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.

Lady Jane Grey (#69)

Background

Lady Jane Grey was born in either 1836 or 1837, the daughter of Henry Grey and Lady Frances Brandon. Jane Grey was the granddaughter of Mary Tudor, whose father was Henry Tudor and whose brother was Henry VIII. Jane Grey, through the influence of her father, became a committed Protestant. In 1547, Jane went to live with live in the household of Thomas Seymour, who married Catherine Parr, the widow of Henry VIII. Jane lived with the couple until Catherine Parr died in 1848. Though Jane, for a time, was considered to marry King Edward VI, who was the same age as her, the idea was scrapped, and Grey married Lord Guildford Dudley. 

Rise to Power

In 1553, Edward VI was dying at the age of fifteen due to sickness. On his deathbed, Edward named his Protestant cousin, Jane Grey, his successor so he could keep the throne from his Catholic half-sister, Mary. This was possibly due to persuasion from John Dudley, the Duke of Northumberland, Jane Grey's father-in-law. The King died on July 6th, 1553, and on July 9th, Jane was informed that she was queen. She reportedly claimed the crown reluctantly and refused to name her husband as king. 

The End

John Dudley had kept Mary Tudor isolated to keep her from gathering support, but when Mary heard that Edward was dead, she began gathering followers, and on July 19th, the Privy Council switch allegiance from Jane to Mary. Mary returned to London on August 3rd and Dudley was executed on the 22nd of August, 1553. Jane and her husband, Guildford Dudley, were charged for high treason, and was found guilty. Though her execution was scheduled for February 9th, 1554, it was postponed to giver her a chance to convert to the Catholic faith, which she did not do. After her husband was beheaded, Jane was brought out. She recited Psalm 51, then prepared for her death. The executioner asked her forgivness, which she granted, asking "I pray you dispatch me quickly." She was beheaded, and her final words are recorded to have been "Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit."

Lady Jane Grey is on our list because she, though for only a short time, uprooted the Tudor line from the throne of England. She is also on our list because she has gone down in history as the nine-day queen, for that is how many days she truly had to rule. 

The Acceptance of Missouri (August 10th)

In 1812, land in the Louisiana Territory south of the thirty-third parallel became the state of Louisiana. Because the Louisiana Territory no longer contained Louisiana, the territory was renamed the Missouri Territory. The territory began to earn some legislative rights. Every 500 citizens were allowed to select one representative for the territorial House of Representatives. The territory also elected one delegate for the US House of Representatives.

During the War of 1812, many British and Native American attacks took place within the Missouri Territory, mainly the lands around the Missouri and Mississippi River.

In November of 1818, Missouri's territorial legislature adopted a request for statehood, which was submitted to the US Congress in December of that year. Normally, Missouri would have been accepted, but the Missouri's admission would have upset the balance between slave and free states because Missouri applied as a slave state. In 1820, Missouri entered the Union as a slave state in the Missouri Compromise. In the compromise, Missouri would enter as a slave state and Maine would be admitted as a free state. On August 10th, 1821, Missouri was admitted as the 24th state.

Missouri became the only slave state north of the 36°30′ line due to the agreement struck in the Missouri Compromise. This agreement and the admittance of Missouri started the build-up to the Civil War. 

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 Coronation of Hadrian (August 8th)

Emperor Hadrian

In the year AD 117, the Emperor Trajan was in Selinus, or modern day Turkey. During the past nineteen years, Trajan had conquered the regions of Parthia and Dacia and had started building programs in both Italy and Spain. Trajan is most famous, though, for his tolerance of Christians. This fact earned him a place in Dante's Paradiso as the only pre-Christian Roman emperor. While in Turkey, Trajan had a stroke and died at the age of 63.

On August 8th, 117, Hadrian, Trajan's adoptive son, inherited the throne. Hadrian's method of ruling was to improve rather than invade. Hadrian is responsible for many of the most recognizable buildings in all of the Roman Empire.

Among his works is the Pantheon in Rome. Though it was constructed more than a century earlier, Hadrian had the Pantheon renovated, adding the 141 foot diameter dome to the structure. Hadrian also constructed the Castel' Sant'Angelo and a villa at Tivoli, both of which still stand today.

Hadrian is most famous for his wall, which began construction in AD 122. In the north of Britain, the Picts and the Scots continuously raided cities in the Roman-controlled region of the island. To halt these raids, Hadrian began the construction of a wall, known as Hadrian's wall. This wall was ten feet wide, fifteen feet high, and stretch 73 miles from one coast of Britain to the next.. The wall also had a fort every five miles. Hadrian's Wall remains the larges construction project in Great Britain and it was the first barrier to set a distinct line between what would become England and Scotland. Hadrian continued building until his death in AD 138, at the age of 62.

The Battle of Boyacá (August 7th)

Battle of Boyaca

In the year 1819, Colombia and Venezuela were both fighting a war against the Spanish to secure independence. Venezuela was deep in the middle of a civil war, but in Colombia, or New Granada, as it was called, the Spanish had gained were in a time of relative peace, due to the iron-fisted government of Viceroy Juan José de Sámano, who took orders from the Spanish. Due to its time of peace, Bogota, the capitol of New Granada, was undefended against outsiders.

Simon Bolivar, who was at war in Venezuela, was eager to help liberate Colombia, and decided to leave Venezuela to attack Bogota. The only problem was that the Andes divided the two regions. Nonetheless, Bolivar led his men over the pass through the mountains, which was over 13,000 feet about see level. The snow, winds, and ravines were so dangerous, Bolivar lost a third of his men in the crossing, but by early July, Bolivar had made his way to New Granada and the Spanish had no idea he was there. 

Bolivar was quick to regroup his men, and many Colombian nationals were eager to join him in his march towards Bogota. On July 25th, Bolivar led his men against the Spanish forces under General José María Barreiro at Vargas Swamp. Though the battle was a draw, the battle showed Barreiro that Bolivar was a force to be reckoned with. He also discovered that Bolivar was headed for Bogota.

On August 7th, 1819, as Bolivar regrouped and headed for Bogota, Barreiro rushed to cut him off. Barreiro sent his elite warriors, the vanguard, ahead to the bridge of the Boyacá River to keep Bolivar occupied until the main army arrived. Bolivar, however, was closer than expected. The vangaurd reached the bridge, where they waited for the rest of the Spanish army to arrive. Bolivar, however, arrived first. Bolivar sent a small group of his men, led by General Francisco de Paula Santander, to engage the vanguard while Bolivar went back for Barreiro. Bolivar surrounded Barreiro and his forces and then attacked. Barreiro, who realized he was surrounded and seperated from his best soldiers, quickly surrendered. 

Hearing news of Bolivar's smashing victory, many Spanish royalists, including Bogota's Viceroy Juan José de Sámano, fled the city. Several days later, Bogota was captured and Colombia had gained its independence from Spain. The Battle of Boyacá is now considered to be the the battle in which Colombia gained its independence.

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.