This Day in History – August 3, 2011

1492 Columbus sets sail from Palos, Spain for “Indies” 1596 David Fabricius discovers light variation of Mira (1st variable star) 1678 Robert LaSalle builds 1st ship in America, Griffon 1882 Congress passes 1st law restricting immigration 1921 1st aerial cropdusting (Troy Ohio to kill caterpillars) 1921 Due to a technicality, 8 Chicago White Sox accused in the Black Sox scandal are acquited, however Landis throws them out of baseball 1949 Basketball Assoc of America & National Basketball League merge to form the National Basketball Association 1954 1st VTOL (Vertical Take-off & Land) flown 1955 Automobile Association of America ends support of auto racing 1955 Hurricane Connie begins pounding US for 11 days 1963 Allan Sherman releases “Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda” 1970 Hurricane “Celia” becomes most expensive Gulf storm in history 1970 Mairiam Hargrave of Yorkshire, passes her driving test on 40th try 1974 Guitarist Jeff Baxter quits Steely Dan & joins Doobie Brothers 1975 Louisiana Superdome is dedicated 1977 Radio Shack issues a press release introducing the TRS-80 computer 25 existed, within weeks thousands were ordered 1981 Air Traffic Controllers (PATCO) begin their strike 1983 John Sain of South Bend, Indiana builds 3.91 million house of cards 1984 365.7 million shares traded in NY Stock Exchange 1988 Skip Storch swims 246 km of Hudson River from Albany to NYC 1989 Lawrence Delisle drives his 4 kids into river 1990 US announces commitment of Naval forces to Gulf regions 2004 The pedestal of the Statue of Liberty reopens after being closed since the September 11 attacks.]]]]> ]]>