Today is Wednesday, Aug. 2, the 214th day of 2023 with 151 to follow.
The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Venus.
Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, designer of the Statue of Liberty, in 1834; actor Myrna Loy in 1905; former Israeli President Shimon Peres in 1923; author James Baldwin in 1924; pianist/journalist Philippa Schuyler in 1931; actor Peter O’Toole in 1932; filmmaker Wes Craven in 1939; author Isabel Allende in 1942 (age 81); actor Victoria Jackson in 1959 (age 64); actor Mary-Louise Parker in 1964 (age 59); writer/director/actor Kevin Smith in 1970 (age 53); actor Sam Worthington in 1976 (age 47); actor Edward Furlong in 1977 (age 46); singer Charli XCX, born Charlotte Emma Aitchison, in 1992 (age 31); Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Simone Manuel in 1996 (age 27).
On this date in history:
In 1776, the Declaration of Independence, adopted on July 4, was signed by members of the Continental Congress.
In 1923, U.S. President Warren G. Harding died of a stroke in a San Francisco hotel at the age of 58. He was succeeded by Vice President Calvin Coolidge.
In 1934, with the death of German President Paul von Hindenburg, Chancellor Adolf Hitler became absolute dictator of Germany under the title of fuehrer, or “leader.”
In 1956, U.S. Virgin Islands National Park, which encompasses 23 square miles of land and water, was established.
In 1968, a major earthquake in the Philippines rocked Manila, killing 307 people.
In 1974, John Dean, counsel to U.S. President Richard Nixon, was sentenced to one to four years in prison for his part in the Watergate coverup. Dean’s sentence was reduced and he was released after four months.
In 1985, 135 people died in the crash of a Delta Air Lines L-1011 jet at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
In 1990, Iraq invaded neighboring Kuwait after weeks of tension over disputed land and oil production quotas.
In 1992, Jackie Joyner-Kersee became the first woman to win consecutive Olympic gold medals in the heptathlon.
In 2000, the Republican Party nominated George W. Bush and Dick Cheney to head its ticket for the November elections.
In 2018, Apple became the first publicly traded company to reach a trillion-dollar market capitalization.
In 2020, two NASA astronauts splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico after completing a two-month mission that sent them to the International Space Station to test SpaceX’s groundbreaking Crew Dragon shuttle capsule. It was the first commercial crewed mission in U.S. history.
A thought for the day: “The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose.” – American author James Baldwin
