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Today in History: August 3

1347
Six burghers of the surrounded French city of Calais surrender to Edward III of England in hopes of relieving the siege.

1492
Christopher Columbus leaves Spain on his voyage to the new world.

1546
French printer Etienne Dolet, accused of heresy, blasphemy and sedition, is hanged and burned at the stake for printing reformist literature.

1553
Mary Tudor, the new Queen of England, enters London.

1610
Henry Hudson of England discovers a great bay on the east coast of Canada and names it for himself.

1692
French forces under Marshal Luxembourg defeat the English at the Battle of Steenkerque in the Netherlands.

1805
Muhammad Ali becomes the new ruler of Egypt.

1807
The trial of Aaron Burr begins. He is accused of plotting the secession of New England.

1864
Federal gunboats attack but do not capture Fort Gains, at the mouth of Mobile Bay, Alabama.

1882
Congress passes the Immigration Act, banning Chinese immigration for ten years.


1908
Allan Allensworth files the site plan for the first African-American town, Allensworth, California.

1911
Airplanes are used for the first time in a military capacity when Italian planes reconnoiter Turkish lines near Tripoli.

1914
Germany declares war on France.

1916
Sir Roger Casement is hanged for treason in England.

1945
Chinese troops under American General Joseph Stilwell take the town of Myitkyina from the Japanese.


1958
The first nuclear submarine, USS Nautilus, passes under the North Pole.

1967
President Lyndon B. Johnson announces plans to send 45,000 more troops to Vietnam.

1972
Former Beatle Paul McCartney announces formation of his new group, Wings.

1975
The Louisiana Superdome is dedicated.

1977
Radio Shack unveils TRS-80 personal computer, which with Apple and Commodore would form the "1977 Trinity." Its price and Radio Shack's established retail outlets made it a bestseller for several years.


1990
The US commits naval forces to the Persian Gulf region in the wake of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

2004
Statue of Liberty's pedestal reopens to visitors after being closed following the 9/11 terrorist attacks

Today in History: Born on August 3
1867
Stanley Baldwin, British Prime Minister during the general strike of 1926.

1887
Rupert Brooke, English poet who mainly wrote about World War I.

1900
Ernie Pyle, World War II correspondent who wrote about the common soldier.

1905
Maggie Kuhn, social activist and founder of "The Gray Panthers."

1909
Walter Van Tilburg Clark, Western novelist who wrote The Ox-Bow Incident.


1920
P.D. James (Phyllis Dorothy James), British mystery writer.

1924
Leon Uris, writer whose works include Battle Cry and Exodus.

1926
Tony Bennett, singer ("I Left My Heart in San Francisco").

1941
Martha Stewart, business magnate and television personality.

JOTD
I think, I'm going to lose my drivers license...

and all just because of a stupid police officer... The conversation went like this, when I got pulled over in my car:

Officer: "License and registration, please, I think you are drunk!"

Me: "I assure you, I did not drink anything."

Officer: "Ok, let's do a little test! Imagine driving in the dark on a highway at night, when you see two lights in the distance. What is this?"

Me: "A car."

Officer:"Of course! But which one? A Mercedes, an Audi or a Ford?"

Me:"I have no idea!"

Officer:"So, you're drunk."

Me:"But I didn't drink anything."

Officer:"Okay, one more test -- Imagine, you drive in the dark on a highway at night, and there is one light coming at you.What is it?

Me:"A motorcycle."

Officer:"Of course! But which one? A Honda, a Kawasaki or a Harley?"

Me:"I have no idea!"

Officer:"As I suspected, you're drunk!"

Then I started to get annoyed and asked a counter question.

Me:"So..., counter question -- You're driving in the dark on a highway at night and see a woman on the roadside. She wears a mini skirt, fishnet stockings, high heeled shoes and only a bra as a top. What is this?"

Officer:"A prostitute of course."

Me:"Yes, but which one? Your daughter, your wife or your mother?"

Things went downhill from there and now I have a court date to attend