August 19
1612 The "Samlesbury witches", three women from the Lancashire village of Samlesbury, England, are put on trial, accused for practicing witchcraft, one of the most famous witch trials in English history.
1646 John Flamsteed, English founder of the Greenwich Observatory, was born.
1692 Salem witch trials: in Salem, Massachusetts, Province of Massachusetts Bay, five people, one woman and four men, including a clergyman, are executed after being convicted of witchcraft.
1812 The USS Constitution defeated the British frigate Guerriere east of Nova Scotia during the War of 1812.
1921 Gene Roddenberry, American creator of the Star Trek series, was born.
1942 Six battalions of the Canadian Second Division made a frontal assault on German defenders of Dieppe, France. Of the 5,000 who took part in the raid, 900 were killed, and 1,300 were taken prisoner.
August 20
1858 Charles Darwin first publishes his theory of evolution through natural selection in The Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, alongside Alfred Russel Wallace's same theory.
1940 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill paid tribute to the Royal Air Force, saying, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."
1977 The US launched Voyager 2, an unmanned spacecraft carrying a 12 inch copper phonograph record containing greetings in dozens of languages.
August 21
1770 James Cook formally claims eastern Australia for Great Britain, naming it New South Wales.
Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) is responsible for Carleton, Lanark, Renfrew, Prescott and Russell Counties. Our mission is “To encourage, assist and bring together all those interested in the pursuit of family history.” If you want to discover more about your family origins, or how and where to locate information about your ancestors, our members will be there to help you.
No comments:
Post a Comment