On This Day In History....

[ShoreRoadLady]

August 20:

1938 - Lou Gehrig hits his 23rd career grand slam - a record that still stands.

1940 - In Mexico City exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky is fatally wounded with an ice axe by Ramon Mercader. He dies the next day.

Source: Wikipedia

[HungaryTom]

Crushing down of the Prague Spring
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Spring
800 Hungarians were participating
Apologies for that.

[Spitfire]

Crushing down of the Prague Spring
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Spring
800 Hungarians were participating
Apologies for that.

I was there. And I will never forget the morning in the early hours, when I woke up in the Hotel to the sound of the russian tanks outside the windows.
Later on I slipped past the policeguard in the lobby and got out in the streets. I joined in the demonstartions against the russians until late that night. There were shooting, flames, people killed and russian soldiers who suddenly understood what they were doing.
When I came back to the hotel - after taking a lot of pictures - I hid my camera and went in to the lobby, where I was arrested by a russian army officer, who took my passport and told me not to leave the hotel.
I would be sent home the next morning by plane or train. For my own safety of course!
next morning I climbed out the window in order to get my camera, which was hidden behind som garbagecans in the hotel yard.
I went out in the streets again - took some more photos. And got arrested again. Back to the hotel. Got my camera with me to the room.
Late that night we - a lot of foreigners - were driven to the trainstation under guard. And put on a train.
A year later I was back. 21 august 1969 were even worse.
But that's another story.

[LizzieMaine]

Aviatrix Amelia Earhart climbs into a Lockheed Vega in Los Angeles -- and emerges a bit over 19 hours later in Newark, setting a new transcontinental speed record for a woman pilot. Her flight also marks the first *solo* transcontinental flight by a female pilot.

[LondonLuke]

In 1537, The Honourable Artillery Regiment was formed. Now part of the TA, it is the oldest Regiment in the British Army (Not golden era, I know, but this is..)


1944-Paris was liberated by the Allies, cue for much celebration and a rise in VD rates amongst Allied servicemen

[Mike K.]

Allied forces liberate Paris from the Nazis.

[Mike K.]

Ethelda Bleibtrey becomes the first U.S. woman to win medal (swimming) in the Olympics.

[Prairie Dog]

First Televised Major League Baseball Game.
On this day in 1939, the first televised Major League baseball game is broadcast on station W2XBS, the station that was to become WNBC-TV. Announcer Red Barber called the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York.

At the time, television was still in its infancy. Regular programming did not yet exist, and very few people owned television sets--there were only about 400 in the New York area. Not until 1946 did regular network broadcasting catch on in the United States, and only in the mid-1950s did television sets become more common in the American household.

In 1939, the World's Fair--which was being held in New York--became the catalyst for the historic broadcast. The television was one of fair’s prize exhibits, and organizers believed that the Dodgers-Reds doubleheader on August 26 was the perfect event to showcase America's grasp on the new technology.

By today's standards, the video coverage was somewhat crude. There were only two stationary camera angles: The first was placed down the third base line to pick up infield throws to first, and the second was placed high above home plate to get an extensive view of the field. It was also difficult to capture fast-moving plays: Swinging bats looked like paper fans, and the ball was all but invisible during pitches and hits.

Nevertheless, the experiment was a success, driving interest in the development of television technology, particularly for sporting events. Though baseball owners were initially concerned that televising baseball would sap actual attendance, they soon warmed to the idea, and the possibilities for revenue generation that came with increased exposure of the game, including the sale of rights to air certain teams or games and television advertising.

Today, televised sports is a multi-billion dollar industry, with technology that gives viewers an astounding amount of visual and audio detail. Cameras are now so precise that they can capture the way a ball changes shape when struck by a bat, and athletes are wired to pick up field-level and sideline conversation.

[Story]

TIME MAGAZINE
AUGUST 27th, 1945


http://www.americainwwii.com/stories/thekissers.htm

[LizzieMaine]

SHANTY TOWN ANTI-FREEZE ORGY KILLS FOUR
-- New York Daily News, 8/28/33, page 3

An all-day drinking bout with anti-freeze solution in the wassail bowl accounted for four deaths yesterday and sent police searching a square mile of weed-covered wasteland for a fifth guest.

The lethal orgy was held in a ramshackle lot at 16 E. 68th Street, Brooklyn, one of a colony of shacks called Pigtown behind the Brooklyn Hospital for the Insane.

WOMAN, 60, FIRST TO DIE

First to succumb to the potent potion was Mrs. Anna Comma, 60, of 1364 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, who was found unconscious in a nearby field at 5:30 Saturday evening. She was taken to Kings County Hospital, where she died a few hours later.

During the night the nude form of Jack Pennington, 47, of 525 Winthrop Street, Brooklyn, was discovered in a sandpit near the shack and at dawn police dragged Harry Williams, 48, the host from beneath an overturned table in the the hut. Both died at Kings County Hospital.

The fourth victim was Michael Miscale, 55, whose address is unknown.

Informed that the party had numbered five, an emergency squad began combing the underbrush in the district for another possible dead or stupefied guest.

FIFTH GUEST SURVIVES

After the search had lasted several hours, Thomas Donigan, 45, of 662 Fenimore Street, known in the neighborhood as "Gong-Gong", reported he was the firth member of the party. He had drunk only a small amount, he said.

Capt. John J. McGowan said the anti-freeze solution, a low grade of wood alcohol, could be purchased for fifty cents a gallon and was mixed with water to make a palatable but extremely unhealthy drink.