August 5

Freedom of the press is one of the cardinal freedoms of the United States and many other nations around the globe. It is however, a freedom that had to be fought for. German immigrant John Peter Zenger learned that first hand. In 1734, Zenger, at the helm of the New York Weekly Journal, was arrested and charged with seditious libel. On the 5th in 1735, Zenger was acquitted of all charges.

This newspaper was America’s first partisan publication

August 4

Have you every felt that a day has unexpectedly gotten far too busy for you to feel comfortable with it? It seems clear to me that August 4 is one of those days. Andrew Hamilton, journalist John Peter Zenger’s pro bono attorney, died in 1741. John Burgoyne, commander-in-chief of the British Forces during the American Revolutionary War, died in 1792. William Floyd, a signatory of the American Declaration of Independence, died in 1821. Writer Hans Christian Anderson died in 1875. Lizzie Borden’s stepmother, Abby Durfee Borden died in 1892. John Wesley Clark, who was awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor for his service during the Civil War, died in 1893. William Lord, who had served as a musician in the Union Army during the Civil War and won a congressional medal of honor for his service, died in 1915; Daniel Hale Williams (pictured), a black surgeon who is generally credited with performing the second open-heart surgery, died in 1931. Pearl Fay White, best known as the star of the silent movie The Perils of Pauline, died in 1938. Victoria Cross recipient Ian Willoughby Bazalgette died in 1944. Sam Katzman, a movie producer who signed Bela Lugosi for a series of low-budget horror films, died in 1973; Frankie Fontaine, who played ‘Crazy Guggenheim’ on the Jackie Gleason Show, died in 1978. Actor Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg, better known as Melvyn Douglas, who won two Oscars, one Emmy and one Tony, died in 1981. Actor Victor Mature died in 1999. Dean Perchik, much to his doctors’ surprise, in 2007 did not.

August 3

John Rut was an English mariner in the 16th Century. King Henry VIII had chosen Rut to sail to the New World to search for the elusive Northwest Passage to the Orient. There was quite a lot of that going on at the time and Henry wanted to get his fingers into that pie. On the 10th of June in 1527, Rut set sail from Plymouth, England to begin his search. Acting true to form, the North Atlantic was not exactly overly cooperative and Rut and his crew took almost two months to make it to St. John’s, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia. Being a dutiful employee, once in a safe harbor Rut took pen in hand and dashed off a quick letter to King Henry. On the 3rd in 1527, he arranged for the letter to be carried back to England by one of the slew of ships lolling about in the harbor and delivered to the king. This is the first known instance of a letter being mailed from the New World.

August 2

Thomas Gainsborough was one of the 18th century’s most successful painters. While he dabbled in landscapes, he was principally known for his portraits. In a world without photography, portraits were highly valued keepsakes of loved ones and a decent portraitist was in strong demand, and quite well paid. One client, upon viewing a portrait of his wife done by Gainsborough, remarked that the subject of the painting looked nothing like his wife. To this, Gainsborough allegedly replied that the client ‘should not worry because in a few years time no one would know the difference.’ Gainsborough died on the 2nd in 1788. There is no apparent connection between Gainsborough’s rather flippant comment and his death.

Also on the 2nd in 1931, Albert Einstein urged all scientists to refuse military work. Eight years to the day later, he would recommend that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt begin work on the Manhattan Project, which would ultimately give the world the atomic bomb.

August 1

I think everyone has, at one time or another, run into someone who just gives him or her the creeps. It is not something that you can put your finger on but you are certain that there is something about that person that makes you feel uneasy and you find yourself inventing ways to just get away from them. Robert Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s son, seems to have been that sort of person. He was born on August 1, 1843. On April 14, 1865 he declined his parents’ invitation to attend the play Our American Cousin with them, which was playing at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. choosing instead to remain at home in the White House. That evening, John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln. At President Garfield’s invitation, Robert was at the Sixth Street Train Station in Washington, D.C. when Charles J. Giteau shot Garfield on August 2, 1881. As if those two events were not enough, Robert, at President William McKinley’s invitation, was also at the Pan-American Colombian Exposition in Buffalo, New York on September 6, 1901 when Leon F. Czolgosz pulled out a gun and shot McKinley.

July 31

On the 31st in 1790, Samuel Hopkins was awarded the first United States patent for ‘a process improving the processing of potash’, which it seems is an important ingredient in fertilizers. The only features of this accomplishment that make it even mildly interesting are that it was the first US Patent and the issuing document was signed by both President George Washington and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson.

Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863. Everyone must be aware of his contributions to the automobile industry in particular and manufacturing in general. He introduced the assembly line and was at the forefront of raising workers salaries into the despised living-wage realm. Overlooked however, is the fact that in 1942, Ford patented an automobile constructed primarily from plastics derived from soybeans, and which was powered by an engine that ran on ethanol. The roject went nowhere however and Ford only reluctantly abandoned the idea.

Ford was a big fan of soybeans, and he went out of his way to develop a friendship with George Washington Carver in order to learn more about that versatile plant.