Today In History - August 3

1492 Columbus sets sail from Palos, Spain for the Indies
1596 David Fabricius discovers the light emission variations of the star Mira
1678 Robert LaSalle builds the first ship in America
1852 The first intercollegiate rowing race: Harvard beats Yale
1860 The American Canoe Association is founded at Lake George, New York
1863 Governor Seymour asks President Lincoln to suspend the draft in New York
1863 Saratoga Racetrack opens in New York
1881 The US Nation Lawn Tennis Association removes the word "Nation" from its name
1882 Congress passes the first law restricting immigration
1914 Germany invades Belgium and declares war on France
1921 The first aerial cropdusting: Troy Ohio for caterpillars
1940 The Lithuanian SSR is accepted into the USSR
1949 The Basketball Association of America and National Basketball League merge to form the National Basketball Association
1952 The 15th Olympic Games close in Helsinki Finland
1953 Frank Blair becomes the news anchor of the Today Show
1954 The first VTOL (Vertical Take-off and Landing) aircraft is flown
1955 The Automobile Association of America ends support of auto racing
1955 Hurricane Connie starts its eleven days of hitting the US
1958 The submarine USS Nautilus begins the first crossing of the Arctic Ocean under the icecap
1960 Niger gains independence from France
1963 The Beatles' final performance at the Cavern Club in Liverpool
1963 The Great Train Robbery
1966 Comedian Lenny Bruce dies of a morphine overdose
1970 The four day NFL strike ends
1970 Hurricane "Celia" becomes the most expensive Gulf storm in US history
1971 Paul McCartney announces the formation of his group "Wings"
1973 Flash fire kills 51 at amusement park. (Isle of Man, UK)
1974 Guitarist Jeff Baxter quits Steely Dan and joins the Doobie Brothers
1975 500 people drown when two boats collide and sink in China's West River
1975 The Louisiana Superdome is dedicated
1981 The Air Traffic Controllers (PATCO) begin their strike
1990 Radio Kuwait goes off the air as a result of the Iraqi invasion
1990 The US announces its commitment of Naval forces to the Gulf regions
1991 The Pan Am games open in Havana, Cuba

1753 Charles Earl Stanhope
1811 Elisha Graves Otis (invented the elevator)
1867 Stanley Earl Baldwin
1871 Vernon Louis Parrington
1872 Haakon VII, King of Norway
1884 Louis Gruenberg
1887 Rupert Brooke
1894 Harry Heilmann
1900 Ernie Pyle
1900 John T. Scopes
1901 John Stennis
1902 Habib Bourguiba
1902 Judson Laire
1902 Ray Block
1907 Irene Tedrow
1918 James MacGregor
1920 Maria Karnilova
1920 P.D. James
1921 Hayden Carruth
1921 Marilyn Maxwell
1923 Anne Klein
1924 Leon Uris
1926 Tony Bennett
1927 Gordon Scott
1929 Bethel Leslie
1930 James Komack
1931 Alex Cord
1935 Georgi S. Shonin
1935 Richard D Lamm
1938 George Memmoli
1938 Terry "5 Wigs" Wogan
1940 John W. Carlin
1940 Lance Alworth
1940 Martin Sheen
1941 Beverly Lee Passaic
1941 Martha Stewart
1945 Ron Hendren
1950 John Landis
1950 Waldemar Cierpinski
1951 Marcel Dionne
1952 Jay North
1953 Ian Bairnson
1954 Denise Craig
1956 Kirk Brandon
1959 Victoria Jackson
1960 Tim Mayotte
1962 Tina Lehtola
1963 Carlo Imperato
1963 James Hetfield
1966 Christine Richters
1967 John Femia
1974 Jenny Beck