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  • RC : St Vigil of the Assumption of Mary
  • RC : Memorial of Maximilian Kolbe, priest, martyr at Auschwitz

Happy Birthday to...

  • 1742 Pius VII-- Rome Italian pope from 1800 to 1823, whose dramatic conflicts with Napoleon led to a restoration of the church after the armies of the French Revolution had devastated the papacy under Pius VI.
  • 1777 Francis I -- Naples King of the Two Sicilies from 1825.
  • 1810 Birth of Samuel S. Wesley, grandson of Methodist hymnwriter Charles Wesley. Himself a sacred composer, Samuel Wesley penned over 130 original hymn tunes. The best remembered of these today is AURELIA, to which is sung "The Church's One Foundation."
  • 1945 - Steve Martin (Emmy Award-winning comedy writer: The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour [1968-69]; comedian, actor: All of Me, Roxanne, LA Story, Parenthood, Father of the Bride, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, The Jerk, The Man with Two Brains, Three Amigos, Planes, Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Saturday Night Live)
  • 1947 - Danielle Steel (author: Vanished, Wanderlust, Daddy)
  • 1950 - Gary Larson (cartoonist: The Far Side) 

    • On this day...

  • 0410 Alaric sacks Rome 
  • 0756 Abd al-Rahman arrives in Spain 
  • 1040 PITGAVNEY; Duncan I, King of Scotland killed by MacBeth 
  • 1284 Execution of Majd al-Mulk 
  • 1291 Castle Pilgrim (Outremer) abandoned by the Templars; end of Crusader presence in the Holy Land
  • 1385 ALJUBARROTTA (John of Portugal defeats John of Castile) 
  • 1415 Henry V and his army lands in France, at about 6:30 am 
  • 1424 Scots take the English town of Verneuil by trickery
  • 1431 TAUSS (Taborite army defeats Fredrick, Margrave of Brandenburg, at 3:00 pm) 
  • 1447 The Meeting at Broletto Field re-establishes the commune in Florence 
  • 1464 Pope Pius II dies at Ancona leading a crusade against the Turks
  • 1498 Columbus lands at the mouth of the Orinoco River, Venezuela
  • 1559 Tristan de Luna y Arellano enters Pensacola Bay, Florida 
  • 1607 The Popham expedition reaches the Sagadahoc River 
  • 1619 New "blue laws" enacted in Virginia 
  • 1642 Abel Tasman sets sail (to discover New Zealand) 
  • 1645 KILSYTH (Montrose defeats Covenanters)
  • 1814 During the American Revolution, American patriot Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) was held overnight as a British prisoner during their shelling of Fort McHenry in Baltimore. In the morning, Key penned what later became the American anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner." 
  • 1880 Construction of Cologne Cathedral completed 
  • 1893 France issues 1st driving licenses, included required test 
  • 1900 Intl forces including US Marines enter Beijing to put down Boxer Rebellion, which was aimed at ridding China of foreigners 
  • 1945 V-J Day World War II ended with Japanese surrender. This is the day that U.S. President Harry S Truman announced that Japan had surrendered to the Allies [WWII]. Thousands thronged into the streets throughout the United States to celebrate V-J Day. The official ratification of the surrender didn't take place until September 2, in Tokyo Bay aboard the USS "Missouri".  
  • 1947 India granted independence within British Commonwealth 
  • 1947 Pakistan granted independence within British Commonwealth 
  • 1962 NASA civilian test pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to 60,000 m 
  • 1966 1st US lunar orbiter begins orbiting the Moon