On This Day August 30th

 OTD

August 30th is the 242nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 123 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

70 – Titus ends the siege of Jerusalem after destroying Herod's Temple.

1574 – Guru Ram Das becomes the Fourth Sikh Guru/Master.

1791 – HMS Pandora sinks after running aground on the outer Great Barrier Reef the previous day.

1813 – First Battle of Kulm: French forces are defeated by an Austrian-Prussian-Russian alliance.

1896 – Philippine Revolution: After the Spanish victory in the Battle of San Juan del Monte, eight provinces in the Philippines were declared under martial law by the Spanish Governor-General Ramón Blanco y Arenas.

1916 – Ernest Shackleton completes the rescue of all of his men stranded on Elephant Island in Antarctica.

1945 – General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, lands at Atsugi Air Force Base.

1967 – Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as the first African-American Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

1984 – STS-41-D: The Space Shuttle Discovery takes off on its maiden voyage.

 

Birthdays

1716 – Capability Brown, English landscape architect (d. 1783)

1797 – Mary Shelley, English novelist and playwright (d. 1851)

1812 – Agoston Haraszthy, Hungarian-American businessman, founded Buena Vista Winery (d. 1869)

1848 – Andrew Onderdonk, American surveyor and contractor (d. 1905)

1856 – Carl David Tolmé Runge, German mathematician, physicist, and spectroscopist (d. 1927)

1901 – Roy Wilkins, American journalist and activist (d. 1981)

1907 – John Mauchly, American physicist and co-founder of the first computer company (d. 1980)

1918 – Ted Williams, American baseball player and manager (d. 2002)

1919 – Kitty Wells, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2012)

1930 – Warren Buffett, American businessman and philanthropist

1948 – Lewis Black, American comedian, actor, and author

1953 – Robert Parish, American basketball player

 

Holidays and Observances

Frankenstein Day: Marry Shelly’s Birthday.

 In the fog-shrouded annals of literary history emerges the enigmatic figure of Mary Shelley, a woman whose pen conjured worlds that still haunt the collective imagination. Born on a chill August day in 1797, in the heart of London's labyrinthine streets, she was named Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin—a name whispered with reverence and a trace of mystery.

 Her lineage was no ordinary tale, for she was the progeny of Mary Wollstonecraft, an audacious titan of feminism and literary prowess, and William Godwin, a visionary political philosopher. Yet, destiny had darker designs for young Mary. She would grow up not in the warm embrace of a mother but in the shadow of her ghost, her mother having succumbed to fate just days after her daughter's birth.

 But as night begets day, tragedy birthed creativity within the young girl. And so, her quill would become her solace, her thoughts a refuge from a world that sometimes seemed rife with sorrow. The flickering spark of her most incredible creation was kindled amidst a tempestuous gathering at the Villa Diodati in Switzerland. Alongside her lover and poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, the enigmatic Lord Byron, and John Polidori, they dared each other to conjure tales that would send shivers down the spines of mortals.

 From the recesses of her mind emerged "Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus." A tale as chilling as the Alpine winds that whispered through that fateful night. In her story, a young scientist named Victor Frankenstein harnessed forbidden knowledge, stitching together life and death to birth a creature that stalked the borderlands between life and death—a tragic and terrifying creation. The story dared to explore the boundaries of human ambition, the flickering dance between creator and design, and the chilling consequences of pushing nature beyond its mortal limits.

 Mary's life, however, was no tale of tranquil waters. It was marked by storms of its losses that mirrored the sorrows of her literary offspring. Children born and lost, the echoes of her mother's ideas intertwining with her own, and the never-fading specter of her husband's drowned heart. Through it all, she continued to weave her tales, shaping her words into stories that delved into science and morality.

 As the pages of her life turned, she left an indelible mark on the tapestry of literature. Her ink became the blood that pulsed through horror and science fiction veins. Her stories ignited the fires of imagination, casting flickering shadows that dance even now across the silver screens of modern cinema.

 Yet, like all tales, hers, too, reached its final chapter. On a winter's day in 1851, she departed this earthly realm, leaving behind a legacy that continues to whisper in the winds, lingers in the corners of moonlit rooms, and beckons the curious to explore the depths of her uncanny creations. Mary Shelley—her name evokes both a shiver of apprehension and a sigh of admiration, a testament to the enduring power of words woven in the dim light of a flickering candle.

 

Others Include

International Cabernet Sauvignon Day

International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances

International Whale Shark Day

Muharram (Islamic New Year)

National Beach Day

National Grief Awareness Day

National Toasted Marshmallow Day

Raksha Bandhan - August 30, 2023 (Hindu Holiday)

Slinky Day

Tug of War Day - August 30, 2023 (Last Wednesday in August)

Willing to Lend a Hand Wednesday - August 30, 2023 (Last Wednesday in August)