August 1 in Pop Culture History

August 1st Fun Facts, Trivia and History

August 1st History Highlights

  • 1834 – Slavery was abolished in Jamaica
  • 1944 – The last entry for Anne Frank’s diary
  • 1969 – The Zodiac Killer’s letters arrived at several San Fransisco newspapers. The killer was never caught.
  • 1990 – Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau created the prototype HTML language and the World-Wide Web.
  • August 1, 19** Birthday (fictional) The Joker, DC Comics
  • If you were born on August 1st,
    You were likely conceived the week of… November 8th (prior year)

Emancipation of 500

On August 1, 1791, Robert Carter III, in Virginia freed his slaves. He said, “I have for some time past been convinced that to retain them in Slavery is contrary to the true Principles of Religion and Justice and that therefore it was my Duty to manumit (release) them.”

August 1st is…

Mahjong Day
Raspberry Cream Pie Day
Girlfriends’ Day
Minority Donor Awareness Day
Raspberry Cream Pie Day
Respect for Parents Day
Rounds Resounding Day
World Lung Cancer Day

August 1st Birthday Quotes

“I mean, just because you’re a musician doesn’t mean all your ideas are about music. So every once in a while I get an idea about plumbing, I get an idea about city government, and they come the way they come.”
-Jerry Garcia

“I looked over and Jim Morrison was dancing the jitterbug with my grandmother on the coffee table.”
– Taylor Negron

” Some people we know in our lives come up to a crossroads, and they could go left or right, and then end up in a totally different place.”
– Jason Momoa

” Let me tell you, you can paint pictures and get people indicted for just about anything.”
– Al D’Amato

” Reflect each day on all you have to be grateful for and you will receive more to be grateful for.”
– Chuck D

“The most beautiful make-up of a woman is passion. But cosmetics are easier to buy.”
– Yves Saint Laurent

” I’m one of those freaky people that actually reads books.”
– Jason Momoa

August 1st Birthdays

10 BC – Claudius, Roman emperor (died in 54)
1555 – Edward Kelley, English spirit medium (died in 1597)
1770 – William Clark, American explorer, of Lewis & Clark (died in 1838)
1779 – Francis Scott Key, American author, and poet (died in 1843)
1819 – Herman Melville, American novelist, short story writer, and poet (died in 1891)
1893 – Alexander of Greece (died in 1920) #27club
1924 – Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (died in 2015)
1933 – Dom DeLuise, American actor (died in 2009)
1936 – Yves Saint Laurent, Algerian-French fashion designer, co-founded Yves Saint Laurent (died in 2008)
1937 – Al D’Amato, American New York politician
1939 – Terry Kiser, American character actor
1942 – Jerry Garcia, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died in 1995)
1948 – Avi Arad, Israeli-American producer, founded Marvel Studios
1957 – Taylor Negron, American actor (died in 2015)
1960 – Chuck D, American rapper
1963 – Coolio, American rapper
1979 – Jason Momoa, American actor

August 1st History

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

1789
The US Customs Service began.

1790
The first U.S. Census took place; 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.

1916
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Established on August 1, 1916, in Hawaii, this park covers 520 square miles. Known for its two active volcanoes, Kilauea and Mauna Loa, and its dramatic volcanic landscapes.

1943
The Oak Ridge (Tennessee) Atomic Plant was started.

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 unendangered species, can be traced almost to the minute on the morning of August 1st when a volcanic eruption covered their entire island.

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, the first park in the Six Flags chain, opened in Arlington, Texas.

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

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
Cinemax launched

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

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

MTV began as a music video channel. All the trivia people will tell you that the first video has Video Killed The Radio Star by the Buggles. You Better Run by Pat Benatar 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.

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

August 1, 19** Birthday (fictional) The Joker, DC Comics

Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts

Heard in the PCM Office:
Khusbu: I’m going to kill you, Alexa.
Alexa: I’m faster than you, you’ll never catch me.
Khusbu: (grabbing some M&Ms) I’ll kill you in your sleep

I just threw away a Snapple cap without reading the fact and I have to live the rest of my life knowing I am 1 fact more stupid than I could’ve been.

“Women need a reason for having sex, men just need a place.” – Mitch Robbins (Billy Crystal) #moviequotes

Roulette Odds: numbers 13 to 24: Payoff: 2:1 True Odds: 31.58%

Tinder, Match.com, PlentyOfFish, and OK Cupid are all owned by the same company.

The political terms “Left-Wing” and “Right-Wing” are traced back to the French Revolution. It referred to the side of the assembly politicians sat. The Right was supportive of the King and upper class while the Left was supportive of the Revolution and the Lower Class.

“I don’t like the country, the crickets make me nervous.” #moviequotes

If I went back in time 150 years, the most technologically advanced thing I would actually know how to invent would be a skateboard.

The Capital of Mauritania is Nouakchott

Doune Castle, which was used in the filming of Game of Thrones, was also used in the filming of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

The biggest film of 1947: Forever Amber earned ~ $16,000,000

The price of a bottle of Coca-Cola stayed at a nickel for over 70 years. As a result, vending machines only took nickels, and before raising prices to a dime the president of the company asked President Eisenhower to mint 7.5 cent coins to keep the increase reasonable.

Some people will be born, live their whole lives, and die without ever running as fast as they possibly can…

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