This Day in History – August 11, 2011

3114 BC The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, notably the Mayans, begins. 1772 Explosive eruption blows 4,000′ off Papandayan Java, kills 3,000 1860 Nation’s 1st successful silver mill (Virginia City, Nevada) 1866 World’s 1st roller rink opens (Newport, RI) 1877 Asaph Hall discovers Mars’s moon Deimos 1898 Spanish-American War: American troops enter the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. 1909 SOS 1st used by an American ship, Arapahoe, off Cape Hatteras, NC 1919 Green Bay Packers football club founded 1929 Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 500 home runs in his career with a home run at League Park in Cleveland, Ohio. 1933 Temp reaches 136ø F (58ø C) at San Luis Potos, Mexico (world record) 1934 The first civilian prisoners arrive at the Federal prison on Alcatraz Island. 1942 Actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil receive a patent for a frequency hopping, spread spectrum communication system that later became the basis for modern technologies in wireless telephones and Wi-Fi. 1951 1st color baseball game (Braves vs Dodgers) telecast (WCBS-NYC) 1952 Hussein is proclaimed King of Jordan. 1960 Chad declares independence. 1965 Race riots (the Watts riots) begin in the Watts area of Los Angeles, California. 1972 Vietnam War: the last United States ground combat unit departs South Vietnam. 1972 “Cheech & Chong Day” in San Antonio Texas 1976 Keith Moon, drummer for the Who, collapses & is hospitalized in Miami 1978 Funeral of Pope Paul VI 1980 Reggie Jackson hits his 400th homer 1982 A bomb explodes on Pan Am Flight 830, en route from Tokyo to Honolulu, killing one teenager and injuring 15 passengers. 1984 Carl Lewis duplicates Jesse Owens’ 1936 feat, wins 4 Olympic track golds 1984 During a radio voice test Pres Reagan joked he “signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in 5 minutes” 1985 Challenger flies to Kennedy Space Center via Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz 1989 Voyager 2 discovers 2 partial rings of Neptune 1990 NY Yankee Kevin Maas is fastest to get 13 HRs (110 at bats) 1991 John Daly, rookie golfer wins the PGA title 1991 Shite Muslims release US hostage Edward Tracy 1991 Space shuttle STS 43 (Atlantis 9) lands 1999 The Salt Lake City Tornado tears through the downtown district of the city, killing one.]]]]> ]]>