August 5 in Pop Culture History
1305 – William Wallace, who led the Scottish resistance against England, was captured by the English near Glasgow. Mel Gibson starred in a dramatization of the story in Braveheart.
1620 – The Mayflower departed from Southampton, England, headed towards North America.
1861 – In order to help pay for the war effort, the United States government levied the first income tax as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 (3% over $800)
1882 – The Standard Oil of New Jersey was established. Standard+Oil=SO=Esso, now Exxon.
1888 – Germany’s Bertha Benz drove from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back in the first long distance automobile trip
1914 – Cleveland, Ohio, installed the first electric traffic light.
1921 – KDKA of Pittsburgh broadcasts first baseball game over radio, the Pittsburgh Pirates beating the Philadelphia Phillies (8-5).
1926 – Harry Houdini performed one of his greatest stunts, spending 91 minutes underwater in a sealed tank before escaping.
1933 – The comic strip, Little Orphan Annie by Harold Gray, debuted
1957 – American Bandstand debuted on the ABC television network, with host Dick Clark. The show began locally on Philadelphia television station WFIL-TV Channel 6 (now WPVI-TV) in 1952.
1978 – #1 Hit August 5, 1978 – August 11, 1978: The Rolling Stones – Miss You
1981 – US President Ronald Reagan fired 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.
1989 – #1 Hit August 5, 1989 – August 11, 1989: Prince – Batdance
2001 – Cable network Odyssey was renamed to Hallmark Channel.
2011 – Standard & Poor’s lowered the United States’ AAA credit rating by one notch, to AA-plus.
2017 – Sharknado 5: Global Swarming aired on SyFy. #MakeAmericaBaitAgain
