On August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman shoots a receptionist and two tourists in the lobby of the 33-story main building of the University of Texas in Austin. Whitman had been seeing a psychiatrist about "uncontrollable fits of anger" for several months, and had hinted about his intentions, but the psychiatrist told no one. Now unobstructed, Whitman goes to the building's observation platform with a stockpile of guns, ammunition, food and other supplies needed for an extended siege. Over the next 90 minutes, the Marine Corps-trained sharpshooter shoots 46 people, killing 14 (one of the wounded died from his wounds years later), before finally being killed himself by Austin police. Whitman left a suicide note in which he asked that his body be autopsied to see if there were a biochemical reason for his mental issues. (scenes from The Deadly Tower, filmed in 1975 at the state capitol in Baton Rouge) On August 1, 1943 among the Solomon Islands, the Japanese destroyer Amagiri rams an American PT (patrol torpedo) boat, No. 109, slicing it in two. The ramming was witnessed by other PT boat crews, who assumed all aboard 109 were killed. Two crewmen were, in fact, killed, but 11 survived, including her captain, Lt. John F. Kennedy. Kennedy leads the survivors on a 3 and a half mile swim to Plum Island, personally pulling badly burned Machinist Mate Patrick McMahon by his life vest. Finding friendly natives, Kennedy scratches a message on a coconut, which the natives deliver to the Navy. The survivors are rescued on August 5; Kennedy is awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his performance. (Scene from PT 109, starring Cliff Robertson as JFK) (The coconut shell on which Kennedy scratched the rescue message ended up in the hands of an infantryman named Ernest Gibson. Years later, Governor Ernest Gibson of Vermont presented the shell to Kennedy; he had it encased in glass and displayed it in the Oval Office. It is now in the JFK Library in Boston.) On August 1, 1981, a new cable TV channel, Music Television, launches for viewers in New Jersey. Combining "the best of television with the best of radio" (in the words of the first MTV "VJ," Mark Goodman), MTV is the first channel devoted solely to a rapidly growing art expression, the music video - and it is true; the very first video aired was The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star." Over the decades, MTV has spawned numerous copycat networks worldwide, but has also strayed from its original platform by producing and airing reality programming aimed at teenaged and young adult viewers. (a compilation of MTV's first telecast hour, minus the actual music videos)
One I missed from yesterday.....On August 1, 2015, Rush performs for the last time, at The Los Angeles Forum. As the concert comes to a close, the late, immortal Neil Peart comes out from behind his drum kit to take a bow center stage for the first and only time in his 41 years of performing with the trio.. On August 2, 1964, the destroyer USS Maddox engages three North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. The Maddox was performing signal intelligence and being shadowed by the NV boats. The record shows the Maddox fired first, though her captain claimed they were warning shots. All three torpedo boats were damaged and 4 sailors killed. The Maddox reported one machine gun bullet hole in her superstructure. The "Gulf of Tonkin Incident" will hasten America's full entry into the Vietnam War. On August 2, 1990, at about 2 a.m. local time, Iraqi forces invade Kuwait, Iraq’s tiny, oil-rich neighbor. Kuwait’s defense forces were rapidly overwhelmed, and the emir, his family, and other government leaders flee to Saudi Arabia. By annexing Kuwait, Iraq gained control of 20 percent of the world’s oil reserves. The United Nations Security Council immediately denounces the invasion and demands Iraq’s immediate withdrawal from Kuwait. On August 2, 1934, Paul von Hindenburg, president of Germany, passes away, leaving Chancellor Adolf Hitler in sole charge of the German government. Hitler immediately seeks out and receives an oath of allegiance from the nation's military leadership, and declares himself absolute dictator.
Doctors tore his forebrain down Not a snitch of illness found Most folks couldn't figure out why he did it And them that could would not admit it
On August 3, 1492, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sets sail from the Spanish port of Palos in command of three ships—the Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Nina, on a journey to find a western sea route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia..... On August 3, 1958 the nuclear submarine USS Nautilus becomes the first vessel to reach the geographic North Pole by sailing under it. The Nautilus submerged off Point Barrow, Alaska on August 1, and did not surface again until August 5, in the Greenland Sea, a voyage of about 1,000 miles at an average depth of 500 feet. On August 3, 1965, CBS-TV news shows pictures of men from the First Battalion, Ninth Marines setting fire to huts in the village of Cam Na, six miles west of Da Nang, despite reports that the Viet Cong had already fled the area. The film report sparks indignation and condemnation of the U.S. policy in Vietnam both at home and overseas. On August 3, 1949, the National Basketball League agrees to merge with its new upstart rival, the Basketball Association of America, to form the National Basketball Association.
