NFB: On This Day in History

I was tagged by my friend Katy to do this MeMe. It's a bit challenging but GOOGLE is your friend!

On this day in History...

Today is Tuesday, August 7, 2007. This is the 219th day of the year, with 146 days remaining in 2007.

Fact of the Day: climate

Climate (the word) is from Greek term meaning "slope or inclination of the earth and sky from the equator to the poles," i.e. a zone of the earth occupying a particular elevation (a clime). The word as referring to an atmospheric/weather condition was first mentioned by Shakespeare in 1611.
Holidays

Feast day of St. Donatus of Arezzo, St. Victricius, Saints Agapitus, Sixtus II and Felicissimus, St. Dogmetius the Persian, St. Albert of Trapani, St. Claudia, and St. Cajetan or Gaetano.

Colombia: Battle of Boyaca.

Cote d'Ivoire: National Day.
Events

1782 - George Washington created the Order of the Purple Heart.

1789 - The U.S. War Department was established by Congress.

1794 - The Whiskey Rebellion took place, a fight over excise taxes imposed on whiskey-making.

1807 - The first serviceable steamboat, the Clermont (called by some "Fulton's Folly," made its first journey, traveling from New York City to Albany.

1934 - In Washington, D.C., the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the government can neither confiscate nor ban James Joyce's novel "Ulysses."

1942 - U.S. forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II.

1959 - The U.S. launched Explorer 6, which sent back a picture of the Earth.

1960 - The Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) achieved independence from France.

1964 - Congress overwhelmingly passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which allowed the President to use unlimited military force to prevent attacks on U.S. forces.

1998 - A massive truck bomb exploded outside the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, and another truck bomb detonated outside the U.S. embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 224 people, including 12 Americans, and wounding more than 5,500. The United States accused Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, a proponent of international terrorism against America, of masterminding the bombings.

2000 - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore selected Connecticut senator Joseph Lieberman to be the first Jewish vice-presidential candidate on a major party ticket.
Births

1742 - Nathanael Greene, general American Revolutionary War.

1876 - Mata Hari (Gertrud Margarete Zelle), Dutch-born dancer, courtesan, double agent.

1903 - Louis Leakey, British archaeologist.

1942 - Garrison Keillor, American humorist, radio host.
Deaths

1957 - Oliver Hardy, American film comedian who teamed up with Stan Laurel to form the comic team of Laurel and Hardy.

Tagging: Anyone who wishes to do this!