On This Day August 14

2126
Swift-Tuttle comet approaches Earth. It has a 1 in 10,000 chance of colliding. If this were to occur it would probably end civilization.

1984
IBM introduces the Personal Computer AT (Advanced Technologies). It is approximately three to five times faster than the IBM XT.

1975
Rocky Horror Picture Show: The cult classic, starring Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Tim Curry, and Meat Loaf, premiers in the UK.

1974
U.S. ban on private possession of gold is lifted when Pres. Ford signs a bill to take effect December 31. The 41-year-old ban had allowed only industrial and numismatic purchases.

1965
First black page for the U.S. House of Representatives: 15-year-old Frank Mitchell is appointed by Republican Representative Paul Findley of Illinois.

1962
Record robbery: A mail truck in Massachusetts is robbed of $1,551,227 in cash.

1959
First photograph of Earth taken from space: The U.S. satellite Explorer VI takes its historic photo, showing a sun-lighted area of the Central Pacific ocean and its cloud cover.

1956
Royal Air Force UFO sighting: A RAF fighter is followed by a UFO traveling at speeds of 600 m.p.h. The object was tracked by three separate ground radars. (Source: Above Top Secret)

1950
First Korean War hero buried in Arlington National Cemetery: 2nd Lt. Howell Garrone Thomas, Jr. is buried.

1941
Atlantic Charter: Pres. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sign an agreement outlining their hopes for a better future for the world.

1936
First Olympic basketball championship: The U.S. defeats Canada 19-8 to win the gold in Berlin.

1933
First successful national radio soap opera: Oxydol's Own Ma Perkins debuts on Cincinnati's WLW. It began airing coast-to-coast on NBC the following December.

1914
First airplane battle: A French pilot fires at a German pilot, who escapes.

1901
First manned heavier-than-air flight: Gustave A. Whitehead claims to have made a ½-mile flight in a his aircraft on this date - two years before the Wright brothers' first flight.

1901
First Flight: Gustave Whitehead makes the first publicized account of a powered-heavier-than-air flight. Reports were published in the New York Herald, and the Bridgeport Herald and was witnessed by several people, including a reporter for the Bridgeport Herald. Children and youngsters who were present signed affidavits about 30 years later about what they saw. Reports said he started on the wheels from a flat surface, flew 800 meters at 15 meter height, and landed softly on the wheels. This was two years before the Wright Brothers.

1880
The Cologne Cathedral is completed: It is the largest Gothic Cathedral in Northern Europe. Its reconstruction had begun August 14, 1248.

1866
First Queen to visit the US: Queen Emma of the Sandwich Islands is received by Pres. Andrew Johnson. She had arrived in New York six days earlier.

1843
The Second Seminole War: After eight years of fighting the war is declared ended. The Seminole Indians - led by Osceola - were fighting their forced removal from Florida.

1816
World's remotest inhabited island: Great Britain annexes Tristan da Cunha. It is 1,320 miles from the nearest inhabited land.

1959
Earvin "Magic" Johson, American basketball player, in 1991 he announced he was infected with the AIDS virus.

1947
Danielle Steel, American romance novelist. Writings: Jewels and Heartbeat.

1946
Susan Saint James (Susan Miller), American actress, Mrs. McMillan of McMillan and Wife and Kate of Kate & Allie.

1945
Steve Martin, American Emmy and Grammy-winning comic, a wild and crazy guy.

1941
David Crosby (David Van Cortland), American singer, with The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

1926
Buddy Greco (Armando Greco), American composer, singer, I Ran All The Way Home (1951).

1876 d. 1903
Alexander I, King of Serbia (1889-1903), an unpopular king, he and Queen Draga were assassinated by a military conspiracy.

1867 d. 1933
John Galsworthy, British Nobel-winning novelist. Writings: The Forsyte Saga (1922).

1863 d. 1940
Ernest Thayer, American journalist, author of the poem Casey at the Bat (1888).

1840 d. 1902
Baron Richard von Krafft-Ebing, German physician, neurologist, pioneer in clinical psychology. His Psychopathia Sexualis (1886) became a standard text and has been translated into seven languages.

1988 b. 1939
Roy Buchanan, American guitarist, one of the world's greatest rock guitarists.

1988 b. 1898
Enzo Ferrari, Italian sports car maker, racer. His cars established numerous racing records.

1951 b. 1863
William Randolph Hearst, American newspaper publisher, political figure.

1932 b. 1916
Rin Tin Tin, German-born American dog actor, won the Most Popular Film Performer of the Year award (1926).

1870 b. 1801
David Glasgow Farragut, American naval officer, made his famous proclamation in 1864 during the Battle of Mobile Bay: "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead." In 1866 he became the first U.S. admiral.

1464 b. 1405
Pius II, Italian poet, religious leader, 210th Pope (1458-64). Wrote The Tale of the Two Lovers (c1442), for which he later apologized.

August 14

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