What’s Happening Today?

National Airborne Day (USA). This is the day designated by the United States Congress to honor the nation's airborne forces of the Armed Forces. It was created in 2002 by George W. Bush.

Gozan no Okuribi (Japan). It is a festival in Kyoto, Japan. It is the culmination of the Obon festival on August 16, in which five giant bonfires are lit on mountains surrounding the city. It signifies the moment when the spirits of deceased family members, who are said to visit this world during O-Bon, are believed to be returning to the spirit world—thus the name Okuribi translated as send-off fire.

What Happened Today?

1.    In 1920,  Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians was hit on the head by a fastball thrown by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees, and died early the next day. Chapman was the second player to die from injuries sustained in a Major League Baseball game, the first being Doc Powers in 1909. 

2.    In 2003, former Ugandan president Idi Amin died in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The cause of death was reported to be multiple organ failure. Although the Ugandan government announced that his body could be buried in Uganda, he was quickly buried in Saudi Arabia.

3.    In 2012, South African police fatally shot 34 miners and wounded 78 more during an industrial dispute at Marikana near Rustenburg.

Birthdays

1.    1958 – Madonna, the Queen of Pop.

2.    1958 – Angela Bassett, American actress, director and activist.

Source: Wikipedia

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