First US Airmail by Balloon
On August 17, 1859, the first airmail in the United States was carried by balloon in Indiana, from Lafayette to Crawfordsville. Of the 123 letters sent by balloon mail, only about 23 are known to still exist.
This Day in History
Klondike Gold Rush
On August 16, 1896, gold was discovered in the Klondike region of the Yukon in northwestern Canada. Lasting three years, the Klondike Gold Rush was the largest and most dramatic discovery of gold in American history.
Birth of Edna Ferber
Author Edna Ferber was born on August 15, 1885, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Considered “the greatest American woman novelist of her day,” she’s best known for her novel Show Boat.
Atlantic Charter
On August 14, 1941, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill issued the Atlantic Charter, which defined their postwar goals for the world. The Atlantic Charter is credited as the inspiration for several international agreements that followed.
Work Begins on the Berlin Wall
When the Nazis were defeated in World War II, Germany was divided into two countries. Shortly after midnight on August 13, 1961, East German soldiers laid barbed wire and bricks, creating the Berlin Wall.
Echo 1
On August 12, 1960, Echo I, the world’s first passive communications satellite, was placed in orbit around the Earth. The goal was to send radio signals into space from one location, bounce them off the satellite, and receive them at another location.
Birth of Martin Johnson Heade
Artist Martin Johnson Heade was born on August 11, 1819, in Lumberville, Pennsylvania. Heade had the longest career and possibly the most varied body of work of any American painter of the nineteenth century.
Birth of the Smithsonian Institution
After a decade of debates, the Smithsonian Institution was established on August 10, 1846. Nicknamed “the nation’s attic,” it houses more than 154 million items and is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex.
Thoreau Publishes Walden
On August 9, 1854, transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau published his most famous work – Walden. It was based on the two years he spent contemplating Transcendentalist philosophy at Walden Pond, Massachusetts.