Whatcâ¬â?cs Happening Today?

Constitution Day (Indonesia). It is observed on 18th August to honour the birth of the Indonesian constitution, the 1945 Constitution, which was established at a meeting of the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence. The stipulation of the 1945 Constitution was to ensure unity after the independence of the Republic of Indonesia was proclaimed on August 17, 1945. Determination of Constitution Day is stated in Presidential Decree 18/2008 signed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on 10 September 2008.

National Science Day (Thailand). National Science Day is observed in Thailand every year on August 18. This holiday celebrates the anniversary of a total solar eclipse in 1868, that was predicted by King Mongkut two years earlier. King Mongkut (Rama IV) is one of the most revered monarchs of Thailand. Before he assumed the throne of the king, he had been a monk. During the monkhood, he studied astrology, astronomy and mathematics. These developed his skills in astronomical measurement, that helped him to change the official Buddhist calendar, that was miscalculated, that is why times for auspicious moments were incorrect. 

What Happened Today?

1. In 1877, Martian Moon Phobos (in the picture), One of the two natural satellites of Mars, was Discovered. It was discovered by American astronomer Asaph Hall. Hall who also discovered Deimos, the other Martian Moon. Named after the Greek God of fear, Phobos orbits only 3700 miles from the surface of Mars, making it the Moon to orbit closest to its planet in the Solar System. Because of this, Phobos completes an orbit around Mars in 7 hours and 39 minutes.

2. In 1920, the State of Tennessee passed the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution. This action by the Tennessee legislature brought the number of states passing the 19th amendment to 36 and provided the necessary majority to ratify the amendment, which extended universal suffrage to women.

3. In 2005, Indonesia suffered a Massive Power Outage. Thought to be one of the biggest power outages in recent history, the Java-Bali outage affected about 100 million people. Electricity was restored to most areas within 6 hours.

Birthdays

1. 1936 câ¬â?? Robert Redford, American actor, director and Oscar winner

2. 1975 câ¬â?? Rose Namayanja, National treasurer of the NRM

Sources: Wikipedia, checkiday & bornglorious.com

Picture credit: NASA