August 31
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Events on This Day
1850 - King Kamehameha III officially declared Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, to be the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom.1852 - The United States Congress passed legislation creating the first prestamped envelopes.
1865 - The U.S. government estimated the Civil War had cost about $5.2 billion. Human costs have been estimated at more than one million killed or wounded.
1888 - Mary Ann Nicholls was found brutally murdered in London’s East End. Hers is generally regarded as the first slaying committed by Jack the Ripper.
1910 - Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed the era of New Nationalism in America. Teddy won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for brokering peace between Russia and Japan to end the Russso- Japanese war.
1921 - Lt. John A. Macready, piloting a Curtiss JN-6H (Jenny) aircraft with a crude metal hopper bolted to one side of the fuselage and loaded with powdered lead arsenate, took off from McCook Field near Dayton, Ohio. His destination was a grove infested with the Catalpa sphinx moth that regularly defoliated these trees. As excited onlookers cheered, the aircraft delivered the first load in the history of agricultural aviation. With 100% kill reported, a new industry was born: crop dusting.
1939 - Frank Sinatra recorded All or Nothing at All with the Harry James Band. The tune failed to become a hit until four years later -- after Ol’ Blue Eyes had joined the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.
1940 - Actor Lawrence Olivier and actress Vivian Leigh were married.
1941 - The Great Gildersleeve, a spin-off of Fibber McGee and Molly, started on NBC radio.
1942 - “Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!” Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound ... the caped crusader started on network radio on the Mutual Broadcasting System. Bud Collyer, later of TV’s Beat the Clock, played Clark Kent aka Superman on the radio series. His identity had been well guarded for years. Most people didn’t have a clue as to the identity of Superman until a TIME magazine article about Collyer appeared in 1946.
1950 - Gil Hodges of the Brooklyn Dodgers hit four home runs in a single game. He got homers off of Boston Braves pitchers Warren Spahn, Normie Roy, Bob Hall and Johnny Antonelli.
1955 - Nashua defeated Swaps in a match-up of the thoroughbred horses at Arlington Park in Chicago, IL.
1959 - Sandy Koufax set a National League record by striking out 18 hitters. Wally Moon connected for a three-run homer as the LA Dodgers downed the San Francisco Giants, 5-2.
1962 - The Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago became an independent member of the British Commonwealth. Trinidad and Tobago was only the second British Caribbean colony to become an independent state (Jamaica had become the first just weeks earlier). Consisting of two islands roughly 35 km (22 mi) apart -- the southernmost of the Windward Caribbean islands -- Trinidad and Tobago lie just northeast of Venezuela.
1963 - Walter Cronkite started showing up in living rooms during the dinner hour as anchor of the CBS Evening News, a job he took over from Douglas Edwards on April 16, 1962. Previous to this night, CBS Evening News had been shown from 7:30-7:45 p.m. and 7:15-7:30 p.m.
1969 - Boxer Rocky Marciano died in an airplane crash near Newton, Iowa on this day, the day before his 46th birthday.
1972 - Olga Korbut of the U.S.S.R. won Olympic gold in floor exercises and on the balance beam.
1972 - American swimmer Mark Spitz won his fourth and fifth gold medals at the Munich Summer Olympics. Spitz collected the hardward for his performances in the 100-meter butterfly and 800-meter freestyle relay.
1973 - Academy Award-winning Director John Ford (The Informer 1935, The Grapes of Wrath: 1940, How Green Was My Valley: 1941, The Quiet Man: 1952) died of stomach cancer in Palm Desert, CA. He was 78 years old.
1976 - A judge ruled that George Harrison was guilty of copying from the song He’s So Fine (a 1963 Chiffons hit). The judge said that the chorus to Harrison’s My Sweet Lord was identical to He’s So Fine and it eventually (appeals went on for about five years) cost the former Beatle over half a million dollars.
1980 - Poland’s Solidarity labor movement was born with an agreement signed in Gdansk. The Gdansk Agreement also ended a 17-day strike.
1981 - Tickets went on sale for the highest-priced play in Broadway history. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Plymouth Theatre in New York, included a 45-minute dinner break -- all for $100 per person.
1985 - The Dire Straits album, Brothers in Arms, rose to number one in the U.S. The album was a smash, remaining on top for nine weeks. The tracks: So Far Away, Money for Nothing, Walk of Life, Your Latest Trick, Why Worry, Ride Across the River, The Man’s Too Strong, One World and Brothers in Arms.
1986 - An Aeromexico Douglas DC-9-32 jetliner, descending over Cerritos for a landing at Los Angeles International Airport, collided with a small Piper PA-28 Cherokee that has strayed into restricted airspace. The 82 victims included all 64 passengers and crew members aboard the DC-9, the family of 3 in the Piper, and 15 persons on the ground in a residential neighborhood.
1986 - The Soviet passenger ship Admiral Nakhimov collided with the merchant vessel Pyotr Vasev in the Black Sea, causing both vessels to sink. 79 bodies were recovered; 319 people were listed as missing; 863 survived. The two captains were sent to jail for 15 years.
1987 - This day saw the largest preorder of albums in the history of CBS Records. 2.25 million copies of Michael Jackson’s Bad album were shipped to record stores. The LP followed in the tracks of the Jackson album, Thriller, the biggest Jackson-seller of all time (35 million copies sold). The Bad album was successful -- but sold only 13 million copies.
1990 - Ken Griffey & Ken Griffey Jr were the first father-and-son teammate combo to play on the same pro baseball team: the Seattle Mariners. Both men hit singles in the first inning. And, that September 14 they hit back-to-back home runs in a game at the California Angels.
1991 - Uzbekistan and the Kyrgyz Republic declared independence from the Soviet Union. They were the 9th and 10th republics to announce their plans to secede.
1992 - White separatist Randy Weaver surrendered to authorities in Naples, Idaho. His eleven-day standoff with federal agents claimed the lives of Weaver's wife, son and a deputy U.S. marshal.
1994 - The Irish Republican Army announced that it was ready to abandon warfare in favor of peace talks on the future of Northern Ireland. At midnight its fighters lay down their arms, ending its 25-year armed campaign to end British control.
1997 - Diana, Britain’s Princess of Wales, was killed in an early-morning car crash in Paris, France. Also killed was her millionaire companion, Harrods department store heir, Dodi Fayed. The couple was being chased by aggressive paparazzie (photographers) on motorcycles at the time of the crash.
1998 - Titanic became the first movie in North America to earn more than $600 million.
1999 - 72 people were killed, including five on the ground, when a Lapa Airlines Boeing 737 crashed after takeoff from Jorge Newberry airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina. There were 26 survivors.
2001 - Movies opening in the U.S.: Jeepers Creepers, with Gina Philips, Justin Long, Jonathan Breck, Patricia Belcher, Brandon Smith and Eileen Brennan; and O, starring Mekhi Phifer, Josh Hartnett, Julia Stiles, Andrew Keegan, Rain Phoenix, Martin Sheen and Elden Henson.
2002 - Jazz icon Lionel Hampton died. He was 94 years old. Hampton pioneered and popularized the vibraphone as a jazz instrument. His musical career began in the 1920s.
2003 - Some 30,500 people attended the annual Burning Man event in Gerlach, Nevada. What is Burning Man, you ask? Read this.
2004 - Arnold Schwarzenegger and Laura Bush spoke on the second night of the Republican National Convention in New York City; and police arrested several hundred demonstrators.
2005 - The Constant Gardner debuted in U.S. movie theatres. The romantic thriller stars Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Danny Huston, Anthony LaPaglia, Pernilla August and Sidede Onyulo.
2005 - In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. government declared a public health emergency for the Gulf Coast while launching one of the largest search and rescue missions in history; New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin said, “hundreds ... most likely, thousands” may be dead; the death toll in Biloxi was 110; at least 25,000 evacuees, particularly those currently in shelters in New Orleans -- including the Louisiana Superdome, were to be moved to the Reliant Astrodome in Houston, TX; the U.S. announced the release of oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help refineries whose oil supplies had been badly damaged.
2006 - NASA awarded a multibillion contract to Lockheed Martin Corporation to send astronauts to the moon. Estimated cost of the projected Orion crew exploration vehicle program was $7.5 billion through 2019.
2007 - New movies in the U.S.: Death Sentence, starring Kevin Bacon, Garrett Hedlun, Kelly Preston, John Goodman, Aisha Tyler, Leigh Whannell, Matt O'Leary, Yorgo Constantine and Jordan Garrett; Halloween, with Scout Taylor-Compton, Malcolm McDowell, Daeg Faerch, Tyler Mane, Sheri Moon Zombie, Pat Skipper, Dee Wallace Stone, William Forsythe, Ken Foree, Lew Temple, Danny Trejo, Hanna Hall, Danielle Harris, Adrienne Barbeau, Clint Howard, Courtney Gains, Daryl Sabara, Heather Bowen, Brad Dourif, Udo Kier and Kristina Klebe; and Ladrón que roba a ladrón, starring Fernando Colunga, Miguel Varoni, Saúl Lisazo, Ivonne Montero, Oscar Torres, Ruben Garfias, Daniel Edward Mora, Gabriel Soto, Julie Gonzalo, JoJo Henrickson and Sonya Smith.
2007 - The 34th annual Telluride Film Festival opened in Colorado. Operated by the National Film Preserve, LTD, the festival was started in 1974 by prominent local residents in the town of Telluride, Colorado.
2008 - Warner Brothers said The Dark Knight had become the second movie in Hollywood history to top $500 million at the domestic box office, raising its total to $502.4 million. Titanic, the biggest modern blockbuster, remained #1 on the domestic charts with $600.8 million.
2008 - Cubans returned from shelters to find flooded homes and washed-out roads, but no deaths were reported after Hurricane Gustav roared across the island and into the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico.
2009 - The Walt Disney Co. announced its $4-billion acquisition of Marvel Entertainment Inc., bringing such characters as Iron Man and Spider-Man into the family of Mickey Mouse and WALL-E.
2009 - The European Commission announced the transition of power-draining light bulbs to more energy efficient ones was set to start. The new rules followed an agreement reached by the 27 European Union governments to phase out the use of incandescent light bulbs over three years to help European countries lower greenhouse gas emissions.
2009 - Florida’s Governor Charlie Crist signed a 20-year gambling pact with the Seminole Indian tribe, which agreed to pay Florida $12.5 million a month for 30 months to run slot machines and blackjack games.
2010 - President Barack Obama marked the symbolic end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq. Since the U.S. invasion in March 2003, some 5,000 U.S. and allied soldiers had been killed, as well as some 150,000 Iraqis. Over 2 million Iraqis had fled the country.
2011 - Movies opening in the U.S.: The Debt, starring Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson, Ciarán Hinds, Romi Aboulafia and Tomer Ben David; and Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life, with Eric Elmosnino, Lucy Gordon, Laetitia Casta, Doug Jones, Anna Mouglalis , Mylène Jampanoï and Sara Forestier.
2011 - The U.S. Justice Department sued to block a proposed $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile by AT&T, saying the deal would lessen competition in the wireless market.
2011 - Solyndra, a California solar panel manufacturer which President Obama had made the poster child of his effort to expand the green economy and grow jobs, filed for bankruptcy. “Global economic and solar industry market conditions” forced it to abruptly shutter its Fremont, California factory and immediately lay off more than 1,100 employees. The company had received a $535-million federal loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2009.
2012 - Motion pictures debuting in the U.S.: The Possession, starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick, Grant Show, Madison Davenport, Natasha Calis and Agam Darshi; For a Good Time Call, with Seth Rogen, Mimi Rogers, Ari Graynor, Justin Long, Lauren Miller and Nia Vardalos; The Good Doctor, starring Orlando Bloom, Riley Keough, Taraji P. Henson, Rob Morrow, Michael Peña, Troy Garity, Molly Price and Wade Williams; and the documentary, Side by Side, featuring Michael Ballhaus, Dion Beebe, Danny Boyle and James Cameron.
2012 - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the end of protection for wolves in most of Wyoming. A yearslong effort to revive the species that once neared extinction had been so successful that wolves no longer need special protections to ensure their survival in the Cowboy State.
2013 - POTUS Barack Obama said the U.S. would take military action against Syria, pending Congress’s approval. No strike was approved, but in January 2014 Congress did secretly approve U.S. weapons for ‘moderate’ Syrian rebels.
2014 - Thousands of anti-government protesters tried to raid the official residence of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Clashes with police killed three people and injured 400 amid cries for the PM to step down.
2015 - Singapore announced the lifting of its two-decade old ban on HIV-infected people. But, officials said they would limit the stay of the afflicted to a maximum of three months. The health ministry said the ban had been lifted, “given the current context with more than 5,000 Singapore residents living with HIV and the availability of effective treatment for the disease.”
2016 - Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, insisted he told Donald Trump, during their meeting in Mexico City, that Mexico would not pay for a border wall between their two countries. Trump, the Republican nominee, had made illegal immigration a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, frequently invoking his claim that Mexico would be paying for a wall along the border between the two countries. “At the start of the conversation with Donald Trump, I made clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall,” Peña Nieto said.
2016 - POTUS Barack Obama opened a two-day environmental tour aimed at showcasing conservation efforts before traveling to Asia. Obama visited Lake Tahoe to speak at a summit dedicated to the iconic lake’s preservation. He then headed to Honolulu, for a speech to a gathering of leaders of island nations in the Pacific Ocean.
2017 - A Houston-area chemical plant that had lost power after Harvey engulfed the area in floods was rocked by fires and explosions. Local authorities said the resulting smoke presented no danger to the community at all.
2017 - Wells Fargo reported an internal review of its potentially fraudulent bank accounts had uncovered a total of 3.5 million such accounts -- some 1.4 million more than it had previously estimated.
2018 - Motion pictures debuting in U.S. theatres on this day included: Kin, with Carrie Coon, James Franco and Zoë Kravitz; An Actor Prepares, starring Jeremy Irons, Matthew Modine and Jack Huston; Blood Fest, with Zachary Levi, Tate Donovan and Seychelle Gabriel; Boarding School, starring Luke Prael, Sterling Jerins and Will Patton; Cynthia, with Scout Taylor-Compton, Sid Haig and Bill Moseley; The Little Stranger, starring Josh Dylan, Domhnall Gleeson and Ruth Wilson; Reprisal, starring Bruce Willis, Frank Grillo and Johnathon Schaech; S.M.A.R.T. Chase, with Orlando Bloom, Lei Wu and Simon Yam.
2018 - Coca-Cola said it was buying the British Costa brand from Whitbread for £3.9 billion ($5.1 billion) in cash. Costa was Britain’s biggest coffee company.
2018 - In a move aimed at deterring computer hacking, NATO established a new cyber operations center at its military hub in Mons, Belgium. The United States, Britain, Estonia and other allies soon offered their cyber capabilities. The command center was set to be fully staffed by 2023 and able to mount its own cyber attacks.
2019 - U.S. actress Valerie Harper died at 80 years of age. Harper won four Emmy awards playing budding feminist Rhoda Morgenstern on the classic 1970s TV series, The Mary Tyler Moore Show -- and her own spinoff sitcom, Rhoda.
2019 - Hong Kong police fired tear gas and water cannon as pro-democracy protesters threw gasoline bombs. It was the latest in a series of clashes that had plunged the Chinese-ruled city into its worst political crisis since it was transferred to China in 1997.
2020 - British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline and partner Vir Biotechnology started testing their experimental antibody on early-stage COVID-19 patients, entering the race to find a winner in a promising class of antiviral drugs to combat the pandemic.
2020 - In yet another reversal of a Trump attempt to reverse beneficial climate policies: A U.S. appeals court overturned the Trump administration’s July 2019 rule that would have suspended a regulation that doubled penalties for automakers failing to meet fuel efficiency requirements.
2021 - Canada said it would resettle some 5,000 Afghan refugees evacuated by the U.S. Immigration minister Marco Mendicino said, “We’re pulling out all the stops to help as many Afghans as possible who want to make their home in Canada.”
2021 - New rules by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were designed to protect the North Atlantic right whale. The whales numbered only about 360 and were vulnerable to lethal entanglement in fishing gear. However, the lobster fishing industry was concerned that the new rules would make it difficult to get lobsters to consumers.
2022 - Mary Peltola was the first Alaskan Native to be elected to U.S. Congress. She defeating Sarah Palin in a special election.
2022 - U.S. life expectancy fell to its lowest level since 1996 -- 76.1 yrs. It had been 79 yrs in 2019. COVID-19 was the main contributing factor according to the CDC.
2022 - New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order to build a reproductive health-care clinic near the Texas border. The facility would help meet the rising demand for abortions as women travel to New Mexico from neighboring states that had banned the procedure since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
2023 - 74 people died in a fire in Johannesburg, South Africa. The five-story building that burned in central Johannesburg had been turned into informal housing. 12 children were among those killed.
2023 - Two leaders of the Proud Boys right wing group were given lengthy sentences for sedition for their part in the Jan 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol. Joseph Biggs was sentenced to 17 years and Zachary Rehl 15 years. Seditious conspiracy was the most severe crime charged in the Justice Department’s investigation of the attack.
and more...
Birthdays on This Day August 31
1870 - Maria Montessori
educator: first woman to attend medical school, first female Doctor of Medicine in Italy, worked with handicapped and socially deprived children, developed unique educational method known as the Montessori method; Montessori Schools named for her; died May 6, 19521897 - Fredric March (Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel)
Academy Award-winning actor: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [1931-32], The Best Years of Our Lives [1946]; Seven Days in May, Inherit the Wind, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, Desperate Hours, The Bridges at Toko-Ri, Executive Suite, A Christmas Carol, A Star is Born, Mary of Scotland, Anna Karenina, The Barretts of Wimpole Street; Tony Award-winner: Long Day’s Journey into Night [1957]; died Apr 14, 19751903 - Arthur (Morton) Godfrey
ukulele playing, TV/ radio entertainer: Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts, Arthur Godfrey and Friends; Lipton Tea commercials; died Mar 16, 19831907 - William Shawn
magazine editor: The New Yorker; died Dec 08, 19921908 - William Saroyan
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright: The Time of Your Life [1940]; The Human Comedy; died May 18, 19811914 - Richard Basehart
actor: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea; Marilyn: The Untold Story, The Andersonville Trial, The Brothers Karamazov, Moby Dick; died Sep 17, 19841916 - Daniel Schorr
journalist: CBS News, CNN; Senior News Analyst: National Public Radio; died Jul 23, 20101918 - Alan Jay Lerner
Songwriters Hall of Famer: Academy Award-winner: Gigi [score and title song, 1958], An American in Paris [screenplay, 1951]; lyricist: Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, Camelot, My Fair Lady ; half of songwriting team of Lerner & Loewe; Grammy Award-winner: On a Clear Day You Can See Forever [1969]; died June 14, 19861920 - G.D. Spradlin
actor: Riders of the Purple Sage, The War of the Roses, Tank, North Dallas Forty, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, Part 2, Zabriskie Point, Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II; died Jul 24, 20111924 - Buddy Hackett (Leonard Hacker)
comedian, actor: The Love Bug, The Music Man; cartoon voices: The Little Mermaid; died Jun 30, 20031924 - Herbert Wise
film director: The 10th Kingdom, Breaking the Code, St. Peter’s Fair, A New Lease of Death, Welcome Home, Bobby, Pope John Paul II, Skokie, The Woman in Black; died Aug 5, 20151927 - Jim Finks
Pro Football Hall of Famer [quarterback, defensive back]: Pittsburgh Steelers; administrator: developed and/or restored the Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints; died May 8, 19941928 - James Coburn
actor: Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, The Great Escape, Our Man Flint, The President’s Analyst, Hudson Hawk, Charade, The Magnificent Seven; died Nov 18, 20021931 - Jean Béliveau
Hockey Hall of Famer [center]: Montreal Canadiens: won ten Stanley Cups, scored 507 career goals, 712 assists, won the Art Ross, Hart [twice] and Conn Smythe Trophies; Jean Béliveau Trophy named for him [awarded to the top regular season scorer of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League]; died Dec 2, 20141935 - Eldridge Cleaver
writer, political activist; died May 1, 19981935 - Frank Robinson
Baseball Hall of Famer: Cincinnati Redlegs [ Rookie of the Year: 1956/all-star: 1956, 1957], Cincinnati Reds [all-star: 1959, 1961, 1962, 1965/World Series: 1961/Baseball Writers’ Award: 1961], Baltimore Orioles [World Series: 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971/all-star: 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1974/Baseball Writers’ Award: 1966], LA Dodgers, California Angels, Cleveland Indians; first black baseball manager; died Feb 7, 20191937 - Warren Berlinger
actor: Love American Style, Sex and the Single Parent, The World According to Garp; died Dec 2, 20201939 - Jerry Allison
musician: drums: group: The Crickets: That’ll be the Day; songwriter w/Sunny Curtis; died Aug 22, 20221940 - Jack Thompson
actor: Last Dance, The Killing Beach, Ground Zero, Breaker Morant, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Waterfront, Jack Petersen1941 - John McNally
musician: guitar, singer: group The Searchers: Sweets for My Sweet, Needles and Pins, Love Potion #9, Don’t Throw Your Love Away, Sugar and Spice1945 - Itzhak Perlman
violinist: recorded with Andre Previn and Scott Joplin1945 - Van Morrison
songwriter, singer: group: Them: Gloria; solo: Brown Eyed Girl, Domino, Blue Money, She Gives Me Religion1945 - Earnie Shavers
boxer: 68 KOs; fought for the world heavyweight championship twice [Muhammad Ali in 1977, Larry Holmes in 1979], was defeated both times; autobiography: Welcome to the Big Time1946 - Tom Coughlin
football coach: NFL: Jacksonville Jaguars [1995-2002]; New York Giants [2004- ]: Super Bowl XLII [2008], XLVI [2012] champs1947 - Carl Garrett
football: Oakland Raiders running back: Super Bowl XI1949 - Richard Gere
actor: An Officer and a Gentleman, Pretty Woman, American Gigolo, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, The Cotton Club, Days of Heaven, First Knight, The Jackal1952 - Rudolf Schenker
musician: guitar: group: Scorpions: LPs Killers, Taken by Force, Tokyo Tapes, Lovedrive, Animal Magnetism, Blackout, Love at First Sting, World Wide Live1954 - Claudell Washington
baseball: Oakland Athletics [all-star: 1974/World Series: 1974], Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, NY Mets, Atlanta Braves [all-star: 1984], NY Yankees, California Angels1955 - Edwin Moses
Olympic Gold Medalist [1976, 1984] & Hall of Famer: 400-meter hurdles: the first athlete to use 13 strides between hurdles; 1983 winner of Sullivan Award: the U.S. outstanding amateur athlete1955 - Anthony Thistlethwaite
musician: saxophone: group: The WaterboysLP: Fisherman’s Blues; Saw Doctors; solo LPs: Aesop Wrote a Fable, Cartwheels, Crawfish and Caviar1957 - Gina Schock
musician: drums: group: The Go-Go’s: Our Lips Are Sealed, We Got the Beat, Lust to Love, Skidmarks on My Heart, This Town, Can’t Stop the World1958 - Von (Francis) Hayes
baseball: Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies [World Series: 1983/all-star: 1989], California Angels1959 - Tony DeFranco
singer: group: The DeFranco Family: Heartbeat, It’s a Lovebeat1963 - Billy Vukovich
race car driver: Rookie-of-the-Year [1988]; 3-time veteran of the Indianapolis 500 [and first third-generation driver to earn a start in the race]; killed in Sprint Car accident at the Mesa Marin Raceway [Bakersfield CA] Nov 25, 19901966 - Jeff Frye
baseball: Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, Colorado Rockies, Toronto Blue Jays1968 - Hideo Nomo
baseball [pitcher]: LA Dodgers, NY Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, TB Devil Rays1970 - Debbie Gibson
singer: Only in My Dreams, Foolish Beat, Lost in Your Eyes, Les Miserables; writer: Between the Lines; perfume: Electric Youth1970 - Queen Rania (Rania Al Abdullah)
Queen consort of Jordan1970 - Zack Ward
actor: Lost, Crossing Jordan, Charmed, Transformers, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Freddy vs. Jason, BloodRayne II: Deliverance, Postal, Alone in the Dark II, The Devil’s Tomb1971 - Mike Caldwell
football [linebacker]: Middle Tennessee State Univ; NFL: Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, Arizona Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears, Carolina Panthers; linebackers coach: Philadelphia Eagles, Arizona Cardinals, New York Jets1972 - Chris Tucker
actor: Rush Hour series, House Party 3, Dead Presidents, The Fifth Element, Money Talks, Jackie Brown; more1973 - Scott Niedermayer
hockey: New Jersey Devils, Anaheim Mighty Ducks1975 - Sara Ramirez
Tony Award-winning actress: Spamalot [2005]; films, TV: Grey’s Anatomy, Chicago, Washington Heights, You’ve Got Mail1976 - Shar Jackson
actress: Moesha, Grand Avenue, Love & Basketball, Steppin: The Movie, Good Burger, I Do...I Di, Trent & Tilly1979 - Yara Martinez
actress: Hollywood Heights, Jane the Virgin, True Detective, Bull, Alpha House, The Lying Game, Southland1980 - Dana Hamm
fitness model: her celebrity status has landed her in top magazines such as The Girls of FHM, FHM, Stuff, Femme Fatales, Maxim, Loaded, Muscle & Fitness1981 - Joshua Close
actor: Full of It, The Man Who Lost Himself, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, A Home at the End of the World, Twist, Adam and Eve
1983 - Larry Fitzgerald
football [wide receiver]: Univ of Pittsburgh; NFL: Arizona Cardinals [Super Bowl XLIII champs]1983 - Lance Moore
football [wide receiver]: NFL: Cleveland Browns [2005]; New Orleans Saints [2005–2013]: 2010 Super Bowl XLIV champs; Pittsburgh Steelers [2014]; Detroit Lions [2015]1984 - Ted Ligety
Alpine ski racer: Olypic gold medalist [2006 combined event, 2014 giant slalom]1984 - Charl Schwartzel
golf champ: 2011 Masters Tournament, 2016 Valspar Championship; more1988 - Matt Adams
baseball: St. Louis Cardinals [2012-2017]: 2013 World Series; Atlanta Braves [2017]; Washington Nationals [2018]; St. Louis Cardinals [2018]; Washington Nationals [2019]; Atlanta Braves [2020]; Colorado Rockies [2021]1991 - Shi Tingmao
Chinese diver: four gold medals in Olympic competitions (two in 2016, two in 2020); has won eight golds in the World Championships
and still more...
Hit Music on This Day August 31
1952Auf Wiedersehn, Sweetheart (facts) - Vera Lynn
Walkin’ My Baby Back Home (facts) - Johnnie Ray
1961
1970
1979
1988
1997
2006
2015
and even more...
Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end...
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