On August 25, 1944, the French 2nd Armored Division, attached to Patton's 3rd Army, outraces the US 4th Infantry Division into the streets of Paris, liberating the city after 49 months of Nazi occupation. For the sake of speed, European theatre commander Dwight Eisenhower had ordered Patton to bypass Paris, but changed his mind after General Charles de Gaulle warned him that leaving the city's liberation to the French Resistance could cause the country to fall to Communist influence after the war. To his credit, General Dietrick von Choltitz, commander of the German garrison, defied Hitler's orders to blow up historic landmarks before evacuating. On August 25, 1950, with strikes by two major railroad unions being threatened, President Harry Truman orders government control of the nation's railroads by the U.S. Army. In the days before construction of the Interstate Highway System, railroads were critical to the nation's transportation and defense infrastructures. The Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen and Order of Railway Conductors would not return to work until May 1952.
On August 26, 1992, Hurricane Andrew, having already wreaked havoc across southern Florida, slams ashore just southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana. Although a Category 3 at this second landfall, Andrew achieved Cat 5 strength during its 2-week life, the fourth strongest storm to ever hit the continental US up to that date. The storm claims 65 lives, (mostly in Florida and the Bahamas) and causes more than $27 billion in damages On August 26, 1794, President George Washington decides he must use force to subdue the Whiskey Rebellion. The unrest over a federal tax on distilled products had been growing for several weeks. In Pittsburgh, an estimated 6,000 gathered in what was the first citizen insurrection in the young nation's history. Washington knew the use of force would be "abhorent" to the citizenry, but when the protesters refused to disband, Washington, accompanied by Virginia governor and trusted Revolutionary War subordinate Harry "Lighthorse" Lee, led 13,000 Federal troops to Pittsburgh to meet the protesters, who disbanded without bloodshed at the sight of the troops. On August 26, 1939, New York City television station W2XBS, which will later become WNBC, presents the first-ever televised baseball games, a doubleheader between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds from Ebbetts Field. Two stationary cameras covered the action, and the crude equipment of the day offered little in way of picture quality; viewers couldn't even identify the ball in flight. But the real purpose of the broadcast was to demonstrate the capabilities of the new American-made medium for the World's Fair ongoing in nearby Queens. To that end, the broadcast was a rousing success.
A friend of mine is (and was) the fixed based operator at the airport down the road, and lives in Houma. They probably got the worst of it in Louisiana. This guy was hunkered down in an interior bathroom with his family, and being interviewed live on WWL radio, and while he was on the air the roof tore of his house. He's a legendary figure in south LA after that.
On August 27, 1789, the French National Assembly adopts the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizens. Written partially by the Marquis de Lafayette in consultation with Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration not surprisingly echoes many of the concepts put forth in the U.S. Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights. On August 27, 2007, NFL star Michael Vick pleads guilty to federal felony charges of running a dog fighting operation. In April, authorities had raided a 15 acre property owned by Vick in rural Virginia and seized dozens of pit bulls, many showing signs of mistreatment and neglect, along with equipment common to dog fighting. Vick and 3 others were charged. All pleaded not guilty at first, but when the other 3 changed their pleas and agreed to testify against Vick, the player known as one of the best ever at eluding trouble on the field gave in to the inevitable. He served 23 months in federal prison, a stiffer charge than the law requires because the presiding judge felt Vick "wasn't taking responsibility for his actions." On August 27, 1955, the 1st edition of the Guinness Book of Records is published. Conceived during a hunting trip by Sir Hugh Beaver, managing director of the Guinness Brewery (he and his companions wondered if their prey was Europe's fastest game bird but couldn't find the answer) and compiled by twin brothers Norris and Ross McWhirter (professional statistics researchers for various London newspapers), it was originally intended only to be available for viewing at no charge in English pubs as a promotional tool for the Guinness brand. It turned out to be so popular that publication for sale quickly followed. It arrived in the U.S. the following year as the Guinness Book of World Records, and in 2000 became, simply, Guinness World Records. Now in its 64th year, the book itself is a world record: best-selling copyrighted book of all time.
On August 28, 1955, Emmett Till, a 14-year old African American, is killed in Money, Mississippi by 2 white men for allegedly having flirted with one of the men's wife. The killers beat Till senseless, gouged out one of his eyes and shot him in the head, before tossing his body in the Tallahatchie River, tied to a weight with barbed wire. Till's mother shocked the nation by holding an open casket funeral, despite his disfigurement in the attack. The killers, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, went on trial a month later, and an all-white jury took less than an hour to proclaim them not guilty. In a 2017 book about the incident, the object of Till's attention, Carolyn Bryant, said she lied during the trial and that Till had done nothing to justify his murder. On August 28, 1996, Charles Mountbatten-Windsor, Prince of Wales and heir to the throne of England, formally divorces his wife, the former Lady Diana Spencer, after four years of separation. The pair had married in 1981 and had two sons before their marriage became estranged. In exchange for giving up any future claim to the throne, Diana was allowed to keep her title by marriage, Princess of Wales. She was killed in a car crash just over a year later, while Charles remarried in 2005.
About 20 years ago i was working for a telecom company and was sitting across from a British optical equipment engineer, who worked for a company we had purchased equipment from. We were discussing our past lives and he told me he had worked for the British government designing lasers. Trying to be a smartass, I said oh your the bastards that blew out princess Diana's tire, without skipping a beat he said that's correct and went on with his story.
On August 30, 1776, British General William Howe writes General George Washington, offering the leader of Continental Army the opportunity to disband without further bloodshed. It is 3 days after Howe defeated Washington at the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, causing Washington to withdraw his troops from Long Island. Its also Howe's second offer of peace to Washington. Washington refuses to even read the letter, ordering it be forwarded to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. With Ben Franklin and John Adams as chief negotiators, the Congress agrees to talk with Howe, but the talks break down on September 11 when Howe refuses to acknowledge American independence. On August 30, 1918, Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Russian Soviets (councils), is shot by a member of the Social Revolutionary party, but survives the assassination attempt. The attempt rallies support to the side of the soviet soldiers and workers committees against the provincial government that had ruled since Czar Nicholas II was driven from power in March. Lenin will seize power and establish a Marxist government in November. On August 30, 1905, Ty Cobb makes his major league debut, starting in center field for the Detroit Tigers against the New York Highlanders. Cobb doubles in his first major league at bat, the first of his 4,191 hits, a major league record that would stand until topped by Pete Rose in 1985.
On August 31, 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt signs Senate Joint Resolution No. 173, the "Neutrality Act." It is seen as a response to Hitler's announcement in March that Germany will no longer honor the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which denied Germany permission to rebuild its military after WWI. Although 173 expressly stated that the U.S. would stay out of foreign wars, Roosevelt declared that the resolution left him room to "cooperate" with peaceful governments, latitude he would use to pass the Lend Lease Act in 1941. On August 31, 1955, General Motors demonstrates the Sunmobile, the world's first solar powered car. Its purely a futuristic publicity stunt; the Sunmobile is a 15 inch long model of a '55 Corvette, powered by a dozen photoelectric cells. To this day, solar powered vehicles have still not progressed past the demonstration stage. On August 31, 1969, New Orleans tries to recreate Woodstock. Its actually the second day of the New Orleans Pop Festival, though the first day had little star power. The Byrds, The Youngbloods, Janis Joplin, Iron Butterfly and Santana perform on the 31st, while the September 1 lineup includes Santana (again), Chicago, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Dr. John. The Festival is held at a racetrack in Prairieville, actually closer to Baton Rouge than New Orleans. Peak attendance is estimated at 30,000. There's no indication that promoters intended the New Orleans Pop Festival to be anything more than a one-time event.
