On This day August 19th

 OTD

August 19th is the two-hundredth-thirty-first day of the year, and there are 134 days remaining until the end of the year.

 

Event

295 BC – The first temple to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, was dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges during the Third Samnite War.

1561 – Mary, Queen of Scots, aged 18, returns to Scotland after spending 13 years in France.

1666 – Second Anglo-Dutch War: Rear Admiral Robert Holmes leads a raid on the Dutch island of Terschelling, destroying 150 merchant ships, an act later known as "Holmes's Bonfire."

1812 – War of 1812: American frigate USS Constitution defeats the British frigate HMS Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, earning the nickname "Old Ironsides."

1909 – The Indianapolis Motor Speedway opens for automobile racing. William Bourque and his mechanic are killed during the first day's events.

1953 – Cold War: The CIA and MI6 help overthrow Mohammad Mosaddegh's government in Iran and reinstate the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

1989 – Polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki as the first non-communist prime minister in 42 years.

1989 – Several hundred East Germans cross the frontier between Hungary and Austria during the Pan-European Picnic, part of the events that began the Fall of the Berlin Wall process.

1991 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The August Coup begins when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest while on holiday in Foros, Ukraine.

2004 – Google Inc. has its initial public offering on Nasdaq.

 

Birthdays

 232 – Marcus Aurelius Probus, Roman emperor (d. 282)

1570 – Salamone Rossi, Italian violinist and composer (probable;[18] d. 1630)

1815 – Harriette Newell Woods Baker, American editor and children's book writer (d. 1893)

1871 – Orville Wright, an American engineer and pilot, co-founded the Wright Company (d. 1948)

1900 – Gilbert Ryle, English philosopher, author, and academic (d. 1976)

1902 – Ogden Nash, American poet (d. 1971)

1919 – Malcolm Forbes, American publisher and politician (d. 1990)

1921 – Gene Roddenberry, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1991)

1939 – Ginger Baker, English drummer and songwriter (d. 2019)

1952 – Jonathan Frakes, American actor and director

  

Holiday Spotlight

 August Moon Festival

Greek Mythology plays a huge role in the August Moon Festival in Greece. As with most celebrations, it is a period when locals and tourists leave their busy lives and just have a day, or in this case, a night of fun. Different archaeological sites and museums are open throughout the night for celebrations of the August Moon Festival—an occurrence that is only associated with the August moon.

The August Moon Festival has its roots in Greek Mythology. It stems from the story of the Titan goddess Selene, which is also one of the Greek words for the moon. She was known as the Titan Goddess of the moon and traversed the night sky in her silver chariot—the moon—which was drawn by two snow-white, winged horses.

Selene had fallen in love with Endymion, a shepherd Prince whom Zeus put into a never-ending state of sleep. She paid nightly visits to Endymion, who lay in his cave on Mount Latmos, and eventually bore him fifty daughters. These 50 daughters represented the 50 lunar months of the Olympiad, or four years, and were used to mark the beginning of the Olympic Games, which began in 776 B.C.

The entire moon festival in August marks the only day of the year when visitors get free admission to participating archaeological sites and museums after sunset, a tradition that began in 1996.

Locals and tourists use this opportunity well. Seeing the brilliant white marble of the Acropolis glowing in the moonlight or the moon hanging low over the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion is a sight to behold.

 

Holidays And Observance.

 Coco Chanel Day

International Bow Day

International Orangutan Day

National Aviation Day

National Hot and Spicy Food Day

National Root Beer Float Day  

National Sandcastle and Sculpture Day

National Soft Ice Cream Day

Potato Day

Raksha Bandhan  

Stay Home with Your Kid's Day  

World Humanitarian Day

World Orangutan Day

World Photography Day

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