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Today is August 10 2016

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Today's Holidays and Historical Events (updated daily)
Today's Food Holiday
  • National S’mores Day: More
    By the National Confectioners Association. A Graham cracker sandwich with campfire roasted marshmallow and a chocolate bar between. Not invented by the Girl Scouts, but appeared first published in ' Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts' in 1927.
    - From Wikipedia (S'more): 'A s'more (sometimes spelled smore) is a traditional nighttime campfire treat popular in the United States and Canada, consisting of a fire-roasted marshmallow and a layer of chocolate sandwiched between two pieces of graham cracker. National S'mores Day is celebrated annually on August 10. The Guinness World Record for number of people making s'mores at one time was 423, set April 21, 2016 in Huntington Beach, California.

    S'more is a contraction of the phrase "some more". Although the exact origin of the treat is unclear, reports about scouts from as early as 1925 describe them. One early published recipe for a s'more is found in a book of recipes published by the Campfire Marshmallows company in the 1920s where it was called a "Graham Cracker Sandwich." The text indicates that the treat was already popular with both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. In 1927, a recipe for "Some More" was published in Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts. The contracted term "s'more" appears in conjunction with the recipe in a 1938 publication aimed at summer camps. A 1956 recipe uses the name "S'Mores," and lists the ingredients as "a sandwich of two graham crackers, toasted marshmallow and 1/2 chocolate bar". A 1957 Betty Crocker cookbook contains a similar recipe under the name of "s'mores." The 1958 publication "Intramural and Recreational Sports for High School and College" makes reference to "marshmallow toasts" and "s'more hikes" as does its related predecessor, the "Intramural and Recreational Sports for Men and Women" published in 1949.as the s'more is great before and after exercise snack. In the 1993 movie, The Sandlot, Hamilton 'Ham' Porter explains to Scotty 'Smalls' Smalls how to make a s'more out of grahams, mallows, and chocolates.

    S'mores are most typically cooked over a campfire by first roasting the marshmallow over the flame until it is golden brown. The marshmallow is then added on top of half of a graham cracker and a piece of chocolate. The second half of the cracker is then added on top'.
Other celebrations/observances today:
  • National Lazy Day: More
Awareness / Observance Days on: August 10
  • Other
    • International Biodiesel Day: More
      On the anniversary of Biodiesel's first engine on August 10 1893, which ran on peanut oil..
      - From Wikipedia (Biodiesel): 'Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil - or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl (methyl, ethyl, or propyl) esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids (e.g., vegetable oil, soybean oil, animal fat (tallow)) with an alcohol producing fatty acid esters.

      Biodiesel is meant to be used in standard diesel engines and is thus distinct from the vegetable and waste oils used to fuel converted diesel engines. Biodiesel can be used alone, or blended with petrodiesel in any proportions. Biodiesel blends can also be used as heating oil.

      The National Biodiesel Board (USA) also has a technical definition of "biodiesel" as a mono-alkyl ester.

      Transesterification of a vegetable oil was conducted as early as 1853 by Patrick Duffy, four decades before the first diesel engine became functional. Rudolf Diesel's prime model, a single 10 ft (3.0 m) iron cylinder with a flywheel at its base, ran on its own power for the first time in Augsburg, Germany, on 10 August 1893 running on nothing but peanut oil. In remembrance of this event, 10 August has been declared "International Biodiesel Day"'.
    • Skyscraper Appreciation Day: More
      Celebrates William Van Alen's birthday. He was the primary architect of the the Chrysler Building,
      - From Wikipedia (): William Van Alen'William Van Alen (August 10, 1883 – May 24, 1954) was an American architect, best known as the architect in charge of designing New York City's Chrysler Building (1929–30)

      In the late 1920s, Severance and Van Alen found themselves engaged in designing buildings that were heralded in the press to become the tallest buildings in the world: Severance, the Manhattan Trust Building 40 Wall Street and Van Alen, the Chrysler Building. At 1046 feet, Van Alen's building won. However, both buildings were surpassed in height by the Empire State Building in 1931.

      The completion of the Chrysler Building was received by critics with mixed reactions. Van Alen was hailed as a "Doctor of Altitude" and as "the Ziegfeld of his profession." However, the building itself was described by some critics as just flash which "embodies no compelling, organic idea" and which was "distinctly a stunt design, evolved to make the man in the street look up" but having "no significance as serious design." Nevertheless, the Chrysler Building remains a beloved New York City landmark structure.

      Van Alen had failed to enter into a contract with Walter Chrysler when he received the Chrysler Building commission. After the building was completed, Van Alen requested payment of 6 percent of the building's construction budget ($14 million), a figure that was the standard fee of the time. After Chrysler refused payment, Van Alen sued him and won, eventually receiving the fee. The lawsuit significantly depreciated his reputation as an employable architect. His career effectively ruined by this and further depressed by the Great Depression, Van Alen focused his attention on teaching sculpture'.
Events in the past on: August 10
  • In 1519,- Ferdinand Magellan sets sail from Seville, Spain, to circumnavigate the globe, with five ships.
    From Wikipedia: 'Ferdinand Magellan; c. 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer who organised the Castilian (Spanish) expedition to the East Indies from 1519 to 1522, resulting in the first circumnavigation of the Earth.

    Born into a wealthy Portuguese family in around 1480, Magellan became a skilled sailor and naval officer and was eventually selected by King Charles I of Spain to search for a westward route to the Maluku Islands (the "Spice Islands"). Commanding a fleet of five vessels, he headed south through the Atlantic Ocean to Patagonia, passing through the Strait of Magellan into a body of water he named the "peaceful sea" (the modern Pacific Ocean). Despite a series of storms and mutinies, the expedition reached the Spice Islands in 1521 and returned home via the Indian Ocean to complete the first circuit of the globe. Magellan did not complete the entire voyage, as he was killed during the Battle of Mactan in the Philippines in 1521'.
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  • In 1821, Missouri is accepted as the 24th state of the U.S.
    From Wikipedia: 'Missouri is a state located in the Midwestern United States. It is the 21st most extensive, and the 18th most populous of the fifty states. The state comprises 114 counties and the independent city of St. Louis.

    The state's capital is Jefferson City. The land that is now Missouri was acquired from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase and became known as the Missouri Territory. Part of this territory was admitted into the union as the 24th state on August 10, 1821.

    Missouri's geography is highly varied. The northern part of the state lies in dissected till plains and the southern portion lies in the Ozark Mountains (a dissected plateau), with the Missouri River dividing the regions. The state lies at the intersection of the three greatest rivers of the United States, with the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers near St. Louis, and the confluence of the Ohio River with the Mississippi north of the Bootheel. The starting points for the Pony Express, Santa Fe Trail, and Oregon Trail were all located in Missouri as well'.
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  • In 1846, The Smithsonian Institution is chartered by the United States Congress after James Smithson donates $500,000.
    From Wikipedia: 'The Smithsonian Institution, established in 1846 "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge," is a group of museums and research centers administered by the Government of the United States. Originally organized as the "United States National Museum," that name ceased to exist as an administrative entity in 1967. Termed "the nation's attic" for its eclectic holdings of 138 million items, the Institution's nineteen museums, nine research centers, and zoo include historical and architectural landmarks, mostly located in the District of Columbia. Additional facilities are located in Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York City, Virginia, and Panama. A further 170 museums are Smithsonian Affiliates. The Institution's thirty million annual visitors are admitted without charge. Funding comes from the Institution's endowment, private and corporate contributions, membership dues, government support, as well as retail, concession, and licensing revenues. Institution publications include Smithsonian and Air and Space magazines.

    British scientist James Smithson (d. 1829) left most of his wealth to his nephew Henry James Hungerford. When Hungerford died childless in 1835, the estate passed "to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an Establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men", in accordance with Smithson's will. Congress officially accepted the legacy bequeathed to the nation, and pledged the faith of the United States to the charitable trust on July 1, 1836. The American diplomat Richard Rush was dispatched to England by President Andrew Jackson to collect the bequest. Rush returned in August 1838 with 105 sacks containing 104,960 gold sovereigns (about $500,000 at the time, which is equivalent to $11,111,000 in 2015). Once the money was in hand, eight years of Congressional haggling ensued over how to interpret Smithson's rather vague mandate "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge." Unfortunately, the money was invested by the US Treasury in bonds issued by the state of Arkansas which soon defaulted. After heated debate, Massachusetts Representative (and ex-President) John Quincy Adams persuaded Congress to restore the lost funds with interest and, despite designs on the money for other purposes, convinced his colleagues to preserve it for an institution of science and learning. Finally, on August 10, 1846, President James K. Polk signed the legislation that established the Smithsonian Institution as a trust instrumentality of the United States, to be administered by a Board of Regents and a Secretary of the Smithsonian'.
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  • In 1893, Rudolf Diesel's prime model internal combustion engine, a single 10-foot iron cylinder with a flywheel at its base, ran on its own power for the first time in Augsburg, Germany.
    From Wikipedia: 'In 1885, the English inventor Herbert Akroyd Stuart began investigating the possibility of using paraffin oil (very similar to modern-day diesel) for an engine, which unlike petrol would be difficult to vaporise in a carburettor as its volatility is not sufficient to allow this.

    His hot bulb engines, first prototyped in 1886 and built from 1891 by Richard Hornsby and Sons, used a pressurised fuel injection system. The Hornsby-Akroyd engine used a comparatively low compression ratio, so that the temperature of the air compressed in the combustion chamber at the end of the compression stroke was not high enough to initiate combustion. Combustion instead took place in a separated combustion chamber, the "vaporizer" or "hot bulb" mounted on the cylinder head, into which fuel was sprayed. Self-ignition occurred from contact between the fuel-air mixture and the hot walls of the vaporizer. As the engine's load increased, so did the temperature of the bulb, causing the ignition period to advance; to counteract pre-ignition, water was dripped into the air intake.

    The modern Diesel engine incorporates the features of direct (airless) injection and compression-ignition. Both ideas were patented by Akroyd Stuart and Charles Richard Binney in May 1890. Another patent was taken out on 8 October 1890, detailing the working of a complete engine—essentially that of a diesel engine—where air and fuel are introduced separately. The difference between the Akroyd engine and the modern Diesel engine was the requirement to supply extra heat to the cylinder to start the engine from cold. By 1892, Akroyd Stuart had produced an updated version of the engine that no longer required the additional heat source, a year before Diesel's engine.

    In 1892, Akroyd Stuart patented a water-jacketed vaporiser to allow compression ratios to be increased. In the same year, Thomas Henry Barton at Hornsbys built a working high-compression version for experimental purposes, whereby the vaporiser was replaced with a cylinder head, therefore not relying on air being preheated, but by combustion through higher compression ratios. It ran for six hours—the first time automatic ignition was produced by compression alone. This was five years before Rudolf Diesel built his well-known high-compression prototype engine in 1897.

    Rudolf Diesel was, however, subsequently credited with the compression ignition engine innovation, despite Akroyd-Stuart’s engine being patented two years earlier. The higher compression and thermal efficiency is what distinguishes Diesel's patent, of 3,500 kilopascals (508 psi), from Ackroyd-Stuart's hot bulb compression ignition engine patent, of about 600 kilopascals (87 psi). Diesel improved his engine further, whereas Akroyd Stuart stopped development on his engine in 1893.

    In 1892 Diesel received patents in Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States for "Method of and Apparatus for Converting Heat into Work". In 1893 he described a "slow-combustion engine" that first compressed air thereby raising its temperature above the igniting-point of the fuel, then gradually introducing fuel while letting the mixture expand "against resistance sufficiently to prevent an essential increase of temperature and pressure", then cutting off fuel and "expanding without transfer of heat". In 1894 and 1895 he filed patents and addenda in various countries for his Diesel engine; the first patents were issued in Spain (No. 16,654), France (No. 243,531) and Belgium (No. 113,139) in December 1894, and in Germany (No. 86,633) in 1895 and the United States (No. 608,845) in 1898. He operated his first successful engine in 1897.

    At Augsburg, on August 10, 1893, Rudolf Diesel's prime model, a single 10-foot (3.0 m) iron cylinder with a flywheel at its base, ran on its own power for the first time. Diesel spent two more years making improvements and in 1896 demonstrated another model with a theoretical efficiency of 75%, in contrast to the 10% efficiency of the steam engine. By 1898, Diesel had become a millionaire. His engines were used to power pipelines, electric and water plants, automobiles and trucks, and marine craft. They were soon to be used in mines, oil fields, factories, and transoceanic shipping.

    It is often reported that Diesel designed his engine to run on peanut oil, but this is false. Patent number 608845 describes his engine as being designed to run on pulverulent solid fuel (coal dust). Diesel stated in his published papers, "at the Paris Exhibition in 1900 (Exposition Universelle) there was shown by the Otto Company a small diesel engine, which, at the request of the French Government ran on Arachide (earth-nut or peanut) oil (see biodiesel), and worked so smoothly that only a few people were aware of it. The engine was constructed for using mineral oil, and was then worked on vegetable oil without any alterations being made. The French Government at the time thought of testing the applicability to power production of the Arachide, or earth-nut, which grows in considerable quantities in their African colonies, and can easily be cultivated there." Diesel himself later conducted related tests and appeared supportive of the idea'.
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  • In 1945, The day after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan announced they would surrender. The only condition was that the status of Emperor Hirohito would remain unchanged.
    From Wikipedia: 'The full cabinet met on 14:30 on August 9, and spent most of the day debating surrender. As the Big Six had done, the cabinet split, with neither Togo's position nor Anami's attracting a majority. Anami told the other cabinet ministers that, under torture, a captured American P-51 fighter pilot had told his interrogators that the United States possessed 100 atom bombs and that Tokyo and Kyoto would be bombed "in the next few days". The pilot, Marcus McDilda, was lying. He knew nothing of the Manhattan Project and simply told his interrogators what he thought they wanted to hear to end the torture. The lie, which caused him to be classified as a high-priority prisoner, probably saved him from beheading. In reality, the United States would have had the third bomb ready for use around August 19, and a fourth in September 1945. The third bomb probably would have been used against Tokyo.

    The cabinet meeting adjourned at 17:30 with no consensus. A second meeting lasting from 18:00 to 22:00 also ended with no consensus. Following this second meeting, Suzuki and Togo met the Emperor, and Suzuki proposed an impromptu Imperial conference, which started just before midnight on the night of August 9–10. Suzuki presented Anami's four-condition proposal as the consensus position of the Supreme Council. The other members of the Supreme Council spoke, as did Kiichiro Hiranuma, the president of the Privy Council, who outlined Japan's inability to defend itself and also described the country's domestic problems, such as the shortage of food. The cabinet debated, but again no consensus emerged. At around 02:00 (August 10), Suzuki finally addressed Emperor Hirohito, asking him to decide between the two positions.

    According to General Sumihisa Ikeda and Admiral Zenshiro Hoshina, Privy Council President Kiichiro Hiranuma then turned to the Emperor and asked him: "Your majesty, you also bear responsibility (sekinin) for this defeat. What apology are you going to make to the heroic spirits of the imperial founder of your house and your other imperial ancestors?"

    Once the Emperor had left, Suzuki pushed the cabinet to accept the Emperor's will, which it did. Early that morning (August 10), the Foreign Ministry sent telegrams to the Allies (by way of the Swiss Federal Political Department and Max Grässli in particular) announcing that Japan would accept the Potsdam Declaration, but would not accept any peace conditions that would "prejudice the prerogatives" of the Emperor. That effectively meant no change in Japan's form of government—that the Emperor of Japan would remain a position of real power'.
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  • In 1948, Candid Camera makes its television debut after being on radio for a year as Candid Microphone.
    From Wikipedia: 'Candid Camera is an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as The Candid Microphone June 28, 1947. After a series of theatrical film shorts, also titled Candid Microphone, Funt's concept came to television on August 10, 1948, and continued into the 1970s. Aside from occasional specials in the 1980s and 1990s, the show was off air until making a comeback on CBS in 1996, before moving to PAX in 2001. This incarnation of the weekly series ended on May 5, 2004, concurrent with the selling of the PAX network itself. Beginning on August 11, 2014, the show returned in a new series with hour-long episodes on TV Land.

    The format has appeared on U.S. TV networks and in syndication (first-run) in each succeeding decade, as either a regular show or a series of specials. Allen Funt hosted or co-hosted all versions of the show until he became too ill to continue. His son Peter Funt, who had co-hosted the specials with his father since 1987, became the producer and host'.
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  • In 1948, ABC enters network TV at 7 PM (WJZ, NY)
    From Wikipedia: 'The ABC Radio Network created its audience slowly. The network's acquisition of Detroit radio station WXYZ from KingTrendle Broadcasting in 1946 for a little less than $3 million (and which remained under ABC ownership until 1984), allowed it to acquire several radio serials, including The Lone Ranger, Sergeant Preston, and The Green Hornet, which had originated on that station.

    ABC became an aggressive competitor to NBC and CBS when, continuing NBC Blue's traditions of public service, it aired symphony performances conducted by Paul Whiteman, performances from the Metropolitan Opera, and jazz concerts aired as part of its broadcast of The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street announced by Milton Cross. The network also became known for such suspenseful dramas as Sherlock Holmes, Gang Busters and Counterspy, as well as several mid-afternoon youth-oriented programs. However, ABC made a name for itself by utilizing the practice of counterprogramming, with which it often placed shows of its own against the offerings of NBC and CBS, adopting the use of the Magnetophon tape recorder, brought to the U.S. from Nazi Germany after its conquest, to pre-record its programming. With the help of the Magnetophon, ABC was able to provide its stars with greater freedom in terms of time, and also attract several big names, such as Bing Crosby at a time when NBC and CBS did not allow pre-taped shows.

    While its radio network was undergoing reconstruction, ABC found it difficult to avoid falling behind on the new medium of television. To ensure a space, in 1947, ABC submitted five applications for television station licenses, one for each market where it owned and operated a radio station (New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Detroit). These applications all requested for the stations to broadcast on VHF channel 7, as Frank Marx, then ABC's vice-president of engineering, thought that the low-band VHF frequencies (corresponding to channels 2 through 6) would be requisitioned from broadcasting use and reallocated for the U.S. Army.

    The ABC television network made its debut on April 19, 1948, with WFIL-TV in Philadelphia (now WPVI-TV) becoming its first primary affiliate. The first program ever broadcast on the network was On the Corner, featuring satirist Henry Morgan. Other stations carrying the initial broadcast were WMAR-TV in Baltimore, WMAL-TV in Washington, D.C. and WABD, the DuMont station in New York City, since ABC's New York station had yet to sign on.

    The network's flagship owned-and-operated station, WJZ-TV in New York City (later re-called WABC-TV), signed on the air on August 10, 1948, with its first broadcast running for two hours that evening. ABC's other owned-and-operated stations launched over the course of the next 13 months: WENR-TV in Chicago signed on the air on September 17, while WXYZ-TV in Detroit went on the air on October 9, 1948. In October 1948, as a result of an influx of television station license applications that it had issued as well as a study it undertook on the use of the VHF spectrum for broadcasting purposes, the FCC implemented a freeze on new station applications. However, KGO-TV in San Francisco, which had received its license prior to the freeze, made its debut on May 5, 1949. On May 7, 1949, Billboard revealed that ABC had proposed an investment of $6.25 million, of which it would spend $2.5 million to convert 20 acres (80,937 m2) of land in Hollywood into what would become The Prospect Studios, and construct a transmitter on Mount Wilson, in anticipation of the launch of KECA-TV, which was scheduled to begin operations on August 1 (but would not actually sign on until September 16)'.
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  • In 1949, Department of Defense created, with the National Security Act of 1947.
    From Wikipedia: 'The Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government of the United States charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government concerned directly with national security and the United States Armed Forces. The Department is also the largest employer in the world, with 1.3 million active duty servicemen and women Adding to the total is over 1.8 million National Guardsmen and Reservists from the four services, bringing the total to just over 3.1 million employees. It is headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington D.C.

    On 26 July 1947, Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, which set up a unified military command known as the "National Military Establishment", as well as creating the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Council, National Security Resources Board, United States Air Force (formerly the Army Air Forces) and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The act placed the National Military Establishment under the control of a single Secretary of Defense. The National Military Establishment formally began operations on 18 September, the day after the Senate confirmed James V. Forrestal as the first Secretary of Defense. The National Military Establishment was renamed the "Department of Defense" on 10 August 1949, in an amendment to the original 1947 law'.
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  • In 1954, The Saint Lawrence Seaway is opened, making the Erie canal obsolete for shipping and commercial use.
    From Wikipedia: 'The Saint Lawrence Seaway is a system of locks, canals and channels in Canada and the United States that permit ocean-going vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, as far inland as the western end of Lake Superior. The Seaway is named for the Saint Lawrence River, which flows from Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean. Legally, the Seaway extends from Montreal, Quebec, to Lake Erie and includes the Welland Canal.

    This section upstream of the Seaway is not a continuous canal; rather, it consists of several stretches of navigable channels within the river, a number of locks, and canals along the banks of the St. Lawrence River to bypass several rapids and dams along the way. A number of the locks are managed by the Saint Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation in Canada, and others in the United States by the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation; the two bodies together advertise the Seaway as part of "Highway H2O". The section of the river downstream of Montreal, which is fully within Canadian jurisdiction, is regulated by the offices of Transport Canada in the Port of Quebec.

    The International Joint Commission issued an order of approval for joint construction of the dam in October 1952. U.S. Senate debate on the bill began on January 12, 1953, and the bill emerged from the House of Representatives Committee of Public Works on February 22, 1954. It received approval by the Senate and the House by May 1954. The first positive action to enlarge the seaway was taken on May 13, 1954 when U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Wiley-Dondero Seaway Act to authorize joint construction and to establish the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation as the US authority. The need for cheap haulage of Quebec - Labrador iron ore was one of the arguments that finally swung the balance in favor of the seaway. Ground-breaking ceremonies took place in Massena, New York, on August 10, 1954. That year John C. Beukema was appointed by Eisenhower to the five-member St. Lawrence Seaway Advisory Board'.
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  • In 1988, Reagan signs the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 and formally apologizes for WW II Japanese detention.
    From Wikipedia: 'The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (Pub.L. 100–383 , title I, August 10, 1988, 102 Stat. 904 , 50a U.S.C. § 1989b et seq.) is a United States federal law that granted reparations to Japanese Americans who had been interned by the United States government during World War II. The act was sponsored by California's Democratic Congressman Norman Mineta, an internee as a child, and Wyoming's Republican Senator Alan K. Simpson, who first met Mineta while visiting an internment camp. The third co-sponsor was California Senator Pete Wilson. The bill was supported by the majority of Democrats in Congress, while the majority of Republicans voted against it. The act was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan.

    The act granted each surviving internee about US$20,000 in compensation (or, $40,000 after inflation-adjustment in 2016 dollars), with payments beginning in 1990. The legislation stated that government actions were based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership" as opposed to legitimate security reasons. A total of 82,219 received redress checks.

    Because the law was restricted to American citizens or legal permanent residents, the ethnic Japanese that had been taken from their homes in Latin America (mostly from Peru) were not covered in the reparations, regardless of whether they remained in the United States, returned to Latin America or were deported to Japan after the war. In 1996, Carmen Mochizuki filed a class-action lawsuit, and won a settlement of around $5,000 per person to those eligible from what was left of the funds from the CLA. 145 of those affected were able to receive the $5,000 settlement before the funds ran out. In 1999, funds were approved for the attorney general to pay out to the rest of the claimants'.
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  • In 1990, Launched by NASA the previous year, the Magellan space probe reaches Venus
    From Wikipedia: 'The Magellan spacecraft, also referred to as the Venus Radar Mapper, was a 1,035-kilogram (2,282 lb) robotic space probe launched by NASA on May 4, 1989, to map the surface of Venus by using synthetic aperture radar and to measure the planetary gravitational field.

    The Magellan probe was the first interplanetary mission to be launched from the Space Shuttle, the first one to use the Inertial Upper Stage booster for launching, and the first spacecraft to test aerobraking as a method for circularizing its orbit. Magellan was the fourth successful NASA mission to Venus, and it ended an eleven-year gap in U.S. interplanetary probe launches.

    Study of the Magellan high-resolution global images is providing evidence to better understand Venusian geology and the role of impacts, volcanism, and tectonics in the formation of Venusian surface structures.

    On September 9, 1994, a press release outlined the termination of the Magellan mission. Due to the degradation of the power output from the solar arrays and onboard components, and having completed all objectives successfully, the mission was to end in mid-October. The termination sequence began in late August 1994, with a series of orbital trim maneuvers which lowered the spacecraft into the outermost layers of the Venusian atmosphere to allow the Windmill experiment to begin on September 6, 1994. The experiment lasted for two weeks and was followed by subsequent orbital trim maneuvers, further lowering the altitude of the spacecraft for the final termination phase'.
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  • In 2003, Yuri Malenchenko becomes first person who was married in space, while their spouse was on Earth (in Texas)
    From Wikipedia: 'Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko; born December 22, 1961) is a Russian cosmonaut. Malenchenko became the first person to marry in space, on 10 August 2003, when he married Ekaterina Dmitrieva, who was in Texas, while he was 240 miles over New Zealand, on the International Space Station. As of June 2016, Malenchenko ranks second for career time in space due to his time on both Mir and the International Space Station (ISS)'.
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  II.
Henry's Heads Up! - previous days social media post (updated daily)

<> Tomorrow's food holidays(s):


* 'National S’mores Day'. . By the National Confectioners Association. A Graham cracker sandwich with campfire roasted marshmallow and a chocolate bar between. Not invented by the Girl Scouts, but appeared first published in ' Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts' in 1927. - From Wikipedia (S'more): 'A s'more (sometimes spelled smore) is a traditional nighttime campfire treat popular in the United States and Canada, consisting of a fire-roasted marshmallow and a layer of chocolate sandwiched between two pieces of graham cracker. National S'mores Day is celebrated annually on August 10. The Guinness World Record for number of people making s'mores at one time was 423, set April 21, 2016 in Huntington Beach, California.

S'more is a contraction of the phrase some more Although the exact origin of the treat is unclear, reports about scouts from as early as 1925 describe them. One early published recipe for a s'more is found in a book of recipes published by the Campfire Marshmallows company in the 1920s where it was called a Graham Cracker Sandwich. The text indicates that the treat was already popular with both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. In 1927, a recipe for Some More was published in Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts. The contracted term s'more appears in conjunction with the recipe in a 1938 publication aimed at summer camps. A 1956 recipe uses the name S'Mores, and lists the ingredients as a sandwich of two graham crackers, toasted marshmallow and 1/2 chocolate bar A 1957 Betty Crocker cookbook contains a similar recipe under the name of s'mores. The 1958 publication Intramural and Recreational Sports for High School and College makes reference to marshmallow toasts and s'more hikes as does its related predecessor, the Intramural and Recreational Sports for Men and Women published in 1949.as the s'more is great before and after exercise snack. In the 1993 movie, The Sandlot, Hamilton 'Ham' Porter explains to Scotty 'Smalls' Smalls how to make a s'more out of grahams, mallows, and chocolates.

S'mores are most typically cooked over a campfire by first roasting the marshmallow over the flame until it is golden brown. The marshmallow is then added on top of half of a graham cracker and a piece of chocolate. The second half of the cracker is then added on top'.
[The Hankster says] The name says it all.


<> Other holidays / celebrations


* 'National Lazy Day'.
[The Hankster says] Well, as for holidays on this day, we have come up a little short. But, (yes I know you should not begin a sentence with, but) just like the dessert above, this day has no ambiguities. Getting Her Done, should not be much of a chore.


<> Awareness / Observances:

o Other:
* 'International Biodiesel Day'. On the anniversary of Biodiesel's first engine on August 10 1893, which ran on peanut oil.. - From Wikipedia (Biodiesel): 'Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil - or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl (methyl, ethyl, or propyl) esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids (e.g., vegetable oil, soybean oil, animal fat (tallow)) with an alcohol producing fatty acid esters.

Biodiesel is meant to be used in standard diesel engines and is thus distinct from the vegetable and waste oils used to fuel converted diesel engines. Biodiesel can be used alone, or blended with petrodiesel in any proportions. Biodiesel blends can also be used as heating oil.

The National Biodiesel Board (USA) also has a technical definition of biodiesel as a mono-alkyl ester.

Transesterification of a vegetable oil was conducted as early as 1853 by Patrick Duffy, four decades before the first diesel engine became functional. Rudolf Diesel's prime model, a single 10 ft (3.0 m) iron cylinder with a flywheel at its base, ran on its own power for the first time in Augsburg, Germany, on 10 August 1893 running on nothing but peanut oil. In remembrance of this event, 10 August has been declared International Biodiesel Day'.


* 'Skyscraper Appreciation Day'. Celebrates William Van Alen's birthday. He was the primary architect of the the Chrysler Building, - From Wikipedia (): 'William Van Alen (August 10, 1883 – May 24, 1954) was an American architect, best known as the architect in charge of designing New York City's Chrysler Building (1929–30)

In the late 1920s, Severance and Van Alen found themselves engaged in designing buildings that were heralded in the press to become the tallest buildings in the world: Severance, the Manhattan Trust Building 40 Wall Street and Van Alen, the Chrysler Building. At 1046 feet, Van Alen's building won. However, both buildings were surpassed in height by the Empire State Building in 1931.

The completion of the Chrysler Building was received by critics with mixed reactions. Van Alen was hailed as a Doctor of Altitude and as the Ziegfeld of his profession. However, the building itself was described by some critics as just flash which embodies no compelling, organic idea and which was distinctly a stunt design, evolved to make the man in the street look up but having no significance as serious design. Nevertheless, the Chrysler Building remains a beloved New York City landmark structure.

Van Alen had failed to enter into a contract with Walter Chrysler when he received the Chrysler Building commission. After the building was completed, Van Alen requested payment of 6 percent of the building's construction budget ($14 million), a figure that was the standard fee of the time. After Chrysler refused payment, Van Alen sued him and won, eventually receiving the fee. The lawsuit significantly depreciated his reputation as an employable architect. His career effectively ruined by this and further depressed by the Great Depression, Van Alen focused his attention on teaching sculpture'.


<> Historical events on August 10


* 'In 1519,- Ferdinand Magellan sets sail from Seville, Spain, to circumnavigate the globe, with five ships. - From Wikipedia: 'Ferdinand Magellan c. 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer who organised the Castilian (Spanish) expedition to the East Indies from 1519 to 1522, resulting in the first circumnavigation of the Earth.

Born into a wealthy Portuguese family in around 1480, Magellan became a skilled sailor and naval officer and was eventually selected by King Charles I of Spain to search for a westward route to the Maluku Islands (the Spice Islands). Commanding a fleet of five vessels, he headed south through the Atlantic Ocean to Patagonia, passing through the Strait of Magellan into a body of water he named the peaceful sea (the modern Pacific Ocean). Despite a series of storms and mutinies, the expedition reached the Spice Islands in 1521 and returned home via the Indian Ocean to complete the first circuit of the globe. Magellan did not complete the entire voyage, as he was killed during the Battle of Mactan in the Philippines in 1521'.




* 'In 1821, Missouri is accepted as the 24th state of the U.S. . - From Wikipedia: 'Missouri is a state located in the Midwestern United States. It is the 21st most extensive, and the 18th most populous of the fifty states. The state comprises 114 counties and the independent city of St. Louis.

The state's capital is Jefferson City. The land that is now Missouri was acquired from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase and became known as the Missouri Territory. Part of this territory was admitted into the union as the 24th state on August 10, 1821.

Missouri's geography is highly varied. The northern part of the state lies in dissected till plains and the southern portion lies in the Ozark Mountains (a dissected plateau), with the Missouri River dividing the regions. The state lies at the intersection of the three greatest rivers of the United States, with the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers near St. Louis, and the confluence of the Ohio River with the Mississippi north of the Bootheel. The starting points for the Pony Express, Santa Fe Trail, and Oregon Trail were all located in Missouri as well'.


* 'In 1846, The Smithsonian Institution is chartered by the United States Congress after James Smithson donates $500,000. . - From Wikipedia: 'The Smithsonian Institution, established in 1846 for the increase and diffusion of knowledge, is a group of museums and research centers administered by the Government of the United States. Originally organized as the United States National Museum, that name ceased to exist as an administrative entity in 1967. Termed the nation's attic for its eclectic holdings of 138 million items, the Institution's nineteen museums, nine research centers, and zoo include historical and architectural landmarks, mostly located in the District of Columbia. Additional facilities are located in Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York City, Virginia, and Panama. A further 170 museums are Smithsonian Affiliates. The Institution's thirty million annual visitors are admitted without charge. Funding comes from the Institution's endowment, private and corporate contributions, membership dues, government support, as well as retail, concession, and licensing revenues. Institution publications include Smithsonian and Air and Space magazines.

British scientist James Smithson (d. 1829) left most of his wealth to his nephew Henry James Hungerford. When Hungerford died childless in 1835, the estate passed to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an Establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, in accordance with Smithson's will. Congress officially accepted the legacy bequeathed to the nation, and pledged the faith of the United States to the charitable trust on July 1, 1836. The American diplomat Richard Rush was dispatched to England by President Andrew Jackson to collect the bequest. Rush returned in August 1838 with 105 sacks containing 104,960 gold sovereigns (about $500,000 at the time, which is equivalent to $11,111,000 in 2015). Once the money was in hand, eight years of Congressional haggling ensued over how to interpret Smithson's rather vague mandate for the increase and diffusion of knowledge. Unfortunately, the money was invested by the US Treasury in bonds issued by the state of Arkansas which soon defaulted. After heated debate, Massachusetts Representative (and ex-President) John Quincy Adams persuaded Congress to restore the lost funds with interest and, despite designs on the money for other purposes, convinced his colleagues to preserve it for an institution of science and learning. Finally, on August 10, 1846, President James K. Polk signed the legislation that established the Smithsonian Institution as a trust instrumentality of the United States, to be administered by a Board of Regents and a Secretary of the Smithsonian'.


* 'In 1893, Rudolf Diesel's prime model internal combustion engine, a single 10-foot iron cylinder with a flywheel at its base, ran on its own power for the first time in Augsburg, Germany. - From Wikipedia: 'In 1885, the English inventor Herbert Akroyd Stuart began investigating the possibility of using paraffin oil (very similar to modern-day diesel) for an engine, which unlike petrol would be difficult to vaporise in a carburettor as its volatility is not sufficient to allow this.

His hot bulb engines, first prototyped in 1886 and built from 1891 by Richard Hornsby and Sons, used a pressurised fuel injection system. The Hornsby-Akroyd engine used a comparatively low compression ratio, so that the temperature of the air compressed in the combustion chamber at the end of the compression stroke was not high enough to initiate combustion. Combustion instead took place in a separated combustion chamber, the vaporizer or hot bulb mounted on the cylinder head, into which fuel was sprayed. Self-ignition occurred from contact between the fuel-air mixture and the hot walls of the vaporizer. As the engine's load increased, so did the temperature of the bulb, causing the ignition period to advance to counteract pre-ignition, water was dripped into the air intake.

The modern Diesel engine incorporates the features of direct (airless) injection and compression-ignition. Both ideas were patented by Akroyd Stuart and Charles Richard Binney in May 1890. Another patent was taken out on 8 October 1890, detailing the working of a complete engine—essentially that of a diesel engine—where air and fuel are introduced separately. The difference between the Akroyd engine and the modern Diesel engine was the requirement to supply extra heat to the cylinder to start the engine from cold. By 1892, Akroyd Stuart had produced an updated version of the engine that no longer required the additional heat source, a year before Diesel's engine.

In 1892, Akroyd Stuart patented a water-jacketed vaporiser to allow compression ratios to be increased. In the same year, Thomas Henry Barton at Hornsbys built a working high-compression version for experimental purposes, whereby the vaporiser was replaced with a cylinder head, therefore not relying on air being preheated, but by combustion through higher compression ratios. It ran for six hours—the first time automatic ignition was produced by compression alone. This was five years before Rudolf Diesel built his well-known high-compression prototype engine in 1897.

Rudolf Diesel was, however, subsequently credited with the compression ignition engine innovation, despite Akroyd-Stuart’s engine being patented two years earlier. The higher compression and thermal efficiency is what distinguishes Diesel's patent, of 3,500 kilopascals (508 psi), from Ackroyd-Stuart's hot bulb compression ignition engine patent, of about 600 kilopascals (87 psi). Diesel improved his engine further, whereas Akroyd Stuart stopped development on his engine in 1893.
In 1892 Diesel received patents in Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States for Method of and Apparatus for Converting Heat into Work In 1893 he described a slow-combustion engine that first compressed air thereby raising its temperature above the igniting-point of the fuel, then gradually introducing fuel while letting the mixture expand against resistance sufficiently to prevent an essential increase of temperature and pressure, then cutting off fuel and expanding without transfer of heat In 1894 and 1895 he filed patents and addenda in various countries for his Diesel engine the first patents were issued in Spain (No. 16,654), France (No. 243,531) and Belgium (No. 113,139) in December 1894, and in Germany (No. 86,633) in 1895 and the United States (No. 608,845) in 1898. He operated his first successful engine in 1897.

At Augsburg, on August 10, 1893, Rudolf Diesel's prime model, a single 10-foot (3.0 m) iron cylinder with a flywheel at its base, ran on its own power for the first time. Diesel spent two more years making improvements and in 1896 demonstrated another model with a theoretical efficiency of 75%, in contrast to the 10% efficiency of the steam engine. By 1898, Diesel had become a millionaire. His engines were used to power pipelines, electric and water plants, automobiles and trucks, and marine craft. They were soon to be used in mines, oil fields, factories, and transoceanic shipping.

It is often reported that Diesel designed his engine to run on peanut oil, but this is false. Patent number 608845 describes his engine as being designed to run on pulverulent solid fuel (coal dust). Diesel stated in his published papers, at the Paris Exhibition in 1900 (Exposition Universelle) there was shown by the Otto Company a small diesel engine, which, at the request of the French Government ran on Arachide (earth-nut or peanut) oil (see biodiesel), and worked so smoothly that only a few people were aware of it. The engine was constructed for using mineral oil, and was then worked on vegetable oil without any alterations being made. The French Government at the time thought of testing the applicability to power production of the Arachide, or earth-nut, which grows in considerable quantities in their African colonies, and can easily be cultivated there. Diesel himself later conducted related tests and appeared supportive of the idea'.


* 'In 1945, The day after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan announced they would surrender. The only condition was that the status of Emperor Hirohito would remain unchanged. . - From Wikipedia: 'The full cabinet met on 14:30 on August 9, and spent most of the day debating surrender. As the Big Six had done, the cabinet split, with neither Togo's position nor Anami's attracting a majority. Anami told the other cabinet ministers that, under torture, a captured American P-51 fighter pilot had told his interrogators that the United States possessed 100 atom bombs and that Tokyo and Kyoto would be bombed in the next few days The pilot, Marcus McDilda, was lying. He knew nothing of the Manhattan Project and simply told his interrogators what he thought they wanted to hear to end the torture. The lie, which caused him to be classified as a high-priority prisoner, probably saved him from beheading. In reality, the United States would have had the third bomb ready for use around August 19, and a fourth in September 1945. The third bomb probably would have been used against Tokyo.

The cabinet meeting adjourned at 17:30 with no consensus. A second meeting lasting from 18:00 to 22:00 also ended with no consensus. Following this second meeting, Suzuki and Togo met the Emperor, and Suzuki proposed an impromptu Imperial conference, which started just before midnight on the night of August 9–10. Suzuki presented Anami's four-condition proposal as the consensus position of the Supreme Council. The other members of the Supreme Council spoke, as did Kiichiro Hiranuma, the president of the Privy Council, who outlined Japan's inability to defend itself and also described the country's domestic problems, such as the shortage of food. The cabinet debated, but again no consensus emerged. At around 02:00 (August 10), Suzuki finally addressed Emperor Hirohito, asking him to decide between the two positions.

According to General Sumihisa Ikeda and Admiral Zenshiro Hoshina, Privy Council President Kiichiro Hiranuma then turned to the Emperor and asked him: Your majesty, you also bear responsibility (sekinin) for this defeat. What apology are you going to make to the heroic spirits of the imperial founder of your house and your other imperial ancestors?

Once the Emperor had left, Suzuki pushed the cabinet to accept the Emperor's will, which it did. Early that morning (August 10), the Foreign Ministry sent telegrams to the Allies (by way of the Swiss Federal Political Department and Max Grässli in particular) announcing that Japan would accept the Potsdam Declaration, but would not accept any peace conditions that would prejudice the prerogatives of the Emperor. That effectively meant no change in Japan's form of government—that the Emperor of Japan would remain a position of real power'.


* 'In 1948, Candid Camera makes its television debut after being on radio for a year as Candid Microphone. . - From Wikipedia: 'Candid Camera is an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as The Candid Microphone June 28, 1947. After a series of theatrical film shorts, also titled Candid Microphone, Funt's concept came to television on August 10, 1948, and continued into the 1970s. Aside from occasional specials in the 1980s and 1990s, the show was off air until making a comeback on CBS in 1996, before moving to PAX in 2001. This incarnation of the weekly series ended on May 5, 2004, concurrent with the selling of the PAX network itself. Beginning on August 11, 2014, the show returned in a new series with hour-long episodes on TV Land.

The format has appeared on U.S. TV networks and in syndication (first-run) in each succeeding decade, as either a regular show or a series of specials. Allen Funt hosted or co-hosted all versions of the show until he became too ill to continue. His son Peter Funt, who had co-hosted the specials with his father since 1987, became the producer and host'.


* 'In 1948,- ABC enters network TV at 7 PM (WJZ, NY) . - From Wikipedia: 'The ABC Radio Network created its audience slowly. The network's acquisition of Detroit radio station WXYZ from KingTrendle Broadcasting in 1946 for a little less than $3 million (and which remained under ABC ownership until 1984), allowed it to acquire several radio serials, including The Lone Ranger, Sergeant Preston, and The Green Hornet, which had originated on that station.

ABC became an aggressive competitor to NBC and CBS when, continuing NBC Blue's traditions of public service, it aired symphony performances conducted by Paul Whiteman, performances from the Metropolitan Opera, and jazz concerts aired as part of its broadcast of The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street announced by Milton Cross. The network also became known for such suspenseful dramas as Sherlock Holmes, Gang Busters and Counterspy, as well as several mid-afternoon youth-oriented programs. However, ABC made a name for itself by utilizing the practice of counterprogramming, with which it often placed shows of its own against the offerings of NBC and CBS, adopting the use of the Magnetophon tape recorder, brought to the U.S. from Nazi Germany after its conquest, to pre-record its programming. With the help of the Magnetophon, ABC was able to provide its stars with greater freedom in terms of time, and also attract several big names, such as Bing Crosby at a time when NBC and CBS did not allow pre-taped shows.

While its radio network was undergoing reconstruction, ABC found it difficult to avoid falling behind on the new medium of television. To ensure a space, in 1947, ABC submitted five applications for television station licenses, one for each market where it owned and operated a radio station (New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Detroit). These applications all requested for the stations to broadcast on VHF channel 7, as Frank Marx, then ABC's vice-president of engineering, thought that the low-band VHF frequencies (corresponding to channels 2 through 6) would be requisitioned from broadcasting use and reallocated for the U.S. Army.

The ABC television network made its debut on April 19, 1948, with WFIL-TV in Philadelphia (now WPVI-TV) becoming its first primary affiliate. The first program ever broadcast on the network was On the Corner, featuring satirist Henry Morgan. Other stations carrying the initial broadcast were WMAR-TV in Baltimore, WMAL-TV in Washington, D.C. and WABD, the DuMont station in New York City, since ABC's New York station had yet to sign on.

The network's flagship owned-and-operated station, WJZ-TV in New York City (later re-called WABC-TV), signed on the air on August 10, 1948, with its first broadcast running for two hours that evening. ABC's other owned-and-operated stations launched over the course of the next 13 months: WENR-TV in Chicago signed on the air on September 17, while WXYZ-TV in Detroit went on the air on October 9, 1948. In October 1948, as a result of an influx of television station license applications that it had issued as well as a study it undertook on the use of the VHF spectrum for broadcasting purposes, the FCC implemented a freeze on new station applications. However, KGO-TV in San Francisco, which had received its license prior to the freeze, made its debut on May 5, 1949. On May 7, 1949, Billboard revealed that ABC had proposed an investment of $6.25 million, of which it would spend $2.5 million to convert 20 acres (80,937 m2) of land in Hollywood into what would become The Prospect Studios, and construct a transmitter on Mount Wilson, in anticipation of the launch of KECA-TV, which was scheduled to begin operations on August 1 (but would not actually sign on until September 16)'.


* 'In 1949, Department of Defense created, with the National Security Act of 1947. . - From Wikipedia: 'The Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government of the United States charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government concerned directly with national security and the United States Armed Forces. The Department is also the largest employer in the world, with 1.3 million active duty servicemen and women Adding to the total is over 1.8 million National Guardsmen and Reservists from the four services, bringing the total to just over 3.1 million employees. It is headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington D.C.

On 26 July 1947, Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, which set up a unified military command known as the National Military Establishment, as well as creating the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Council, National Security Resources Board, United States Air Force (formerly the Army Air Forces) and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The act placed the National Military Establishment under the control of a single Secretary of Defense. The National Military Establishment formally began operations on 18 September, the day after the Senate confirmed James V. Forrestal as the first Secretary of Defense. The National Military Establishment was renamed the Department of Defense on 10 August 1949, in an amendment to the original 1947 law'.


* 'In 1954, The Saint Lawrence Seaway is opened, making the Erie canal obsolete for shipping and commercial use. . - From Wikipedia: 'The Saint Lawrence Seaway is a system of locks, canals and channels in Canada and the United States that permit ocean-going vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, as far inland as the western end of Lake Superior. The Seaway is named for the Saint Lawrence River, which flows from Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean. Legally, the Seaway extends from Montreal, Quebec, to Lake Erie and includes the Welland Canal.

This section upstream of the Seaway is not a continuous canal rather, it consists of several stretches of navigable channels within the river, a number of locks, and canals along the banks of the St. Lawrence River to bypass several rapids and dams along the way. A number of the locks are managed by the Saint Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation in Canada, and others in the United States by the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation the two bodies together advertise the Seaway as part of Highway H2O The section of the river downstream of Montreal, which is fully within Canadian jurisdiction, is regulated by the offices of Transport Canada in the Port of Quebec.

The International Joint Commission issued an order of approval for joint construction of the dam in October 1952. U.S. Senate debate on the bill began on January 12, 1953, and the bill emerged from the House of Representatives Committee of Public Works on February 22, 1954. It received approval by the Senate and the House by May 1954. The first positive action to enlarge the seaway was taken on May 13, 1954 when U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Wiley-Dondero Seaway Act to authorize joint construction and to establish the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation as the US authority. The need for cheap haulage of Quebec - Labrador iron ore was one of the arguments that finally swung the balance in favor of the seaway. Ground-breaking ceremonies took place in Massena, New York, on August 10, 1954. That year John C. Beukema was appointed by Eisenhower to the five-member St. Lawrence Seaway Advisory Board'.


* 'In 1988, Reagan signs the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 and formally apologizes for WW II Japanese detention. . - From Wikipedia: 'The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (Pub.L. 100–383 , title I, August 10, 1988, 102 Stat. 904 , 50a U.S.C. § 1989b et seq.) is a United States federal law that granted reparations to Japanese Americans who had been interned by the United States government during World War II. The act was sponsored by California's Democratic Congressman Norman Mineta, an internee as a child, and Wyoming's Republican Senator Alan K. Simpson, who first met Mineta while visiting an internment camp. The third co-sponsor was California Senator Pete Wilson. The bill was supported by the majority of Democrats in Congress, while the majority of Republicans voted against it. The act was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan.

The act granted each surviving internee about US$20,000 in compensation (or, $40,000 after inflation-adjustment in 2016 dollars), with payments beginning in 1990. The legislation stated that government actions were based on race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership as opposed to legitimate security reasons. A total of 82,219 received redress checks.

Because the law was restricted to American citizens or legal permanent residents, the ethnic Japanese that had been taken from their homes in Latin America (mostly from Peru) were not covered in the reparations, regardless of whether they remained in the United States, returned to Latin America or were deported to Japan after the war. In 1996, Carmen Mochizuki filed a class-action lawsuit, and won a settlement of around $5,000 per person to those eligible from what was left of the funds from the CLA. 145 of those affected were able to receive the $5,000 settlement before the funds ran out. In 1999, funds were approved for the attorney general to pay out to the rest of the claimants'.


* 'In 1990, Launched by NASA the previous year, the Magellan space probe reaches Venus . - From Wikipedia: 'The Magellan spacecraft, also referred to as the Venus Radar Mapper, was a 1,035-kilogram (2,282 lb) robotic space probe launched by NASA on May 4, 1989, to map the surface of Venus by using synthetic aperture radar and to measure the planetary gravitational field.

The Magellan probe was the first interplanetary mission to be launched from the Space Shuttle, the first one to use the Inertial Upper Stage booster for launching, and the first spacecraft to test aerobraking as a method for circularizing its orbit. Magellan was the fourth successful NASA mission to Venus, and it ended an eleven-year gap in U.S. interplanetary probe launches.

Study of the Magellan high-resolution global images is providing evidence to better understand Venusian geology and the role of impacts, volcanism, and tectonics in the formation of Venusian surface structures.

On September 9, 1994, a press release outlined the termination of the Magellan mission. Due to the degradation of the power output from the solar arrays and onboard components, and having completed all objectives successfully, the mission was to end in mid-October. The termination sequence began in late August 1994, with a series of orbital trim maneuvers which lowered the spacecraft into the outermost layers of the Venusian atmosphere to allow the Windmill experiment to begin on September 6, 1994. The experiment lasted for two weeks and was followed by subsequent orbital trim maneuvers, further lowering the altitude of the spacecraft for the final termination phase'.


* 'In 2003, Yuri Malenchenko becomes first person who was married in space, while their spouse was on Earth (in Texas) . - From Wikipedia: 'Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko born December 22, 1961) is a Russian cosmonaut. Malenchenko became the first person to marry in space, on 10 August 2003, when he married Ekaterina Dmitrieva, who was in Texas, while he was 240 miles over New Zealand, on the International Space Station. As of June 2016, Malenchenko ranks second for career time in space due to his time on both Mir and the International Space Station (ISS)'.

 III.
Top Song & Movie 50 years ago today (last updated Aug 7 2016 next Aug 13 2016

No. 1 song

  • Lil' Red Riding Hood - Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
    - On YouTube: More
    - At Wikipedia: More
    'They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!' has been displaced by 'Lil' Red Riding Hood', which will hold the no. 1 spot until Aug 13 1966, when 'Summer in the City - The Lovin' Spoonful', takes over.
    - From Wikipedia: '"Li'l Red Riding Hood" is a 1966 song performed by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. It was the group's second top-10 hit, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1966 and No. 2 on the Canadian RPM Magazine charts. It was certified gold by the RIAA on August 11, 1966.

    It is a prominent plot element in the 1993 film Striking Distance with Bruce Willis, and is featured in the film Wild Country in 2005 and a cover by Laura Gibson in a 2012 Volvo commercial for its S60T5. The song appeared in the TV show Grimm where it was played at the beginning of the season 3 episode "Red Menace" that aired in 2014'.

Top movie

  • The Man Called Flintstone
    - At Wikipedia:  More
    - On IMDb: More
    - On YouTube (trailer): More
    Having displaced 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ', it will be there until the weekend box office of Aug 14 1966 when, 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (returning again)', takes over.- From Wikipedia: 'The Man Called Flintstone is a 1966 animated feature film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and released by Columbia Pictures. It was the second Hanna-Barbera feature, after Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! (1964). The film is a theatrical spin-off of the 1960-66 television series, The Flintstones, and is a swan song (series finale) of the show, made immediately following the end of production on the series. The working title of the film was That Man Flintstone, with the film poster featuring Fred in the same pose of the Bob Peak poster for Our Man Flint. The film is a parody of the James Bond films.
  IV.
Today in the Past (reference sites): August 10
   V.
This month August 2016 (updated once a month - last updated - August 10 2016)

Monthly holiday / awareness days in August

Food National Catfish Month National Goat Cheese Month Rye Month

Health Children's Eye Health and Safety Month Children's Vision and Learning Month National Breastfeeding Month National Immunization Awareness Month National Minority Donor Awareness Month National Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month Neurosurgery Outreach Month Psoriasis Awareness Month

Animal / Pets

Other American Adventures Month American Artists Appreciation Month American Indian Heritage Month American History Essay Contest Black Business Month Boomers Making A Difference Month Bystander Awareness Month Child Support Awareness Month Get Ready for Kindergarten Month Happiness Happens Month Motor Sports Awareness Month National Read A Romance Month National Traffic Awareness Month National Truancy Prevention Month National Water Quality Month Shop Online For Groceries Month What Will Be Your Legacy Month XXXI Summer Olympics: 5-21


August is:

August origin (from Wikipedia): Originally named Sextili (Latin), because it was the sixth month in the original ten-month Roman calendar: under Romulus in 753 BC, when March was the first month of the year.
"About 700 BC it became the eighth month when January and February were added to the year before March by King Numa Pompilius, who also gave it 29 days. Julius Caesar added two days when he created the Julian calendar in 45 BC giving it its modern length of 31 days. In 8 BC it was renamed in honor of Augustus According to a Senatus consultum quoted by Macrobius, he chose this month because it was the time of several of his great triumphs, including the conquest of Egypt. "

August at Wikipedia: More

  VI.
TV fifty years ago 1966 (updated yearly - last updated Jan. 1 2016)

If you couldn't afford 90 cents for a movie ticket, 50 years ago, or your 45 RPM record player was broke, you might watch one of these shows on TV.
From this Wikipedia article: More

 VII.
Best selling books fifty years ago (updated yearly - last updated Jan. 1 2016)

Best selling books of 1966 More

VIII.
Fun (Last link added October 1 2014, but content on each site may change daily)
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day: More
  • NOAA: - National Hurricane Center - Atlantic Graphical Tropical Weather Outlook: More
  • Listen to Old Radio Shows: (streaming mp3 with schedule) More
  • NASA TV: (video feed) More
    NASA TV schedule: More
  • Public Domain eBook Links

    Sites for downloading or reading free Public Domain eBooks. Available in various formats. More

  • Podcast: A Moment of Science. Approximately 1 minute general science facts.
    Home page: More
    RSS: More
  • Podcast: The Naked Scientists. Current science, medicine, space and other science
    Home page: More
    RSS: More
  • Podcast: Quirks & Quarks. Current science news.
    Home page: More
    RSS: More
  • Articles and videos: Universe Today. Current space and astronomy news.
    Home page: More
    RSS: More
  • Old Picture of the Day - "Each day we bring you one stunning little glimpse of history in the form of a historical photograph."
    Home page: More
    RSS: More
  IX.
Other Holiday Sites (Last link added October 1 2014. Link content changes yearly)

Below, are listed several holiday sites that I reference in addition to other holiday researches.


US Government Holidays

  • 2016 Postal Holidays More
  • 2016 Official Federal Holidays More

Holidays Worldwide

  • List of holidays by country More
  • Holidays and Observances around the World More
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