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Fin Facts
FIN Facts - This Month in History
By
Jul 31, 2007, 09:15

The baseball legend Babe Ruth died on August 16, 1948. He set many records including the home run record of 714 which was broken by Hank Aaron in 1974. 

The Panama Canal is one of the greatest engineering and construction achievements in American history and was opened on August 15, 1914 when the ship Ancon made the first inter ocean voyage.

Christopher Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, on his first voyage across the Atlantic to the New World on August 3, 1492.

Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to successfully swim across the English Channel on August 6, 1926.

Richard M. Nixon became the first U.S. President ever to resign from office on August 9, 1974

The first local chapter of the American National Red Cross was founded by Clara Barton on August 22, 1881.

Oil production began in the United States when Edwin Laurentine Drake struck oil on August 27, 1859.

Orville Wright the American inventor and pioneer aviator and airplane designer was born August 19, 1871.

Benjamin Harrison our 23rd President of the United States was born in North Bend, Ohio on August 20, 1833.

Hawaii became the 50th state, August 21, 1959. The islands were annexed in 1898.

Thomas Edison invented the phonograph on August 12, 1877.

Philo T. Farnsworth was engineer who discovered a system for electronic television, born August 19, 1906.

British troops captured Washington, D.C., and burned the White House, August 24, 1814.

Spanish explorers landed in Florida where St. Augustine now stands, August 28, 1565.

Francis Scott Key the author of  our National Anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner," was born August 1, 1779.

The five Great Lakes that separate the United States and Canada are named Lake Superior, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Lake Ontario. Lake Michigan is the only lake located entirely in the United States.

John Hancock and Charles Thomson were the only two people to sign the Declaration of Independence on July 4 1776.

The voice of the cartoon character Bugs Bunny was Mel Blanc. He was allergic to carrots.

"Paper" money isn't really made out of paper, it is actually made from cotton.

Our Country's motto "IN GOD WE TRUST", was officially adopted on July 30, 1956. It first appeared on US coins during the Civil War in 1864.

The U.S. Post office introduced the Zone Improvement Plan  or Zip codes in 1963.

The WHITE HOUSE was the first building erected by the Federal Government in Washington, DC in 1800.