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On This Day: August 10

This is the 223rd day of the year.

Fact of the Day:

In 1851, the Indiana General Assembly passed an act "to encourage agriculture," which also included the formation of a State Board of Agriculture. The primary goal of the Board was to create the first Indiana State Fair. In 1852, Indiana became the 6th state to begin holding a state agricultural fair. The first Fair, held in what is now Military Park in downtown Indianapolis, was an amazing success. The Fair was held in response to the aspirations of Governor J.A. Wright and others who believed that, "to make two blades of grass grow where one had formerly grown, to increase the crop yields, to preserve the soil fertility was a very worthy thing and almost a sacred duty." The State Fair has been located in Indianapolis for the majority of its 145-year existence, but other Indiana cities hosted the event in the 1800s. Lafayette (1853), Madison (1854), New Albany (1859), Fort Wayne (1865), and Terre Haute (1867) hosted the Fair before it was moved to Voss Farm in Indianapolis. The gates opened at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on East 38th Street for the first time on September 19, 1892.

Holidays

Ecuador: National Day / Independence Day.

Feast day of St. Lawrence of Rome.

Events

1792 - King Louis XVI was taken into custody by mobs during the French Revolution. He was executed the following January after being put on trial for treason.

1809 - Ecuador began its fight for independence from Spain.

1821 - Missouri became the 24th state to join the Union.

1846 - The Smithsonian Institution was chartered by the U.S. Congress. The "Nation's Attic" was made possible by $500,000 given by scientist Joseph Smithson.

1856 - In Louisiana, a hurricane came ashore and killed about 400 people.

1859 - In Boston, MA, the first milk inspectors were appointed.

1869 - The motion picture projector was patented by O.B. Brown.

1881 - Thomas Edison's exhibit opened the Paris Electrical Exhibition.

1885 - The first electric streetcar, to be used commercially, was operated in Baltimore, MD, by Leo Daft.

1914 - Austria-Hungary invaded Russia.

1921 - Franklin D. Roosevelt was stricken with polio.

1927 - Mount Rushmore was formally dedicated. The individual faces of the presidents were dedicated later.

1944 - U.S. forces defeated the remaining Japanese resistance on Guam.

1945 - The day after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan announced they would surrender. The only condition was that the status of Emperor Hirohito would remain unchanged.

1947 - William Odom completed an around-the-world flight. He set the solo record by completing the flight in 73 hours and 5 minutes.

1948 - On ABC, "Candid Camera" made its TV debut. The original title was "Candid Microphone."

1949 - In the U.S., the National Military Establishment had its name changed to the Department of Defense.

1954 - Construction began on the St. Lawrence Seaway.

1965 - In Austin, TX, a fire burned part of the 20th floor of the 27-story University of Texas main building. A collection that contained items once owned by escape artist Harry Houdini and circus magnate P. T. Barnum were damaged by smoke and water.

1969 - Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were murdered. Members of the Charles Manson cult committed the crimes one day after the killing of Sharon Tate and four other people.

1973 - Arnold Palmer did not make the cut for the final two rounds of the PGA Golf Championship. It was the first time in his career.

1977 - The "Son of Sam," David Berkowitz, was arrested in Yonkers, NY. Berkowitz, a postal employee, had shot and killed six people and wounded seven others.

1981 - Pete Rose hit a single and broke the National League all-time hit record with his 3,630 hit.

1988 - U.S. President Reagan signed a measure that provided $20,000 payments to Japanese-Americans who were interned by the U.S. government during World War II.

1991 - In Phoenix, AZ, nine Buddhists were found slain in their temple. Two teenagers were arrested for the crime.

1993 - A massive deficit-reduction bill was signed into law by U.S. President Bill Clinton.

1994 - In Germany, three men were arrested after being caught smuggling plutonium into the country.

1994 - U.S. President Clinton claimed presidential immunity when he asked a federal judge to dismiss, at least for the time being, a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Paula Corbin Jones.

1995 - Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were charged with 11 counts in the Oklahoma City bombing.

1995 - Michael Fortier plead guilty in a plea-bargain agreement. The agreement required that he testify for the prosecution in the Oklahoma City Federal building bombing trial.

1995 - Norma McCorvey, "Jane Roe" of the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, announced that she had joined the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue.

1999 - Near an India-Pakistan border area an Indian fighter jet shot down a Pakistani naval aircraft. Sixteen people were killed.

2003 - Ekaterina Dmitriev and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko were married. Malenchenko was about 240 miles above the earth in the international space station. It was the first-ever marriage from space.

2006 - In Great Britain, 24 people were arrested for their roles in a plot to blow up airliners traveling between Britain and the United States. In Pakistan, 7 people were arrested for their roles in the same plot.


Births

1874 - Herbert Clark Hoover, 31st President of the United States of America (1929-1933).

1928 - Jimmy Dean (Seth Ward), American Grammy Award-winning singer; sausage maker.

1928 - Eddie Fisher, American singer.

Deaths

1896 - Otto Lilienthal, German aeronautical pioneer.