Today's Puzzle
Why is a politician like a restless sleeper?
What Happened On
The Day of the Jackal
August 22, 1962
Georges Watin fires at French President Charles de Gaulle's limousine as it drives through a Paris suburb. Watin claims the original plan was to kidnap de Gaulle so he could be tried for treason by a high military court for giving independence to Algeria, and then execute him. However, when the plan didn't work, he attempted to assassinate him on the spot. Watin was condemned to death in absentia in 1963, but pardoned by an amnesty law in 1968.
Watin was a professional killer who chose the code name "Jackal" for this mission. The assassination attempt was led by Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry, who felt de Gaulle had betrayed France by granting independence to French Algeria. Bastien-Thiry was captured and executed, becoming the last person executed by firing squad in France.
A fictionalized version of the incident was the basis of Frederick Forsyth's novel, The Day of the Jackal (1971) and subsequent movies.
First U.S. President to Ride in an Automobile
August 22, 1902
President Theodore Roosevelt tours Hartford, Connecticut in a Columbia Electric Victoria.
Model of the Perseverance
Photo Credit: Dr. Karl-Heinz Hochhaus
Model of the PerseverancePhoto Credit: Dr. Karl-Heinz Hochhaus
First Manned American Steamboat
August 22, 1787
John Fitch rides his steamboat Perseverance down the Delaware River at a speed of 3 mph.
Photo claimed to be of Loch Ness Monster (1934) by Col. Robert Wilson
Photo claimed to be of Loch Ness Monster (1934) by Col. Robert Wilson
Loch Ness Monster
August 22, 565
According to the Life of St. Columba by St. Adamnan, Columba has an encounter with Nessie.
U.S. Representative Michael Myers (second from left) with envelope containing $50,000 that he just received from an undercover FBI Agent (left)
U.S. Representative Michael Myers (second from left) with envelope containing $50,000 that he just received from an undercover FBI Agent (left)
ABSCAM
August 22, 1979
U.S. Representative Michael Myers is videotaped accepting a $50,000 bribe. The FBI had set up a fraudulent Arabian company and videotaped public officials accepting bribes in return for various political favors. Six members of the U.S. House of Representatives, one U.S. Senator, a member of the New Jersey State Senate, members of the Philadelphia City Council, the Mayor of Camden, New Jersey, and an inspector for the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service would eventually be convicted. ABSCAM was short "Arab scam."
Cadillac
August 22, 1902
The Cadillac Automobile Company is formed. It was created after a dispute between Henry Ford and his investors in the Henry Ford Company caused Ford to leave his company. Ford left with his name and $900 and went on to start the Ford Motor Company in 1903.
The investors took the remnants of the factory and formed the Cadillac company, naming it after French explorer Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac, who had founded Detroit in 1701.
Cadillacs were known for their high precision interchangeable parts and high quality overall.
Cadillac was acquired by General Motors in 1909.
First America's Cup Yacht Race
August 22, 1851
The America defeats 14 British entries. The U.S. would remain undefeated in this event until 1983.
First White Man to Cross the Mohave Desert
August 22, 1826
American explorer Jedediah Smith and his crew set out from the Great Salt Lake, Utah. They arrived in San Diego the following November.
Birthdays
Bradbury's Golden Apples of the Sun, published in Planet Stories
Bradbury's Golden Apples of the Sun, published in Planet Stories
Ray Bradbury
Born August 22, 1920 d. 2012
American science-fiction author. Writings: The Martian Chronicles (1950) and Fahrenheit 451 (1953).
The Spirit of '76
The Spirit of '76
Archibald M. Willard
Born August 22, 1836 d. 1918
American artist. He is best known for his painting The Spirit of '76, which is exhibited in Abbott Hall in Massachusetts and is often imitated and parodied. Willard's father was the model for the man in the middle.
Langley flies his unmanned steam-powered Aerodrome over the Potomac River
Langley flies his unmanned steam-powered Aerodrome over the Potomac River
Samuel Pierpont Langley
Born August 22, 1834 d. 1906
American aviation pioneer, built the first successful heavier-than-air flying machine (1896) and for whom Langley Air Force Base in Virginia is named.
Cindy Williams
Born August 22, 1947 d. 2023
American actress. Film: American Graffiti (1973, Ron Howard's character's high school sweetheart). TV: Laverne & Shirley (1976-82, Shirley Feeney).
Ron Dante (Carmine Granito)
Born August 22, 1945
American singer, lead singer for The Archies. Music: Sugar Sugar (1969, #1) and Jingle Jangle (1970).
Valerie Harper
Born August 22, 1939 d. 2019
American Emmy-winning actress. TV: The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-77, Rhoda Morgenstern), Rhoda (1974-78, Rhoda), and Valerie (1986-87, Valerie Hogan).
Harper and Dennis Weaver founded L.I.F.E. in 1983, a charity that fed thousands of needy in Los Angeles.
Gerald Paul Carr
Born August 22, 1932 d. 2020
American astronaut. Commander of the third manned Skylab mission (1973).
Honor Blackman
Born August 22, 1925 d. 2020
English actress. Film: Jason and the Argonauts (1963, Hera) and Goldfinger (1964, Pussy Galore). TV: The Avengers (1962-64, Cathy Gale) and The Upper Hand (1990-96, Laura West).
John Lee Hooker
Born August 22, 1912 d. 2001
American blues singer. One of the most successful blues musicians of the 1960s.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Born August 22, 1908 d. 2004
French photographer, father of modern photojournalism. He is considered one of the greatest photographers of all time.
Dorothy Parker
Born August 22, 1893 d. 1967
American author, humorist. She is the author of the couplet "Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses".
Quote: "Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone".
Jacques Lipchitz
Born August 22, 1891 d. 1973
Lithuanian-born American sculptor. Considered one of greatest sculptures of the 20th century, known for his bronze statues of humans and animals.
Claude Debussy
Born August 22, 1862 d. 1918
French musician, composer. Known for his impressionist "tone poems."
Melville Elijah Stone
Born August 22, 1848 d. 1929
American newspaper publisher. He is credited with introducing the odd-pricing strategy. He encouraged his advertisers to subtract a penny from the price - for example, making a $3 item $2.99.
James Kirke Paulding
Born August 22, 1778 d. 1860
American author, poet, U.S. Secretary of the Navy (1838-41). Paulding's story, The Politician, contains a maxim that is often attributed to Samuel Gompers: "Reward your friends and punish your enemies."
Leo XII
Born August 22, 1760 d. 1829
Italian religious leader, 252nd Pope (1823-29).
Deaths
Nickolas Ashford
Died August 22, 2011 b. 1942
American Songwriters Hall of Fame songwriter with his wife Valerie Simpson. Music: Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing (1968) and Ain't No Mountain High Enough (1970).
Huey Newton
Died August 22, 1989 b. 1942
American political leader, co-founded the Black Panthers (1966) with Bobby Seale. His 1967 conviction for killing a police officer was overturned after a nationwide "Free Huey" campaign.
James Smith McDonnell
Died August 22, 1980 b. 1899
American aircraft manufacturer. He founded McDonnell Aircraft Co. (1939), which merged with Douglas Aircraft Co. (1967), and sold the U.S. Navy the first carrier-based jet fighter (1946, FH-1 Phantom).
Jomo Kenyatta
Died August 22, 1978 b. 1891
Kenyan statesman. He was Prime Minister of Kenya (1963-64) and the first president of Kenya (1964-78). Kenyatta played a important role in the transformation of Kenya from a British colony into an independent republic. He also played an African chief in the British film Sanders of the River (1934).
Sebastian Cabot
Died August 22, 1977 b. 1918
English actor. TV: Family Affair (1966-71, Mr. Giles French).
Gregory Goodwin Pincus
Died August 22, 1967 b. 1903
American endocrinologist whose work led to the development of the first effective oral contraceptive (the pill). He was the first to achieve in-vitro fertilization of rabbits (1934), which paved the way for "test-tube babies."
Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge
Died August 22, 1940 b. 1851
English physicist, spiritualist, pioneer in wireless telegraphy. He was the first to send Morse code using radio waves. A believer in psychic phenomenon, he wrote a book about his after-life communications with his son who was killed in WWI.
Richard III
Died August 22, 1485 b. 1452
King of England (1483-85). He was killed in battle with Henry Tudor after being deserted by his key nobleman.
Nicholas III
Died August 22, 1280 b. circa 1216
Italian religious leader, 188th Pope (1277-80).
Gregory IX
Died August 22, 1241 b. circa 1145
Italian religious leader, 178th Pope (1227-41). Started the Inquisition in 1229 as a means of preventing and punishing heresy against the Roman Catholic Church. In his first Papal bull, he associated the cat with witchcraft, describing the devil worshiped by witches as a half cat and half man figure and thus establishing the cat as a creature of the devil. Some claim this demonization of cats led to them being killed throughout Europe and that this decimation of Europe's cat population led to an increase of rats and mice, which in turn contributed to the spread of the black death.