Annie Oakley (#60)

Background

Phoebe Ann Moses was born on August 13, 1860 near Woodland, Ohio. She was the daughter of Susan Wise and Jacob Moses, the sixth child in a family of Quaker farmers. In 1866, Jacob Moses died of pneumonia and overexposure to freezing weather, leaving his family in a state of poverty.

Phoebe Ann, or Annie, began to hunt at the age of eight to support her mother and her sibling and became known for her hunting skills, but in 1870, Annie was sent to the Darke County Infirmary where she was taught to sew and decorate. She was then sent to a local family to help care for their infant son. Instead of this, Annie was forced to do many of the chores around the house and was put through both mental and physical abuse. This family, known by Annie referred to as "the wolves", didn't even give any the money she was due for her services.

In 1872, Annie returned to her family and continued to hunt for money and by the age of 15, she had paid off the mortgage on her mother's farm.

Shooting Career

On Thanksgiving Day 1875, the Baughman and Butler shooting act was being performed in Cincinnati. Marksman Francis E. Butler placed a $100 bet with hotel owner Jack Frost that he, Butler, could beat any local shooter in a competition. Frost arranged for Butler to compete with the then 15-year-old Annie. On the 25th shot of the match, Butler missed his shot, losing the match and the bet. He began courting Annie soon afterwards and married her on August 23, 1876.

Annie and Butler began to perform together, and Annie took the name "Oakley" after the neighborhood that they lived in. In 1885, Annie and Butler joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Because she was an excellent shooter but only stood 5 feet tall, Sitting Bull referred to her as "Watanya Cicilla", or Little Sure Shot, which would become her name in public advertisements. When the show went to Europe, Annie performed for Queen Victoria, King Umberto I of Italy, PResident Marie Francois Sadi Carnot of France. She had such good aim that, at his request, Annie was able to shoot the ashes off a cigarette held by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. Some say that if Annie had missed and hit Wilhelm instead, she might have stopped WWI from happening.

During her time as a sharpshooter, Annie fought for women's rights, saying that women should be allowed in the military and should be taught how to use a gun. It is estimated that in her lifetime, Annie taught 15,000 women how to use a gun.

The End

In 1901, Annie was hurt in a train accident which left her in temporary paralysis that was fixed after five spinal operations. In 1902, Annie left the Wild West Show and began a career in acting, though she continued to set records in shooting until 1922. On November 3,1926, Annie died of pernicious anemia. Annie is on our list for overcoming both height and gender barriers and becoming one of the greatest sharpshooters the world has ever scene.

Johann Strauss II (#61)

Background

Johann Baptist Strauss II was born on October 25, 1825 outside the city of Vienna. His father, Johann Strauss I, was a famous musician, but Johann Strauss Sr. did not want his son to be a musician, but a banker. Against his father's wishes, Strauss Jr. learned how to play violin from the first violinist of his father's orchestra. When his father found out, Strauss Jr. was beaten. It was not until his father abandoned his family for a mistress that Strauss Jr. was able to concentrate on his career as a composer. 

Musical Career

Strauss studied music theory under Joachim Hoffmann and continued to learn violin under Anton Kollmann. With this education, Strauss was able to gain a Viennese license to perform. Strauss's debut was made at Dommayer's Casino in October of 1844, where critics unanimously praised Strauss's original pieces. When Strauss began accepting commissions, he earned much fame and was given the musical position of Kapellmeister of the 2nd Vienna Citizen's Regiment.

As Strauss's career grew, the competition between himself and his father grew larger as well. When bourgeois revolution broke out in 1848, Strauss Jr. sided with the revolutionaries. Because of this, the musical title of KK Hofballmusikdirektor was given to Strauss Sr. rather than Strauss Jr. Johann Strauss the Younger was also arrested during he revolution for playing revolutionary music, but he was later acquited.

When his father died of scarlet fever in 1849, Strauss merged their orchestras and engaged in further touring. To regain the trust of the royalty in Vienna after his siding with revolutionaries, Strauss wrote many patriotic songs dedicated to the new Habsburg Emperor Franz Josef I. 

After recovering from a nervous breakdown in 1853, Strauss's career grew once more. Strauss began to perform in St. Petersburg in Russia in 1855 and performed their each year for ten years. Also, the KK Hofballmusikdirektor position, the musical position he had had applied for several times, was finally given to Strauss in 1863. In the 1870s, Strauss traveled to the United States, where his shows were widely popular.

The End

Strauss died in 1899 from pleural pneumonia in 1899 at the age of 73. Today, Strauss has become most famous for his piece, the "Blue Danube" waltz. Strauss is on our list for writing such a memorable piece, but also for being such a centerpiece in the music scene. Strauss inspired many composers, including Richard Wagner. Strauss was also good friends with the composer Johannes Brahms. During Strauss's lifetime, it was customary for composers to sign women's fans with their name and a section of a piece of music they wrote. When Brahms signed the fan of Strauss's wife, he inscribe a few measures from Strauss's music and wrote "Unfortunately, not by Johannes Brahms."

Battle of San Juan del Monte (August 30th)

On July 7th, 1892, Jose Rizal, a Filipino writer who critiqued Spanish government, was banished from the Philippines. Because of this, Filipino patriots, led by Andres Bonifacio, founded the Kataas-taasan, Kagalang-galang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan. In English, this means The Highest and Most Honorable Society of the Children of the Nation. This Katipunan was a secret revolutionary organization that stayed secret until 1896.

In 1896, the Katipunan sent a delegation to the Emperor of Japan in order to solicit funds and weapons. When one member of the Katipunan, Teodoro Patino, went to the Spanish authorities, the existence of the Katipunan was realized. On August 26th, 1896, the members of the Katipunan tore up their identification cards and began the Philippine Revolution.

On the night of the 29th of August, 1896, Bonifacio led his men to El Polvorin, a Spanish powder magazine in San Juan del Monte. At 4:00am on August 30th, 1896, after two unsuccessful attempts at taking the powder magazine, Bonifacio made his surprise attack on the Spanish soldiers stationed at El Polvorin. Though the Spanish soldiers had rifles and the Filipinos only had bolo knives, a few guns, and bamboo spears, Bonifacio was able to take El Polvorin. The Spanish retreated, but regrouped, and with reinforcements, the Spanish were able to recapture the powder magazine, capturing 200 Filipino patriots and killing another150. Banifacio and his remaining men were forced to retreat.

On August 30th, 1896, Governor-General Ramon Blanco y Erenas declared the eight provinces of Manila under martial law. The Philippine Revolution continued until 1899, and though the Philippines was close to independence, the victory was short-lived, for that same year, Spain signed the Philippines over to America in the Treaty of Paris. Both Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio were executed by the Spanish Government.

"I Have a Dream" (August 28th)

Martin Luther King Jr. found himself in the middle in the center of what would become known as the American Civil Rights Movement. King was one of the leaders of the African American civil disobedience protests. In these protests, African Americans would disobey laws while not violently protesting. This disobedience included going into whites-only restaurants, refusing to give up seats for white people on buses, and protesting discriminatory businesses altogether.

Martin Luther King also helped organize marches to bring awareness to the cause. The largest march that King helped organized was the March on Washington, in which over 200,000 people, both black and white, marched to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington to rally support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech to the hundreds of thousands of people who showed up to the March on Washington. Standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, King spoke the immortal words "I have a dream." The speech, which became known as the "I Have A Dream" speech, showed King's hope of a world with full equality for all men. That speech became one of the most famous speeches of the 20th century, and that moment came to represent the entire Civil Rights Movement.

The Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act both passed, and King became the TIME magazine Person of the Year. In 1964, King became the youngest person ever to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

Krakatoa (August 27th)

Krakatoa is an Indonesian island that is the result of three volcanoes: Rakata, Danan, and Perbowatan. These three volcanoes had been active for hundreds of years, but the eruption in 1883 would be what made these volcanoes the most famous in the world.

By 1883, the area surrounding Krakatoa had been having seismic activity around the volcanoes for several years, some were so strong, they were felt as far off as Australia. In May of that year, steam began regularly venting from Perbowatan, and small eruptions of ash reached altitudes of 20,000 ft.  By the end of May, all activity had died down, but the volcanoes began erupting again around June 16th, covering the island in a black cloud. The eruptions reached their highest level of intensity on August 25th, and by the 26th, it was evident that a greater eruption was yet to come.

On August 27th, 1883, four explosions occurred on the small island of Krakatoa. At 5:30am, Perboewatan volcano erupted, creating tsunamis going North. At 6:44am, Danan volcano exploded, sending tsunamis both East and West. At 10:02am, the largest explosion took place, and was heard 3,110 km south in Perth, Australia and 4,800km west in Mauritius, where the sound was mistaken for distant cannon fire. The energy released in this explosion alone was said to be equal to 200 megatons of TNT, or four times the energy created by the Tsar Bomba, the most powerful thermonuclear weapon ever detonated.

 At 10:41am, a landslide on Rakata volcano caused the fourth and final eruption. The pressure created by the last explosion radiated out from the volcano at 1,086 km/h (675mph). The blast was so powerful, it blew out the eardrums of sailors in ships nearby. The pressure also caused a 2 and a half inch spike of mercury in pressure gauges in Batavia, and records from barographs around the world continued to pick up the volcano's shock-wave for the next five days. From these records, it has been concluded that the last eruption's shock-wave reverberated around the world seven times in total.

Hot ash from the volcano fell in Ketimbang in Sumatra later on the 27th, and approximately 1,000 people died. On the nearby island of Sebesi, only 13km off from the volcano, 3,000 were killed. Many settlements in the area were destroyed by the 30m tall tsunami. Smaller waves caused by the volcano were recorded as far away as the English Channel.

The volcanic ashed forced into the atmosphere by the eruption lowered the earth's temperature by 1.2 degrees Celsius, and it took five years for the temperature to return to normal. This ash also caused the sky to redden around the world. In New York, it was said that the sky was so red, many believed that there was a fire. In other areas, a Bishop's ring, or halo, formed around the sun.

The Nineteenth Amendment (August 26th)

In 1789, when the United States Constitution was adopted, only white males were allowed to vote for representatives. The 15th amendment was passed in 1869, giving men of all races the right to vote. The next group to rise up for their right to vote was the women.

Though many smaller organizations existed before this point, the beginning of the Women's Suffrage Movement is traditionally said to be the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention in New York.  The movement had grown, but during the Civil War, the Women's Rights movement faded into the background while the nation turned its head to a more pressing issue, slavery. When the reconstruction amendments were passed, granting 'universal suffrage', women pushed to be included, but were denied.

As Americans moved West, though, the Women's Suffrage Movement gained ground. Women's suffrage was soon established in the Wyoming Territory, Utah, and the Washington Territory. The 19th amendment was originally created by Susan B. Anthony with the help of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who gave the bill to California Senator Aaron A. Sargent. The bill was first introduced to congress in 1878. The first vote taken on the amendment was taken in 1887, when it failed with a 16 to 34 vote. For the next three decades, the amendment was voted on several times, yet failed each time. In a 1919 vote, the amendment failed by only one vote. The bill was brought back to vote on May 19th, 1919, where it passed with 42 more votes than necessary.

The amendment was then sent to the states to be ratified. Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan were the first states to ratify the amendment, doing so on June 10th, 1919. Over the next year, the other states began to ratify the amendment. On August 18th, 1920, Tennessee was the 36th of 48 states to ratify the amendment, giving the amendment the two-thirds majority it needed to become part of the U.S. Constitution. On August 26th, 2013, the Secretary of State proclaimed the 19th Amendment of the United States, giving women the right to vote in America.

Leon Trotsky (#65, August 20th)

Background

Lev Davidovich Bronstein was born on Nobember 7, 1879, the son of a Jewish Farmer in what is now Ukraine. When Bronstein was eight, his parents sent him to school in Odessa. Bronstein stayed in Odessa until 1896, when he moved to Nikolayev for his final year of school. It was in Nickolayev that Bronstein learned the ideas of Marxism. Bronstein began meeting with political exiles and surrounding himself with other men with revolutionary ideas.

In 1897, Bronstein helped to found the South Russian Workers' Union, which got him arrested. To years later, Bronstein was put on trial and sent to Siberia. In Siberia, Bronstein met his first wife, Alexandra Lvovna, who was also in prison as a revolutionary. The two had two daughter's during Bronstein's stay in Siberia. Bronstein escaped prison in 1902, leaving his wife and two children behind. When forging a passport, Bronstein made a fake name, the name Leon Trotsky.

Under this name, Trotsky moved to London, where he met Vladmir Lenin, another revolutionary, and the two worked to founded the Social-Democrats' newspaper, Iskra. In 1903, Trotsky married his second wife, Natalia Ivanovna, with whom he had two more children.

Work in Russia

In 1905, when Bloody Sunday occured, Trotsk decided to return to Russia, where he wrote numerous pamphlets to encourage the overthrow of the Tsar's power. That same year, Trotsky led a revolution which failed. Trotsky was arrested and sent back to Siberia. In 1907, Trotsky escaped with a deer-pulled sleigh. Trotsky fled the country, living in cities throughout Europe and America. Trotsky was in New York when the Tsar was overthrown, and arrived back in Russia in May of 1917.

Trotsky became the leader of the 1917 Russian Revolution, officially joining the Bolshevik Party in August. Lenin would become the leader of the Soviet Union with Trotsky as his second-in-command. Trotsky negotiated the treaty with Germany to end the Soviet Union's involvement in World War I, and later, Trotsky became the leader of the Red Army.

Before Lenin died, he named Trotsky as his successor, but when Lenin died in 1924, Trotsky was politically outmaneuvered by Joseph Stalin, who pushed Trotsky out of politics and into exile, eventually forcing Trotsky to leave the Soviet Union all together.

The End

Trotsky traveled the globe, living in Turkey, France, and Norway. In 1936, Trotsky moved to Mexico. Trostky, in exile, began writing again, criticizing Stalin. Stalin accused Trotsky of a conspiracy against the Soviet Union. This began Stalin's Great Purge, where Stalin began eliminating all his political enemies. Trotsky was number one on Stalin's list. In May of 1940, Soviet agents machine-gunned Trotsky's house, but he was not killed. The Great Purge ended on August 20th, 1940, when Ramon Mercader hit Trotsky in the head with an ice pick. 

Trotsky is on our list for being one of the few leaders of the Soviet Union to stick to the Marxist ideals. Also, anybody who defies Stalin for as long as Trotsky did deserves recognition.

The Salem Witch Trials (August 19th)

In the colony of Massachusetts, many believed in the supernatural. The majority of people in Massachusetts were Puritans, who had a strong belief of the work of Satan, demons, and evil spirits in the world. The idea of a person using these supernatural beings became known as dark magic, and the practice of dark magic was known as witchcraft.

Witchcraft and dark magic was used to explain bad crops, strange sounds, and many other bad occurrences. In 1692, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, who were 9 and 11 years old respectively, began to have fits . They began to scream, throw things across the room, crawl under furniture, and contort themselves into peculiar positions. The doctor, William Griggs, found no physical evidence of ailment, but soon, many other women in the town began experiencing similar symptoms.

Soon, several women were arrested for using witchcraft to afflict the young women. These accused "witches" were Sarah Good, a homeless beggar, Sara Osborne, a woman who didn't attend church, and Tituba, an African slave. These women were the first to be sent to jail for witchcraft. Over the next four years, many more women were arrested for witchcraft.

On August 19, 1692, the first six "witches" were executed in Salem. The witch hunt spread across Puritan Massachusetts, and dozens of women were arrested, and a total of twelve women were executed as witches.

Bonnie and Clyde (#68 & #67)

Bonnie

Bonnie Elizabeth Parker was born on October 1, 1910 in Rowena, Texas. After her father, Charles Parker, died when she was four years old, Bonnie moved with her mother and two siblings to Cement City, a suburb in Dallas. Parker is said to have been a star student, winning prizes in spelling, writing, and public speaking. 

In her second year of high school, Bonnie met Roy Thorton. The two dropped out of school and married in 1926, six days before Bonnie's 16th birthday. Thorton was frequently gone and after Thorton had a few brushes of with the law, the two parted ways. They last saw each other in January of 1929, though they never divorced, and Bonnie was still wearing her wedding ring when she died.

After her marriage fell apart, Bonnie went to live with her mother and worked as a waitress in Dallas. She wrote many times during this period, saying she was impatient and bored with her current life. Her only escape from this was through her writing and her photography.

Clyde

Clyde Chestnut Barrow was born on March 24, 1909 in Telico, Texas. Barrow's father was a poor farmer who lived in the West Dallas slums after his farm failed. The family of nine lived under a wagon for some time while Barrow's father earned enough money to get a tent.

From 1926 to 1930, Clyde was arrested several times for everything from cracking safes, stealing cars, and robbing cars. In April of 1930, Clyde was sent to Eastham Prison Farm. It was here that Clyde killed a man for the first time after the inmate repeatedly attempted to assault Clyde sexually. When Clyde was released on parole, he focused on smaller jobs, like robbing grocery stores and gas stations. Clyde, however, was said to have been a different man, changed by prison, and many said that his goal was to seek revenge against the Texas prison system for the abuses he suffered there.

Bonnie and Clyde

Though there are several versions of how Bonnie and Clyde met, the most credible version is that Barrow was dropping off a female friend at her house, and Parker was in the kitchen when Barrow came in. The two were smitten immediately, and Bonnie and Clyde began to live and work together. The two began working together in 1932 and with others, robbing grocery stores and gastations. Once, Barrow and another of his gang, Raymond Hamilton, were drinking when a Sheriff and his deputy approached them. The two criminals opened fire, killing the deputy and wounding the Sheriff. By 1933, the gang had murdered five people.

When Buck Barrow, Clyde's brother, was released from prison, the gang began to hide out at Buck's hideout in Joplin, Missouri. After a drunk Clyde accidentally fired a rifle, neighboring houses called the Joplin Police. When discovered, the gang fought their way out of Joplin. The gang began roaming the country, from Texas to Minnesota, robbing banks and stealing cars as they went. On several occasions, the gang would kidnap lawmen our robbery victims, but they were usually release far from home, sometimes with money to get back to their home. During a car fire, Parker gained a third-degree burn on her leg, which made it so she couldn't walk near the end of her life.

While in Iowa, Buck Barrow was shot twice, once in the head and once in the back. Barrow and his wife were soon captured, and Barrow died several days later. In 1934, Barrow and Parker led the breakout of Raymond Hamilton and Henry Methvin from the Texas Department of Corrections. When the breakout succeed, a $1,000 bounty was put on both Bonnie and Clyde, and $500 for each of the escapees. This was the first time Bonnie was seen as a killer alongside Clyde and the rest of the gang.

The End

On May 23, 1934, Bonnie and Clyde were ambushed and killed in Louisiana by six officers from Texas and Louisiana who had tracked the two since February of that year. When Bonnie's husband, Roy Thorton, heard of Bonnie and Clyde's death, he is reported to have said, "I'm glad they went out like they did. It's much better than being caught." Bonnie and Clyde are on our list for being two of the most famous criminals of the 20th Century and for avoiding the law for as long as they did.

The Trans-Atlantic Balloon Flight (August 17th)

The use of hot air balloons for enjoyment has been around for hundreds of years, but hot air balloons, for the most part, have not been used for actual long-distance travel. This all changed in the year 1978.

In August of 1978, Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman set out from Presque Isle, Maine in the hot air balloon, Double Eagle II. The plan was for the Double Eagle II to fly over Ireland, where Newman would hand glide out of the balloon over Shannon Airport while Abruzzo and Anderson flew the plane to France.

Unfortunately, the hand-glider was thrown overboard as ballast. The Double Eagle II still flew over Ireland, but was passed by so the group could make it to France. Authorities in France had closed Le Bourget Airfield to allow the balloon to land, but due to a lack of ballast, the pilots declined because the feared injuring anybody in the Paris suburbs if they flew too low.

On August 17th, 1978, the group landed in a barley field sixty miles from Paris. Once landed, the balloon was surrounded. The gondola was recovered, but the majority of the logs and charts were taken as souvenirs. The trip took 137 hours and six minutes to complete.

The Yukon Gold Rush Begins (August 12th)

Indigenous people had known of the existence of gold in the Yukon Territory of Canada for a long time, but both the Russians and the Hudson Bay Company in the region had ignored the rumors and chose to fur trade instead. There were several prospectors in the area, but none had struck real luck prior to 1896.

On August 12th, 1896, the American George Carmack was travelling with his wife, his brother-in-law, and his nephew south along the Klondike River. The group had followed rumors from previous prospectors and had discovered gold along the Rabbit, or Bonanza, Creek, a tributary of the Klondike. Since Carmack's wife, Kate, and her brother, Skookum Jim, were both Native Americans, Carmack laid claims for his relatives and himself, and the four began mining the claim soon afterwards. As the four began finding large quantities of gold, news spread and soon, mining camps were built all along Rabbit Creek.

The miners along rabbit creek were all from the Yukon territory because the ice and mountains surrounding the territory stopped the news from getting out. Eventually, mining officials in the Yukon got a message to Ottawa by sled-dog, and the news of gold in the Yukon was out. In the Yukon, or Klondike, Gold Rush, an estimated 100,000 people attempted to reach the Klondike river to make their fortunes. It is also believed that only around 30,000 or 40,000 actually made it. Among the stampeders, to the Klondike was none other than American writer Jack London.

 At total of $1,139,000 dollars in gold was discovered. This amount is equivalent to $1,000 million today. This amount of gold found meant that paper currencies increased in value, due to the gold standard tied to the currency. This helped to develop the financial panic of 1896. The amount of people who went to the Yukon and the amount of gold found made the Yukon Gold Rush one of the largest gold rushes in history.

The Beginning of Alcatraz (August 11th)

Alcatraz is a small island situated in the center of San Francisco Bay, about 1.5 miles off shore. Native Americans referred to the place as the "Evil island", for they believed it was cursed. Juan Manuel de Ayala charted San Francisco Bay in 1775, naming the island La Isla de los Alcatraces, which translates to "The Island of the Pelicans". The name was eventually shortened to Alcatraz.

In 1846, John C. Fremont bought Alcatraz in the name of the United States for $5,000. In 1850, Millard Fillmore order that the land be set aside for military use. Camp Alcatraz, Alcatraz's first military garrison, was set up after the California Gold Rush began. In 1861, Alcatraz Citadel was created, which was meant to hold Civil War prisoners. Military prisoners began to be put into Alcatraz from the Civil War through the Spanish American War and First World War.

In October of 1933, Alcatraz was acquired by the United States Department of Justice, and the island became Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. On August 11, 1934, the first 137 prisoners were brought to the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. Before it closed, the prison held many of the biggest criminals in American history, including Al Capon, Robert Franklin Stroud (the Birdman of Alcatraz), and George "Machine Gun" Kelly. During its 29 years of operation, the penitentiary claimed that no prisoner successfully escaped, though  a total of 36 prisoners made 14 escape attempts. The only hole in their record was made in 1962, when Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin escaped, but were reported "missing and presumed drowned" because no bodies were found, yet there was no evidence that they reached the shores of San Francisco Bay.

The Resignation of Richard Nixon (August 9th)

Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from the years 1969 to 1974. Throughout his presidency, Nixon used many tricks to get what he wanted and to find out information that he needed. Among these tricks was his bugging of offices of political opponents and suspicious person. He was also known to use the FBI, CIA, and IRS to harass activist groups and political figures.

Nixon's tricks were exposed when, in July of 1972, five men were caught breaking into the Democratic party headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. Two Washington Post reporters, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, got news from an informant, known as "Deep Throat", that these men were linked to the Nixon administration. Though Nixon tried to downplay the Wartergate scandal as misleading and biased, it became clear that men working for Nixon had committed crimes in order to sabotage enemies of Nixon. The scandal ended in the conviction of 46 men were convicted.

In July of 1973, Alexander Butterfield, a White House aide, testified that Nixon had a secret recording system to capture all conversations and phone calls in the Oval Office. When asked for the tapes, Nixon refused, citing executive privilege. It was revealed, though, that there was an 18 and a half minute gap in the record was found just three days after the Watergate Incident.

In April of 1974, Nixon released the 1,200 page transcripts of White House conversations between him and his aides. The Supreme Court, though, unanimously ruled that all tapes, not selected transcripts, must be released. One tape that was released that was recorded a few days after the Watergate Incident had recorded Nixon planning to thwart the Watergate investigation. On August 5th, 1974, Nixon admitted to misleading the country, though he did not admit to guilt. After Republican Congressional leaders told him he faced certain impeachment, Nixon did the unheard of.

On the 9th of August, 1974, Richard Nixon resigned from his post as president. Nixon's resignation speech also contained no admission of wrongdoing. Gerald Ford, Nixon's vice president, took office as president after Nixon's resignation, and gave Nixon a full pardon, but Nixon's action made him the one and only American president to resign.

The Bombing of Hiroshima (August 6th)

In 1945, the Pacific War of World War II was in its fourth year. Before the Nazis surrendered, the United States was putting together Operation Downfall, which would have been the largest operation of the Pacific Wall. Operation Downfall laid out plans of a full on invasion of Japan.

When Germany surrendered in May of 1945, the United States was able to focus all its efforts into the Pacific War. In June of 1945, the Joint War Plans Committee estimated that Operation Downfall would result in between 25,000 and 46,000 deaths. Soon afterwards, though, the Japanese began withdrawing troops from Manchuria to defend the home islands. The Japanese military force built up to the point that there were 2.3 million Army troops, 4 million Army and Navy employees, and a civilian militia 28 million strong. This build-up of Japanese forces increased the number of Allied fatalities to between 400,000 and 800,000.

At the same time, the Manhattan Project, Tube Alloys, and Chalk River Laboratories were hard at work. These were the respective projects of the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom to design and build atomic bombs. The projects were started in 1939, and in July of 1945, the Manhattan Project had successfully detonated the first nuclear weapon at Trinity Site, though the destruction caused by the weapon was far more than anyone had expected.

Eventually, Harry Truman was forced to make a decision: to continue with Operation Downfall, and lose up to 800,000 Americans, or release atomic weaponry upon Japan. In the end, Truman chose not to risk American lives.

Aftermath of Hiroshima

On July 26th, 1945, the Allied Leaders issued the Potsdam Declaration, which stated that if the Japanese refused to surrender, it would lead to "the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitable the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland." There was no response from the Japanese, so the Allies continued with their plan to drop the atomic bomb.

For previous air raids on Japan, the United States had dropped leaflets warning citizens of the danger, but in the case of the atomic bombings, the United States decided against dropping leaflets or detonating a demonstration bomb. This decision was made due to the uncertainty of a successful detonation and to maximize psychological shock.

On August 6th, 1945, Colonel Paul W. Tibbets flew his ship, Enola Gay, over the city of Hiroshima and dropped the atomic bomb, known as Little Boy, on the city. The blast created was equivalent to 16 kilotons of TNT, leading to the destruction of an area a about one mile (1.6 km) in circumference, and resulting fires spread across 4.4 square miles (11 square kilometers) of land. 69% of Hiroshima's building were destroyed and between 70,000 and 80,000 people, 30% of the city's population, were killed.

A second bomb, known as Fat Man, was detonated three days later, and a letter of surrender was sent on the 14th of August, ending World War 2.

The First Transatlantic Message (August 5th)

In 1839, the first widely used telegraph was created by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone, which could, theoretically allow near-instantaneous communication across the entire world. The only problem with this worldwide communication network was the presence of oceans. To get a cable across the oceans, it would take massive amounts of money and international cooperation.

The idea had been supported by many, including Samuel Morse, and the concept had been proven when a cable was set between England and France, and later between two islands in Canada.

In 1853, the idea picked up enough momentum and a project to get a telegraph cable across the Atlantic was put in motion, led by Cyrus West Field and Charles Tilston Bright.

One problem that the project encountered was the money needed to make the cables. Each section  cable was made up of seven copper wires covered with three coats of gutta-percha leaves, tarred hemp, and eighteen groups of seven iron wires. The British government gave the project both subsidies and ships needed to complete the project, but Field also went to Congress to gain monetary support. Due to a large amount of anglophobes among congressmen, the subsidy bill passed in the Senate by a single vote and barely passed in the House of Representatives as well.

The first two attempts to carry the cable across the Atlantic both failed due to breaks in the cable, but the feat was attempted again one years later. In 1858, the HMS Agamemnon began laying the cable westward from the United Kingdom and the  USS Niagara did the same, making its way east from the United States. On this attempt, the two halves of the cable did not break and the cables were successfully spliced. An the entire cable was sent to the bottom of the ocean.

On August 6th 1858, Queen Victoria and United States President James Buchanan set each other greetings by telegraph, becoming the first people to use the Transatlantic telegraph.

Typhoid Mary (#70)

Background

Mary Mallon was born on September 23rd, 1869 in Cookstown, County Tyrone in what is now Northern Ireland. Malon was what is known as an asymptomatic carrier of the pathogen which causes typhoid fever. Most likely, she was a survivor of a previous episode of typhoid fever, yet she did not get rid of the associated bacteria, known as Salmonella typhi. This meant that she could spread the disease through contact with food and water

Cooking and Investigation

Mallon moved to the United States in 1884. In 1900, she became a cook in the Mamaroneck, New York. Within two weeks of her employment, residents of the town had developed typhoid fever. In 1901, she moved to Manhattan in 1901 to work for a family, eventually all the family members for whom she worked with developed fevers and diarrhea. The laundress of the household died of the fever. Soon afterwards, Mallon went to work for a lawyer, and during this time, seven of the eight family members developed typhoid. In 1906, Mallon worked under four different families, and each family suffered from typohoid fever.

In the winter of 1906, a family hired a typhoid researcher named George Soper. He discovered that a cook was hired just weeks before the outbreak, and several weeks afterwards, she left. Soper believed there to be a connection to the cook, and when he discovered she was an single Irish woman of about forty, he was able to track Mallon to a recent outbreak of typhoid fever near a Park Avenue Penthouse. When Soper approached her, she refused to give urine and stool samples. Soper began a study on Mallon's previous work history, finding that Mallon had worked for no less than eight families that had an outbreak of typhoid fever during the same time period. 

Quarantine 

After Soper's research went out, the New York City Health Department sent Dr. Sara Baker to talk to Mallon. Mallon refused to go with Baker because she believed that she was being persecuted when she had done nothing wrong. Baker went back to Mallon several days later, this time with police officers, who took Mallon into custody. Mary attracted so much publicity, she became known as Typhoid Mary. 

When questioned, Mary said she rarely washed her hands when cooking, saying there was no need. Urine samples taken from Mallon showed that her gallbladder carried large amounts of typhoid salmonella. Mallon, however, refused to have her gallbladder extracted or give up her occupation, maintaining that she did not carry the disease at all.  Mallon was held in isolation for three years before being released by Dr. Eugene H. Porter, who said it was wrong to isolate disease carriers. She was, however, released on the promise that she would not return to her job as a cook.

Mallon was given a job as a laundress, but it paid less than cooking. Soon, Mallon decided to return to being a cook, but to avoid notice of both the public and the authorities, she changed her name to Mary Brown. For five more years, she served as a cook in a number of kitchens, followed by typhoid fever. She changed jobs quickly, though, and Dr. Soper was unable to find her. In 1915, a serious epidemic of typhoid erupted among the staff of the Sloane Hospital for Women. Two cases proved fatal. When a cook matching Mallon's description suddenly disappeared, the police were able to track her to an estate on Long Island. 

The End

Mallon was arrested and spent the rest of her life in quarantine. She was frequently interviewed by journalists, but none were allowed to even accept a glass of water from her. Eventually, she was allowed to work as a technician in the laboratory close by. In 1932,  Mallon was paralyzed due to a strok, and on November 11, 1938, she died of pneumonia. Typhoid Mary is on our list of people because she was the first person in the United States to be identified as an asymptotic carrier of typhoid fever.

The Death of Wild Bill (August 2nd)

In 1876, James Butler Hickok, better known as Wild Bill, was staying in the city of Deadwood, in what is now South Dakota. Wild Bill was a hero of the American Old West, gaining fame as a Civil War soldier, a scout, a marksman, and as a professional gambler. He was also famous for his work as a lawman and for being involved in quite a few shootouts.

On August 1st, Hickok was playing poker at Nuttal & Mann's Saloon, against several other men, including buffalo hunter Jack McCall. McCall had lost all his money by the end of that day. At the end of the day, Hickok had given McCall enough money to pay for breakfast.

The next day, on August 2nd, Hickok returned to the saloon for a drink. Hickok was invited to play in another game of poker, and Hickok accepted. Hickok, however, had a habit of sitting with his back against a wall so that nobody could sneak up behind him. The only empty seat at the table that day was the one with its back to the saloon door. Twice during the game, Hickok asked to switch seats, but both times, he was refused.

While playing, Jack McCall walked in the saloon, and walked up behind Wild Bill. Hickock, unaware of McCall, continued playing. McCall drew his pistol and shot Hickok in the back of the head, killing him instantly. The motive for the murder is unknown, though many speculate that Hickok's donation of money to McCall might have been taken as condescending, though McCall claims that he was avenging his brother, who he claims was killed by Hickok, though there is no solid evidence for or against this claim.

Wild Bill Hickok was buried in Deadwood, and almost the entire town attended the funeral. Hickok's murder only served to strengthen his own legend, and his many adventures became part of American folklore. When shot, Hickok was holding a pair of aces and a pare of eights, all black. The fifth card's identity has been debated. These four cards have been named "The Dead Man's Hand."

Gunnar Kaasen (#71)

Background

Gunnar E. Kaasen was born on March 11, 1882 in Burfjorddalen, Norway, the son of Hans and Anna Kaasen. In 1903, Kaasen headed to the United States to mine for gold, after the discovery of gold in Cape Nome in 1898. Although the gold rush was over by 1905, Kaasen was able to find work in Nome as a musher, or dog sledder. The work was profitable and in high demand because the port of Nome is usually ice locked between October and June each year.

Great Race of Mercy

In 1925, an outbreak of diphtheria spread rapidly through the city of Nome. Many of Nome's residents, especially the Inuit children of the town, had little to no immunity to diphtheria and needed medicine. Unfortunately, Nome's diphtheria antitoxin supply had run out. With no trains, no planes, and a frozen port, Alaskan Governor Scott Bone decided that the only way to get serum to Nome was to transport it from Anchorage to Nome by dogsled. The 674 mile (1,085 km) trek was divided up into twenty legs, each manned by a different musher and a different team of dogs. Gunnar Kaasen was scheduled to run the second-to-last leg of the route with his dog Balto and twelve other huskies. By the time the antitoxin reached Kaasen, the route was covered by a massive storm. It was said to be so bad that Kaasen could not see the dogs closest to the sled and that the winds almost blew the serum off of the sled. At 2am on February 2nd, Kaasen reached the end of his leg. Because Kaasen reached the end of his leg ahead of schedule, the next musher, Ed Rohn, was asleep and no one was at the transfer location to meet Kaasen,so despite the storm, the cold, and his tired dogs, Kaasen led his dogs onward to complete not just his own leg, but the remaining 25 miles (40 km) to Nome as well. Kaasen reached Nome at 5:30am. Kaasen and his dog team had traveled 54.3 miles (87 km) total. Kaasen delivered the serum to Dr. Curtis Welch, who destributed the serum. There were no further deaths from the disease in the city after that.

The End

Kaasen received a medal from the Governor of the Alaska Territory and a daily wage of $30 dollars from the government along with all other mushers. Kaasen himself became a celebrity along with his dog Balto, whose statue is now standing in Central Park in New York City. The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race commemorates the 1925 serum run. Kaasen moved to Everett, Washington in 1952, where lived until his death on November 27, 1960.

Alvin York (#72)

Background

Alvin Cullum York was born on December 13, 1887 was born in a log cabin in Pall Mall, Tennessee, the third of eleven children born to Mary Brooks and William York. William York worked as a farmer and a blacksmith, and the family collected its own wood and made their own clothing. Alvin York only attended school for nine months because his father wanted him to help run the farm and hunt game. In 1911, William York died, and because Alvin was he oldest sibling still in the country, he supported the family as a logger and as a railroad worker. During this time, he gained a reputation as an alcoholic and as a fighter. This continued until 1915, when he converted to Christianity. He joined the Church of Christ in Christian Union, which was opposed to all forms of violence.

World War I

Because of his religious views, York was worried when the United States entered World War I in 1917. York, like all other men between the ages of 21 and 31, was forced to sign up for the draft. On his draft form, there was a question that read "Do you claim exemption from draft?", and York responded by writing "Yes. Don't want to fight." His claim was denied. He was drafted into the United States Army and served in Company G, 328th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Infantry Division at Camp Gordon, Georgia. Other soldiers convinced York of the morality of the war, and York became convinced that God would keep him safe.

Medal of Honor

Under the command of Sergeant Bernard Early, Cpl. York and seventeen others went behind German lines to take out the machine guns. The group made their way to the German headquarters, capturing a large group of German soldiers, but while dealing with the prisoners, the group was showered with machine gun fire. Nine soldiers were killed, including Sergeant Early. This left York in charge of the remaining seven U.S. soldiers. He told his men to get undercover, then York worked his way to the German machine guns. The machine guns began open firing at York, who returned fire with his rifle. Even though there were over 30 Germans on duty around the machine guns, York picked them off, one by one. When six Germans charged him with bayonets, he drew his Colt automatic pistol and shot all the soldiers before they reached him. After emptying his pistol while trying to hit York, German First Lieutenant Paul Jurgen Vollmer offered to surrender the unit to York, who accepted. York and his seven men marched back to American lines with 132 German prisoners. York was honored with the American  Distinguished Service Cross, the Medal of Honor, the French Croix de Guerre and Legion of Honor, and the Italian Croce di Guerra al Merito.

The End

York's story was relatively unknown until 1919, when his story was published by George Patullo in the Saturday Evening Post, which made him an American hero. He died on September 2, 1964 of a cerebral hemorrhage. Over the course of his life, he received over fifty decorations. Alvin York is on our list because he has one of the most epic war stories of all time. He is a true hero of the battlefield.

Leland Stanford (#75)

Leland Stanford

Background

Leland Stanford was born in March 9th 1824. His parents, Josiah and Elizabeth Stanford, were New York farmers. Stanford attended school until 1836 and was home schooled in 1839. He then attended Clinton Liberal Institute and studied at Cazenovia Seminary from 1841 to 1845. 

Early Adulthood

After being admitted to the bar in 1848, Stanford moved to Port Washington in Wisconsin, where he began practicing law. In 1850, Stanford married Jane Elizabeth Lathrop. The two did not have a child until 1868, when Leland Stanford, Jr. was born. Two years later, the majority of Stanford's possessions were destroyed in a fire. Stanford sent his wife back to New York to live with her family while he went to California to find work. For a while, he worked as the keeper of a general store in Placer County, but he later worked as a justice of the peace and a organizer of the Sacramento Library Association.

Success

In 1855, Stanford got his wife and the two of them moved to California, where he got involved in large scale  business, and he became one of the major investors of the Central Pacific Railroad along with Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins, and Collis P. Huntington. Stanford soon was elected as president of the company. In 1856, he helped to organize the California Republican Party. His involvement with the Republican party earned the nomination for the state treasurer in 1857 and for the governor of California in 1859, though he lost both elections. In 1961, Stanford ran for governor again and won, holding the seat for one 2-year term. In May of 1868, Stanford and several of his colleagues formed the Pacific Union Express Company, which merged with Wells Fargo and Company, which Stanford was the director of from 1870 to to 1893 with a month-long break in 1884. Stanford also gained control of the Southern Pacific Railroad, directing it in the same way he directed the Central Pacific Railroad. Stanford, as head of the Central Pacific, was responsible for building the western half of the Transcontinental Railroad. Stanford was present at the driving of the "Last Spike" in Promontory, Utah. Stanford was president of the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific railroad companies until 1890, though he continued to be on the executive committee of the Southern Pacific Railroad until his death.

Horse Research

Stanford was interested in ranches and horse racing. In 1872, Stanford commissioned Eadweard Muybridge, a photographer, to settle a bet on whether all four feet of a horse leave the ground at the same time when running. Stanford won the bet.

Universities

Leland Stanford helped to found the first California State University, San Jose State, in 1857. Also, in 1884, Stanford and his wife found Leland Stanford Junior University as a memorial to their son, who had died of typhoid fever while on a trip to Europe. The Stanfords donated $40 million dollars (over $1 billion dollars in today's money) to develop the Stanford, which opened in October of 1891.

The End

Stanford died of heart failure on June 21st, 1893. Stanford is on our list of people because he helped develop the economic, political, and educational systems that can be found in California and the United States that we have today.