On this day... DID YOU KNOW....

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AUGUST 31


12 ce
The Roman emperor Caligula was born; his brief reign (37–41), which was marked by unpredictable and tyrannical behaviour, ended with his murder.

1751
Robert Clive of Britain seized Arcot, India, and then withstood a 53-day siege that began a few weeks later.

1850
King Kamehameha III officially declared Honolulu a city and the capital of his kingdom.

1864
During the American Civil War, the Confederate evacuation of Atlanta began this day in 1864, shortly before Union troops led by William Tecumseh Sherman occupied the city, providing a much-needed victory for the North.

1888
The mutilated body of Mary Ann Nichols was discovered in the Whitechapel district of London's East End, and many believe she was the first victim of Jack the Ripper.

1966
The Harrier “jump-jet” fighter-bomber made its first flight.

1980
Polish labour activist Lech Wałęsa and Mieczysław Jagielski, Poland's first deputy premier, signed an agreement that conceded to workers the right to organize freely and independently.

1992
An 11-day standoff in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, between government officials and an armed family headed by self-proclaimed white separatist Randy Weaver ended with his surrender; three people—Weaver's wife, Vicki, his 14-year-old son, Sammy, and U.S. Marshal William Degan—had been killed during the siege.

1993
Flames sweep through Laberinto, Peru, a gold-mining town, after a kerosene lamp in a guest house apparently sparks the fire; at least 18 persons are killed, and 7 are injured in the conflagration.

Diana, princess of Wales
British princess
Diana, princess of Wales
born
July 1, 1961
Sandringham, England
died
August 31, 1997 (aged 36)
Paris, France
(Died on this day)

2016
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was impeached and removed from office after the country's Senate found her guilty of having used state bank funds to cover up a budget deficit in the run-up to her reelection in 2014.

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SEPTEMBER 1

2004
Chechen rebels seized a school in Beslan, North Ossetia, Russia; the siege, which ended two days later, resulted in the deaths of more than 330 people, the majority of them children.

1985
In a search led by American oceanographer Robert Ballard, the wreck of the Titanic was found on the ocean floor at a depth of about 13,000 feet (4,000 metres).

1980
Due to poor health, Canadian activist Terry Fox, who had part of his leg amputated because of cancer, was forced to end his Marathon of Hope, a run across Canada to raise money for cancer research; it was later discovered that the cancer had spread to his lungs, and he died in 1981.

1972
Bobby Fischer defeated Boris Spassky to become the first native-born American to hold the title of world chess champion.

1969
A group of young army officers led by Muammar al-Qaddafi deposed the king and made Libya a republic.

1954
The thriller Rear Window, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly, opened in American theatres, and it became a film classic.

1952
Life magazine published Ernest Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea, his last major work of fiction; it was also released as a book, and in 1953 it won a Pulitzer Prize.

1951
Australia, New Zealand, and the United States signed the ANZUS Pact.

1930
The Young Plan, the second renegotiation of Germany's World War I reparation payments, went into effect.

1923
A great earthquake struck the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area; the death toll from the shock was estimated at 142,800.

1914
The last known passenger pigeon died in the Cincinnati (Ohio) Zoo.

1875
American novelist Edgar Rice Burroughs, best known as the creator of Tarzan, was born.

1870
The French army suffered a decisive defeat at the Battle of Sedan in the Franco-German War, leading to the fall of France's Second Empire.

1864
The Charlottetown Conference, the first of a series of meetings that ultimately led to the formation of the Dominion of Canada, convened at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

1838
American frontiersman William Clark, who shared with Meriwether Lewis the leadership of the epic Lewis and Clark Expedition, died.

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Sept 3

1609
English navigator Henry Hudson, in a quest for a passage to India on behalf of the Dutch East India Company, sailed into the harbour of present-day New York City and up the river that now bears his name.

1658
English soldier and statesman Oliver Cromwell died in London.

1783
The Treaty of Paris (part of the Peace of Paris) was signed between Britain and the United States.

1894
Labor Day was celebrated as a legal holiday in the United States for the first time.

1962
American poet and painter E.E. Cummings—who first attracted attention, in an age of literary experimentation, for his unconventional punctuation and phrasing—died at age 67.

1970
American professional gridiron football coach Vince Lombardi—who became a national symbol of single-minded determination to win, known for leading the Green Bay Packers to victories in the first two Super Bowls—died at age 57.

1971
Qatar officially became independent from the United Kingdom.

1991
American director Frank Capra—who was best known for a series of beloved films that included Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) and It's a Wonderful Life (1946)—died at age 94.

2001
American film critic Pauline Kael, an outspoken reviewer for The New Yorker magazine who was celebrated as much for the provocative style of her writing as for the content, died in Massachusetts.

2012
Colombian drug trafficker Griselda Blanco—who was a leading figure in the Miami drug scene in the 1970s and early '80s and was known as the “Godmother of Cocaine”—was fatally shot in Medellín, Colombia.

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SEPT 4

925
King Athelstan of the West Saxons became the first king to rule all of England.

1768
French author and diplomat François-Auguste-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand, who was one of the country's first Romantic writers and France's preeminent literary figure in the early 19th century, was born.

1781
Los Angeles founded
On this day in 1781, Spanish settlers laid claim to what became Los Angeles, now the second most populous U.S. city and the home to Hollywood, whose name is synonymous with the American motion-picture industry.

1864
John Hunt Morgan, the Confederate guerrilla leader of “Morgan's Raiders,” was killed by Federal troops.

1870
Napoleon III, who ruled France first as president (1850–52) and then as emperor (1852–70), was deposed and the Third Republic proclaimed.

1908
Novelist and short-story writer Richard Wright, among the first African American writers to protest white treatment of blacks, was born.

1957
The Ford Motor Company introduced the Edsel automobile, which was perhaps its most notable failure.

1972
American swimmer Mark Spitz won his seventh gold medal during the Munich Olympic Games, the first person ever to do so in a single Olympics.

1972
A revival of The Price Is Right began airing with Bob Barker as host; it was a huge hit, becoming one of the longest-running game shows on American television.

Beyoncé
American singer
Queen Bey
born
September 4, 1981 (age 43)
Houston, Texas
(Born on this day)

1989
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Air Force launched the last Titan III rocket.

1998
The American search engine company Google Inc. was formally established as founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page filed incorporation papers.

2002
American singer Kelly Clarkson became the first winner of the reality television series American Idol.

2006
Australian wildlife conservationist and television personality Steve Irwin, who achieved worldwide fame as the exuberant and risk-taking host of The Crocodile Hunter (1992–2006) TV series and related documentaries, was killed by a venomous bull stingray.

2014
American entertainer Joan Rivers—who first gained fame in the 1960s as a nightclub and television comic known for the catchphrase “Can we talk?” and who later critiqued celebrities' wardrobes—died in New York City.

2016
Mother Teresa, founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity and winner of the 1979 Nobel Prize for Peace, was canonized by Pope Francis I.

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Sept 5

1725
Marie Leszczyńska of Poland was married to King Louis XV of France.

1774
Caspar David Friedrich, a pioneering early 19th-century German Romantic painter, was born.

1793
The Reign of Terror began as harsh measures were undertaken against those suspected of being enemies of the French Revolution (nobles, priests, and hoarders); in Paris a wave of executions followed.

1836
Sam Houston was elected president of the Republic of Texas.

1957
Jack Kerouac's On the Road, one of the first novels associated with the Beat movement, was published.

1960
American boxer Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) won the gold medal in the 175-pound division at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome and then embarked on a professional career that saw him become one of the sport's most legendary competitors.

1972
Palestinian terrorists attacked the Olympic Village in Munich, West Germany, during the Summer Olympic Games, taking hostages and eventually killing 11 members of the Israeli team.

1975
Lynette (“Squeaky”) Fromme attempted to assassinate U.S. President Gerald R. Ford; Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, was sentenced to life in prison but was released in 2009.

1976
The first episode of The Muppet Show, which was co-created by Jim Henson, aired, and the TV series became hugely popular, known for a cast of puppet characters that included Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy.

1997
Mother Teresa—who was awarded the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize for her charitable work with the poor, especially in India—died at age 87 in Calcutta (Kolkata).

2000
Tuvalu, a group of nine coral islands in the west-central Pacific with a population of about 10,000, became the 189th member of the United Nations.

2001
Evidence provided for black hole theory
At a scientific conference in Washington, D.C., this day in 2001, scientists described an observation of energy flares that provided strong evidence of the theorized black hole at the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy.

2016
American writer and political activist Phyllis Schlafly, who was best known for her opposition to the women's movement and especially the Equal Rights Amendment, died at age 92.

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Sept 9th

1087
The English king William I (the Conqueror) died from an injury suffered while attempting to capture the town of Mantes and was later buried at St. Stephen's Church.

1754
William Bligh, the English admiral who commanded the HMS Bounty at the time of the famous mutiny, was born.

1861
Sally Louisa Tompkins was commissioned a cavalry captain; she was the only woman to be commissioned in the Confederate army.

1919
The Boston Police Strike began after the city denied the police's right to unionize.

1941
American singer and songwriter Otis Redding, considered one of the great soul stylists of the 1960s, was born.

1948
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) was proclaimed, setting the stage for the Korean War.

1956
Rock and roll star Elvis Presley made his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

1966
American comedian and actor Adam Sandler, who was known for his portrayal of infantile but endearing characters, was born.

1990
American tennis player Pete Sampras defeated Andre Agassi at the U.S. Open to capture his first of 14 Grand Slam singles titles.

1998
Special Prosecutor Kenneth W. Starr sent to Congress the report on his investigation into the actions of U.S. President Bill Clinton in the Whitewater affair and subsequent matters, including Clinton's improper sexual relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky.

2015
Elizabeth II became the longest-reigning monarch in British history, surpassing Victoria's record reign of 63 years and 216 days.

[Peekaboo]

What inspired Halloween?
Halloween, celebrated on October 31, has origins in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people lit bonfires and wore costumes to ward off ghosts. Over time, it merged with Christian traditions like All Hallows' Eve.

Halloween began as a the Festival of Samhain about 2,000 years ago. It was created as a way for the Celts to scare away ghosts and spirits. They believed around that time of the year, the wall between their realm and ours thinned.

Halloween is a corruption of ``holy evening''. The Celts believed that it is the time the dead would revisit their homes. They would lit bonfires and ask for purity. After a few centuries, the belief in ghosts had gone away but people thought it was funny to dress up as one.

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