On August 7th these people were born ...
1779 Carl Ritter, cofounder of modern science of geography
1783 John Heathcoat, invented lace-making machinery
1876 Mata Hari (Margaretha Zelle), Dutch coutesan, dancer and spy.
1886 Louis Alan Hazeltine, invented the neutrodyne circuit, making commercial radio possible.
1903 Louis Leakey, anthropologist
1904 Ralph Bunche, US diplomat.
1924 Kenneth Kendal, broadcaster.
1939 Sue Lloyd, actress.
1942 Garrison Keillor, teller of tall tales
1947 Nick Ross, presenter.
1948 Greg Chappell, Australian cricketer.
1952 Alexei Sayle, British comedian.
1958 Bruce Dickenson, rock artist. (Iron Maiden)
1961 Brian Conley, comedian / actor.
1961 David Duchovney, actor.
1967 Charlotte Lewis, actress.
1971 Sydney Penny, US actress.
1975 Charlize Theron, US actress.
1982 Abbie Cornish, Australian actress.
1990 Helen Flanagan, English actress
... and these people died ...
1657 Robert Blake, British admiral.
1931 Bix Beiderbecke, US jazz musician and composer.
1938 Constantin Stanislavsky, Russian theatre director.
1941 Rabindranath Tagore, Indian writer.
1957 Oliver Hardy, US film comedian. (Laurel & Hardy)
2000 Sir Alec Guinness, actor. (86)
2001 Larry Adler, musician, world's greatest harmonica player.
2004 Rick James, funk singer. (1981 Super Freak).(56)
2005 Ibrahim Ferrer, Cuban singer. (78)
2005 Peter Jennings, US news anchorman for 20 years. (67)
2005 Robin Cook, politician.
2012 Bernard Lovell, physicist, developed the science of radio-astronomy, director of Jodrell Bank for 30 years. (98)
2012 Marvin Hamlisch, composer (The Sting, A Chorus Line). (68)
... and these things happened - On August 7th
1711 First race meeting was held at Ascot, established by Queen Anne.
1807 First serviceable steamboat, the Cleremont, goes on first voyage.
1830 Louis Phillipe named Citizen King for supporting the revolution.
1840 Employment of boys as chimney sweeps prohibited by Parliament.
1858 Queen Victoria chose Ottawa as the state capital of Canada.
1925 British Summer Time became permanent with the Daylight Saving Act
1926 First motor racing GP held at Brooklands, winning car av. 72 mph
1942 Guadalcanal, southern Soloman Islands assaulted by US Marines.
1960 The Ivory Coast (Cote D'Ivore) achieved indepedence from France.
1998 Huge bomb destroyed the US embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, 140 dead.
2000 20 000 try to control forest fires across 11 US states.
2000 Russia successfully launched a supply ship for the ISS.
2001 BP announced record profits - £5.58 bn.
2001 Ex President Bill Clinton sold his memoirs for $7 mil.
2001 Open air take-aways in Singapore selling fake viagra side orders.
2001 World record (41 hr) for staying underwater broken by 4 Austrians
2002 The Queens Golden Jubilee ended with a garden party at Balmoral.
2002 Villagers in Guatemala soaked 2 robbers in petrol and burnt them.
2003 Arnold Schwarzenegger said he will run for governor in California
2003 Iceland resumed hunting of whales claiming science research only.
2004 Lords cricket spectator in knife attack for using a mobile phone.
2004 Strict (6 mths jail £5k fine) new firework laws came into effect.
2005 Chinas' east coast was hit by Typhoom Matsa, over 1 million were evacuated.
2005 Scarlett Johansson was at the UK premiere of The Island
2005 Solving a row among Scottish councils, Star Trek's Montgomery "Scotty" Scott
was declared an Aberdonian by Richard Arnold official Star Trek historian.
2006 Average cost of a car mechanic was £72/hour, or £86 in London.
2006 The average UK commuter spends 139 hours a year travelling to and from work
2007 American Richard Rodriquez rode a record 9 days 12 hrs on a rollercoaster using Big One and Big Dipper at Blackpool.
2007 The Bourne Ultimatum was most popular film with Matt Damon as Jason Bourne.
2008 South Korean biotechnologists produced the first commercially cloned dogs for a greiving owner, cost £20k.
2008 The Olympic flame arrived in Beijings' Tiananmen Square ready for the opening ceremony on the 8th.
2009 Advanced ticket sales for this year's Edinburgh Fringe were up more than 20% on 2007 at 395,000.
2009 Micro-blogging service Twitter and social networking site Facebook were severely disrupted by hackers.
2009 Ronnie Biggs, one of the 1963 Great Train Robbers, was given his freedom. He spent 36 years on the run, mostly in Brasil.
2010 A list of 38 US billionaires pledged at least 50% of their wealth to charity through a campaign started by investor Warren Buffett.
2010 A £235m government database with the records of England's 11 million children was switched off, ContactPoint was designed to stop child abuse.
2011 In Tottenham, north London, riots saw petrol bombs thrown at police cars and buildings set alight after the fatal shooting Mark Duggan.
2011 The Boeing 787 Dreamliner made its long-awaited debut, 3 years overdue and billions of dollars over the budget, made of carbon fibre, $200 million each.
2012 An Official Genuine London 2012 Olympic Relay Torch was sold on eBay for £4800, it was one of 8000 used in the 69 day route around Britain.
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The Alternative Dictionary
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Bravery: an accident of circumstance.
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