August 4th

NewMexiKen is taking the day off to celebrate the blog’s sixth anniversary.
The posts today are being written by readers just like you. This is from Debby.

1993 – Rwandian Hutu’s and Tutsi’s sign peace treaty in Arusha. [Apparently, it didn’t take.]

1987 – The Federal Communications Commission rescinds the Fairness Doctrine which had required radio and television stations to present controversial issues “fairly”.

1977 – President Carter establishes Department of Energy

1971 – U.S. launches 1st satellite into lunar orbit from manned spacecraft

1964 – North Vietnamese torpedo US ships Gulf of Tonkin

1956 – Elvis Presley releases “Hound Dog”

1949 – NBL and NBAA merge into National Basketball Association

1944 – Anne Frank and her family arrested in Amsterdam by Nazis

1914 – Germany invades Belgium. In response, the United Kingdom declares war on Germany. The United States declares its neutrality.

1892 – Sunday school teacher Lizzie Borden arrested in Fall River, Mass

1862 – U.S. government collects its 1st income tax

1855 – John Bartlett publishes “Familiar Quotations”

1821 – 1st edition of Saturday Evening Post (publishes until 1969)

1693 – Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Perignon’s invention of Champagne.

Births:

1792 – Percy Bysshe Shelly, English poet and author.

1901 – Louis Armstrong, American jazz musician (d. 1971)

1912 – Raoul Wallenberg, Swedish diplomat credited with saving nearly 100,000 Budapest Jews during World War II.

1920 – Helen Thomas, American journalist—Thomas has covered every president since John F. Kennedy. She was the first female officer of the National Press Club, the first female member and president of the White House Correspondents Association, and, in 1975, the first female member of the Gridiron Club.

1944 – Richard Belzer, American actor and comedian (Sgt. Munch)

1955 – Billy Bob Thornton, American actor and writer

1961 – Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States

1962 – Roger Clemens, American baseball player

1962 – Wesley Snipes, Orlando Fla, actor (New Jack City, Passenger 57