August 26 is the 239th day of the year. There are 127 days remaining until the end of the year.
580 Chinese invent toilet paper
1498 Michelangelo is commissioned to carve the Pieta. Here’s his carving of the "peter" instead.
1873 1st kindergarten public school opens in St. Louis, and surprisingly succeeds despite a teacher named Susan Blow. With the profound emphasis on history in St. Louis Public Schools, Blow Elementary is now more appropriately named Blow Middle School because everyone knows that middle school blows.
1920 The 19th amendment to United States Constitution takes effect, giving women the right to vote.
1929 1st US roller coaster is built as a piece of performance art depicting the state of the US economy
1937 Pumping to build Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay is finished, but the boys are still rarin’ to go.
1955 1st color telecast (NBC) of a tennis match (Davis Cup). It’s basically a black screen with green dots.
1973 University of Texas (Arlington) is 1st accredited school to offer belly dancing–with Title IX, guys get to take the class too
1978 Ultra-liberal Albino Cardinal Luciani is elected to the Papacy as Pope John Paul I. Stay tuned for further developments.
1987 President Ronald Reagan proclaims September 11, 1987 as 9-1-1 Emergency Number Day.
1819 HRH Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Consort of the United Kingdom who was known to dress to the left, married his cousin, and became known for something else.
1904 Christopher Isherwood, gay English-born US author "Goodbye to Berlin", part of the basis for "Cabaret"
March 30 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. If the ancient Mayans were correct, there are 266 days remaining until the end of time.
1842 Anesthesia is used for the first time, in an operation by Dr. Crawford Long.
1858 Pencil with attached eraser patented by Hyman L. Lipman. Hyman Lipman, indeed!
1932 Amelia Earhart is 1st woman to fly solo cross the Atlantic
1953 Albert Einstein announces revised unified field theory. If you say so.
1961 The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is signed at New York.
1966 Barbra Streisand stars on "Color Me Barbra" special on CBS.
1981 President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr., who is trying to impress Jodie Foster.
1991 Dr. William Kennedy Smith allegedly rapes a woman but is found not guilty because he is a doctor and a Kennedy
1992 Man accidentally backs in A's Jose Canseco's $225,000 Lamborghini; Canseco accidentally beats the shit out of man for backing into his $225,000 Lamborghini
