Some Native American tribes knew that the sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were most readily caught during this full Moon. Others called it the Green Corn Moon or the Grain Moon. Learn more about the full Moon in August.
Daily Calendar for Monday, August 19, 2024
Ever since 1939, August 19 has been celebrated as National Aviation Day, the legacy of a presidential proclamation first made by Franklin D. Roosevelt to celebrate the birth date of civil aviation pioneer Orville Wright. Together with his brother Wilbur, the Wrights are credited with inventing, building, and flying the world’s first successful airplane. Specifically, Orville Wright piloted the first controlled, sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air machine with the Wright Flyer on December 17, 1903, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Although not the first to build experimental aircraft, the Wright brothers were the first to invent aircraft controls which truly made fixed-wing powered flight possible. Orville was born in Dayton, Ohio, while his partner and older brother, Wilbur Wright, was born on a farm near Millville, Indiana. Today, National Aviation Day celebrates the history and development of the aviation.
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Died
- Axel Fredrik Cronstedt (Swedish scientist) β
- James Geddes (engineer) β
- Federico GarcΓa Lorca (writer) β
- Groucho Marx (comedian & actor) β
- Otto Frank (father of Anne Frank) β
- Sri Swami Satchidananda (founded Yogavilleβ in Virginiaβ) β
- Tony Scott (director) β
Born
- Orville Wright (aviator) β
- Coco Chanel (designer) β
- Ogden Nash (writer) β
- Malcolm Forbes (publisher) β
- Gene Roddenberry (author, producer) β
- Willie Shoemaker (jockey) β
- Bill Clinton (42nd U.S. president) β
- Jonathan Frakes (actor) β
- Peter Gallagher (actor) β
- John Stamos (actor) β
- Kyra Sedgwick (actress) β
- Lee Ann Womack (country musician) β
- Matthew Perry (actor) β
- Callum Blue (actor) β
- Jennifer Morrison (actress) β
- Erika Christensen (actress) β
Events
- Five hanged for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusettsβ
- In a battle off Nova Scotia, the USS Constitution earned the nickname Old Ironsides and sank the British frigate HMS GuerriΓ¨reβ
- Farmer Gail Borden obtained a patent for his process for condensing milkβ
- The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 5, a space menagerie. Two dog passengers, Belka and Strelka, became the first living organisms recovered from orbitβ
- Strong earthquake in Turkey killed over 2,000 peopleβ
- 72-pound lake trout was caught in Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territoriesβ
- Carly Patterson became the first American in 20 years to win the women’s Olympic gymnastics all-around gold medalβ
- A bronze statue of Arthur Fonzie Fonzarelli was unveiled in Milwaukee, Wisconsinβ
Weather
- The thermometer soared to 102.92 degrees F (39.4 degrees C) in Rexton, New Brunswickβ
- Hurricane Diane caused unprecedented flooding of many small rivers in New England, resulting in 184 deaths and $1 billion in damageβ
- Hurricane Bob hit New Englandβ