August 7th is

Sea Serpent Day

National Purple Heart Day

Professional Speakers Day

National Lighthouse Day

Particularly Preposterous Packaging Day

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WORLD FESTIVALS AND NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

International Assistance Dog Week
(first Day)

Columbia – Battle of Boyacá Day

Cote d’Ivoire – Independence Day

Germany – Berlin: (last day)
International Berlin Beer Festival

India: Naag Panchami
(why did it have to be snakes?)

Malaysia – Sarawak: (last day)
Rainforest World Music Festival

Sweden –
Visby: Medeltidsveckan
(Middle Ages Festival)

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On This Day in HISTORY

1420 – Construction of Santa Maria del Fiore dome begins in Florence, Italy

1782 – General George Washington designates the first American military decoration, the Badge of Military Merit, for “any singularly meritorious action” now known as the Purple Heart for its shape and color

1789 –  U.S. Congress approves  act for “establishment and support of Lighthouse, Beacons, Buoys, and Public Piers” – Two hundred years later, Congress designates
August 7th as National Lighthouse Day

1789 – U.S. Department of War established, later becomes Department of Defense

1819 – Simón Bolívar defeats the Spanish in the Battle of Boyacá

MORE! For Mata Hari, Garrison Keillor and Thor Heyerdahl, click

1848 – Crew of the HMS Daedalus sighted a 60-foot-long creature with a peculiar maned head during a voyage to Saint Helena in the South Atlantic

1876 – Mata Hari, exotic dancer and spy, is born

1888 – Theophilus Van Kannel patents the revolving door

1909 – Alice Huyler Ramsey becomes first to complete a cross-country automobile trip, traveling with three friends (none of whom could drive) for 59 days from New York, NY to San Francisco, CA

1921 – Ricardo Baliardo, AKA Manitas de Plata, flamenco guitarist, is born

1927 – The Peace Bridge opens between Fort Erie ONT Canada and Buffalo NY

1934 – U.S. Court of Appeals upholds lower court ruling against ban of James Joyce’s novel Ulysses

1937 – Bunny Berigan and his orchestra recorded “I Can’t Get Started”

1942 – Garrison Keillor, author and radio star, is born

1944 – IBM dedicates Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (Harvard Mark I)

1947 – Thor Heyerdahl’s Kon Tiki reaches Tuamotu Islands after 101 day voyage across Pacific to show that pre-historic peoples could have traveled from South America

1955 – Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering, precursor to Sony, sells first transistor radio in Japan

1959 – The “Lincoln Memorial” penny goes into circulation, replacing “sheaves of wheat” 

1960 – Ivory Coast becomes independent from France

1962 – Frances Oldham Kelsey receives U.S. President’s Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service for refusing to authorize thalidomide

1964 – U.S. Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

1976 – NASA Viking 2 enters orbit around Mars

1985 – Takao Doi, Mamoru Mohri and Chiaki Mukai are Japan’s first astronauts

2003 – Arnold Schwarzenegger announces his candidacy for California governor

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Visuals

• Portland Head Light – Portland Harbor ME
• International Flags
• Santa Maria del Fiore dome in Florence, Italy
• Modern-day Purple Heart medal
• Mata Hari (circa 1910)
• Kon Tiki
• Viking 2 orbiting Mars