What’s Happening Today?

Independence Day (Burkina Faso). It commemorates the full independence of Burkina Faso from France in1960. On 11 December 1958, The Republic of Upper Volta, as Burkina Faso was known before, became a self-governing autonomous republic within the French Community and it gained its full independence on 5 August 1960, with Maurice Yameogo becoming the country's first president.

International Traffic Light Day. This day celebrates traffic lights and their role in regulating traffic flow in different cities and towns of the world. On August 5, 1914, what is considered to be the first electric traffic light was installed in Cleveland, Ohio, at the corner of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue. 

What Happened Today?

1.    In 1858, Cyrus West Field and others completed the first transatlantic telegraph cable after several unsuccessful attempts. It operated for less than a month before becoming faulty.

2.    In 1949, an earthquake in Equador destroyed 50 towns and killed more than 6,000 people. The Ambato earthquake was the largest earthquake in the Western Hemisphere in more than five years at that time.

3.    In 1962, Nelson Mandela was jailed. He was arrested in 1962 for illegally leaving the country and convicted and sentenced to five years at Robben Island Prison. He was put on trial again in 1964 on charges of sabotage and he was not released until 1990.

Birthdays

1.    1930 – Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon. He died in 2005.

2.    1938 – Kintu Musoke, former Ugandan Prime Minister.

Sources: Wikipedia, checkiday & officeholidays.com