August 1 in History

1774 – British scientist Joseph Priestley re-discovered oxygen (the gas), verifying the discovery of it by German-Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele.

1790 – In the first U.S. Census, 3,929,326 people were living here.

1794 – The Whiskey Rebellion Western. Pennsylvania farmers revolted, protesting the excise duty (tax) on stills and spirits distilled in the U.S.

1834 – Slavery was abolished in the British Empire with the Slavery Abolition Act.

1876 – Colorado became the 38th state.

1944 – Anne Frank made the last entry in her diary.

1946 – In Athens, Tennessee, battle-hardened WWII veterans won a shootout with highly corrupt police deputies who were manipulating ballots and illegally holding ex-GIs in the county jail.

1952 – The extinction of the San Benedicto Rock Wren, a previously endangered species, can be traced almost to the minute on the morning of August 1st, when a volcanic eruption covered their entire island.

#1 Hit August 1, 1964 – August 14, 1964: The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night

1980 – Cinemax launched

1981 – MTV network debuted on cable television, actually playing music videos 24 hours a day. The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” was the first video shown, followed by Pat Benatar’s “You Better Run”.

1957 – The United States and Canada formed the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Due to a wrong phone number Sears ad misprint, a child called to check on where Santa was that evening (December 24), and NORAD has been tracking Santa every Christmas Eve, since its inception.

1961- Six Flags Over Texas, he first park of the Six Flags chain opened in Arlington, Texas.

1966 – China’s Cultural Revolution began, with purging (killing) the remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society, and to re-impose Maoist thought as the dominant ideology within the Party. About 1.5 million people were ‘purged’.

1980 – Vigdis Finnbogadottir was elected President of Iceland, the world’s first democratically elected female head of state.

 #1 Hit August 1, 1981 – August 14, 1981: Rick Springfield – Jessie’s Girl

1981 – MTV began began as a music video channel. All the trivia people will tell you that the first video was “Video Killed The Radio Star” by the Buggles. “You Better Run” by Pat Benater was next; then “She Won’t Dance With Me” by Rod Steward. “You Better You Bet” by The Who was fourth. You can really impress your friends by telling your friends that “Little Suzi’s on the Up” by Ph. D. was the 5th video played on the network.

1984 – Lindow Man was found in a bog, at Lindow Moss, Cheshire, in northwest England.

#1 Hit August 1, 1987 – August 7, 1987: Bob Seger – Shakedown