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Today in History: August 6

1863 The CSS Alabama captures the USS Sea Bride near the Cape of Good Hope.

1888 Martha Turner is murdered by an unknown assailant, believed to be Jack the Ripper, in London, England.

1890 William Kemmler becomes the first man to be executed by the electric chair.

1945 Paul Tibbets, the commander of Enola Gay, drops the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. It was the second atomic bomb, dropped on Nagasaki, that induced the Japanese to surrender.

1972 Atlanta Braves' right fielder Hank Aaron hits his 660th and 661st home runs, setting the Major League record for most home runs by a player for a single franchise.

1988 A melee that became known as the Tompkins Square Park Police Riot in New York City leads to NYPD reforms.

1991 Tim Berners-Lee publishes the first-ever website, Info.cern.ch.

1997 Microsoft announces it will invest $150 million in troubled rival Apple Computer, Inc.

2012 New Zealand's Mount Tongariro erupts for the first time since 1897.



Born on August 6

1809 Alfred Lord Tennyson, English poet laureate (1850), wrote "The Charge of the Light Brigade."

1881 Alexander Flemming, Scottish bacteriologist who discovered penicillin in 1928.

1911 Lucille Ball, American actress and comedian.


Joke of the Day

A Kung Fu student asks his teacher, "Master, why does my ability not improve? I'm always defeated." And the master, pensive and forever patient, answers…

"My dear pupil, have you seen the gulls flying by the setting sun and their wings seeming like flames?"
"Yes, my master, I have."
"And a waterfall, spilling mightly over the stones without taking anything out of its proper place?"
"Yes, my master, I have witnessed it."
"And the moon, when it touches the calm water to reflect all its enormous beauty?"
"Yes, my master, I have also seen this marvelous phenomenon."
"That is the problem. You keep watching all this shite instead of training."