived at the White ...
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WESTWARD EXPANSION
1873
Elusive Mount of the Holy Cross photographed

William Henry Jackson becomes the first person to
photograph Colorado’s elusive Mount of the Holy Cross,
providing reliable proof of its existence. Rumors had
abounded for years that a natural cross of snow lay
hidden high in the rugged mountains of Colorado.
Many claimed to have ...
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CRIME
1981
John Lennon’s killer sentenced

On August 24, 1981, Mark David Chapman is
sentenced to 20 years to life for the murder of
John Lennon, a founding member of The Beatles,
one of the most successful bands in the history
of popular music. On December 8, 1980,
Chapman shot and killed the 40-year-old singer, ...
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CRIME
1982
Wall Street informer, Martin Siegel,
hatches insider trading scheme

On August 24, 1982, Martin Siegel meets high-powered
stock broker Ivan Boesky at the Harvard Club in
New York City to discuss his mounting financial pressures.
Boesky offered Siegel, a mergers-and-acquisitions executive,
a job, but Siegel, who was looking for some kind of ...
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COLD WAR
1954
Congress passes Communist Control Act

Congress passes the Communist Control Act in response
to the growing anticommunist hysteria in the United States.
Though full of ominous language, many found the purpose
of the act unclear. In 1954, the Red Scare still raged in the
United States. Although Senator Joseph ...
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