Photo Courtesy: Wikipedia
Babe Ruth

By Claire Lewis

Is your birthday or anniversary on August 1?  If so, many interesting things took place on this particular day throughout history.  According to onthisday.com, the following events happened on this summer day:

30 BC – Octavian (later known as Augustus) enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Republic.

30 BC – Mark Antony, Roman Politician and General, commits suicide after he is defeated by Octavian at the Battle of Actium at 53
1137 – Louis VI, King of France, dies
1177 – Peace Treaty of Venice: Emperor Frederik I & Pope Alexander III
1498 – Christopher Columbus lands on “Isla Santa” (Venezuela)

1714 – Anne Stuart, Queen of England, dies at about 49
1714 – Monarch Georg Ludwig becomes King George I of England

1770 – William Clark of the Lewis & Clark Expedition was born
1774 – Joseph Priestley, English theologian, chemist and author discovers oxygen

1779 – Francis Scott Key, American lawyer, poet and composer of the lyrics to the “Star-Spangled Banner” was born
1780 – Sweden declares neutrality

1819 – Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, was born in New York (d. 1891)
1831 – London Bridge opens to traffic.
1834 – Slavery abolished throughout the British Empire – Slavery Abolition Act 1833 comes into effect

1843 – Robert Todd Lincoln, Captain of the Union Volunteers and son of President Abraham Lincoln was born (d. 1926)
1876 – Colorado becomes 38th state of the Union

1890 – George II, King of Greece, was born

1903 – Calamity Jane [Martha Jane Canary], American frontierswoman, dies at 51
1914 – Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany declares war on his nephew, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (WWI)
1918 – Pittsburgh Pirates beat Boston Braves, 2-0, in 21 innings

1928 – Babe Ruth hits his 42^nd Home Run 

1976 – Actress Elizabeth Taylor divorces actor Richard Burton (her sixth, their second divorce together)

1986 – Tennis ace John McEnroe marries actress Tatum O’Neal