published on September 22, 2024 in blog

What Happened in August 1926

Historical Events

Houdini Escapes Underwater Coffin

Aug 5 Harry Houdini stays in a coffin underwater for 1½ hours before escaping

Don Juan

Aug 6 "Don Juan" starring John Barrymore is released by Warner Bros., the first feature-length film to utilize the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system with a synchronized musical score and sound effects

Aug 6 American Gertrude Ederle (20) becomes 1st woman to swim English Channel in 14 hours, 39 minutes, a record for male or female

The Cocoanuts

Aug 7 George S. Kaufman and Irving Berlin's musical "The Cocoanuts" starring the Marx Brothers closes at the Lyric Theatre, NYC, after 276 performances; later adapted as a film

Aug 10 Italian-Spanish peace treaty signed

Speaker Hits 700th Double

Aug 11 Cleveland Indians future Baseball HOF outfielder Tris Speaker hits his 700th double in 7-2 loss to Chicago White Sox at Dunn Field, Cleveland

Aug 13 Enrique Tirabocchi of Argentina becomes the first to swim the English Channel from France to England (record 16 hours 33 minutes)
Aug 17 Greek-Serbian, Croatian and Slavs peace treaty signed
Aug 18 England regain Ashes with 5th Test Cricket win, to take series 1-0
Aug 18 First televised weather map, broadcast for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington, DC
Aug 20 Japan establishes the public broadcasting company Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK)
Aug 21 -22] Uprising against Greek president and dictator Pangalos
Aug 21 Chicago White Sox pitcher Ted Lyons no hits Boston Red Sox, 6-0 in just 67 minutes at Fenway Park
Aug 22 Gold discovered in Johannesburg, South Africa
Aug 22 Greek dictator Gen Pangulos driven out

Aug 25 Pavlos Koundouris becomes president of Greece
Aug 27 2nd Women's World Games (track & field competition for women) is conducted over 3-days at the Slottsskogsvallen Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden
Aug 28 Indian Emil Levsen pitches complete doubleheader victory (Red Sox)

Hobbs Scores 316

Aug 30 Jack Hobbs scores 316 not out at Lord's (Surrey v Middlesex)

Famous Birthdays

Aug 1 Burton Stein, American historian, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1996)
Aug 1 Karl Kohn, Austrian-American composer and educator, born in Vienna, Austria
Aug 2 Betsy Bloomingdale, American socialite and fashion leader, born in Beverly Hills, California (d. 2016)
Aug 2 Giancarlo Bergamini, Italian fencer (Olympic gold foil, team 1956; silver foil team 1952, individual 1956), born in Milan, Italy (d. 2020)
Aug 3 Gordon Scott [Werschkul], American actor (Tarzan series), born in Portland, Oregon (d. 2007)

Tony Bennett (1926-2023)

Aug 3 American Grammy and Emmy Award-winning pop and jazz singer ("I Left My Heart in San Francisco"; "Steppin' Out With My Baby"), and painter, born in Long Island City, Queens, New York [1]

Aug 5 Betsy Jolas, French-American composer (Les Belles Années (The Good Years), Le Cyclope), born in Paris, France
Aug 5 Jeri Southern [Genevieve Hering], American jazz singer ("You Better Go Now"; "Joey"), and pianist, born in Royal, Nebraska (d. 1991)
Aug 6 Christa Reinig, German poet and writer (Idleness is the Root of All Love, The Tightrope Walker), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 2008)
Aug 6 Clem Labine, American baseball pitcher (MLB All-Star 1956, 57; World Series 1955, 59, 60; Brooklyn / LA Dodgers, Detroit Tigers), born in Lincoln, Rhode Island (d. 2007)
Aug 6 Frank Finlay, British actor (Robbery, Lifeforce), born in Farnworth Lancashire (d. 2016)
Aug 6 Janet Asimov (née Janet Opal Jeppson), American science fiction writer (The Second Experiment; The Norby Chronicles), and psychoanalyst, born in Ashland, Pennsylvania (d. 2019)
Aug 7 Amo Houghton, American politician (Rep-R-New York), born in Corning, New York (d. 2020)
Aug 7 John Woodcock, English cricket journalist ('The Times' 1954-88; Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1981-86; President Cricket Writers' Club 1986-2004), born in Longparish, England (d. 2021)
Aug 7 Stan Freberg, American satirist, ad executive and cartoon voice (Bertie), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2015)
Aug 8 Ferdinando Orlandi, Italian actor (The House with Laughing Windows), born in Italy (d. 1991)
Aug 8 Richard Anderson, American actor (Oscar Goldman- The 6 Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman television series), born in Long Branch, New Jersey (d. 2017)
Aug 8 Urban "Urbie" Green, American jazz trombonist (Woody Herman; Buck Clayton; Hugo Montenegro), born in Mobile, Alabama (d. 2018)
Aug 9 Denis Atkinson, West Indian cricket all-rounder (22 Tests, 1 x 200, HS 219, 47 wickets; Barbados, Trinidad), born in Rockley, Christ Church, Barbados (d. 2001)
Aug 9 Michiel de Ruyter, Dutch jazz historian (Mister Jazz), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1994)
Aug 10 Benjamin Ward, 1st African American NYC Police Commissioner (1984-89), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2002)
Aug 10 Edwin Carr, New Zealand classical composer, born in Auckland, New Zealand (d. 2003)
Aug 10 Marie-Claire Alain, French organist and composer (most recorded classical organist), born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France (d. 2013)
Aug 10 Tom Danby, English dual-code international wing: rugby union (1 cap; Harlequin RFC) and rugby league (3 caps England, 3 caps GB; Salford RLFC), born in Trimdon district, County Durham, England (d. 2022)
Aug 11 Aaron Klug, Biochemist (Nobel prize for Chemistry 1982), born in Lithuanian (d. 2018)
Aug 11 Bernard Ashley, English businessperson, fashion designer and co-founder of Laura Ashley, born in London (d. 2009)
Aug 11 Claus von Bülow (né Claus Cecil Borberg), Danish-British socialite accused of murdering his wife, born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 2019)
Aug 11 John Fincham, British geneticist, author (Fungal Genetics), and educator, born in Hertfordshire, England (d. 2005)
Aug 11 Johnny Van Derrick, British jazz violinist (Pink Panther Theme), born in Ealing, England (d. 1995)
Aug 12 Joe Jones, American R&B pianist and singer-songwriter ("You Talk Too Much"; "California Sun"), and music publisher, born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 2005)
Aug 12 John Derek, American actor, director and photographer (Knock on Any Door, All the King's Men, Rogues of Sherwood Forest), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1998)
Aug 12 Wallace Markfield, American writer known for "To an Early Grave", born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2002)

Aug 14 (Armando) "Buddy" Greco, American jazz and pop singer ("Ooh! Look-A There, Ain't She Pretty"; "The Lady Is A Tramp"), pianist, and television personality (Away We Go), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2017)
Aug 14 Alice Adams, American author (Beautiful Girl), born in Fredericksburg, Virginia (d. 1999)

Aug 15 Georgann Johnson, American actress (Marge-Mr Peepers, Star Trek, Midnight Cowboy), born in Decorah, Iowa (d. 2018)
Aug 15 Kostis Stephanopoulos, Greek conservative politician (President of Greece, 1995-2005), born in Patras, Greece (d. 2016)
Aug 15 Lewis Thompson Preston, American banker (President of the World Bank 1991-95), born in New York City (d. 1995)
Aug 15 Lyutsian Abramovich Prigozhn, Russian composer, born in Tashkent (d. 1994)
Aug 16 Norman Wexler, American screenwriter known for "Saturday Night Fever", born in New Bedford, Massachusetts(d. 1999)
Aug 17 George Melly, English jazz and blues singer, born in Liverpool, England (d. 2007)
Aug 17 Hakon Barfod, Norwegian sailor (Olympic gold 1948, 52), born in Oslo, Norway (d. 2013)
Aug 17 Jean Poiret [Jean-Gustave Poiré], French actor, director, and screenwriter (La Cage Aux Folles), born in Paris, France (d. 1992)

Jiang Zemin (1926-2022)

Aug 17 General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (1989-2002) and President of the People's Republic of China (1993-2003), born in Yangzhou, Jiangsu

Aug 19 Arthur Rock, American venture capitalist (Intel, Apple, Teledyne), born in Rochester, New York
Aug 20 Frank Rosolino, American jazz trombonist (The Frank Rosolino Sextet), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 1978)
Aug 20 Nobby Wirkowski, American-Canadian football player and coach (Toronto Argonauts), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2014)
Aug 21 Ben-Zion Orgad, Israeli composer, born in Gelsenkirchen, Germany (d. 2006)
Aug 22 Bob Flannigan, American barbershop-pop-jazz singer (The Four Freshmen), born in Greencastle, Indiana (d. 2011)
Aug 22 Marc Bohan, French fashion designer, born in Paris (d. 2023)
Aug 23 Clifford Geertz, American anthropologist (symbolic anthropology), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2006)
Aug 24 Nancy Spero, American feminist artist, born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 2009)
Aug 24 Paul Blackburn, American poet, and editor (Black Mountain Review), born in St, Albans, Vermont (d. 1971) [1]
Aug 27 Kristen Nygaard, Norwegian computer scientist, born in Oslo, Norway (d. 2002)
Aug 27 Patricia "Pat" Coombs, British comedienne and actress (Carry On Again Doctor, Cranford), born in Camberwell, London (d. 2002)
Aug 29 Betty Lynn, American actress (The Andy Griffith Show - "Thelma Lou"), born in Kansas City, Missouri
Aug 29 María Dolores Pradera, Spanish melodic singer and actress, born in Madrid, Spain (d. 2018)
Aug 30 Ernie Roth, American wrestling manager (ring name "The Grand Wizard of Wrestling"), born in Canton, Ohio (d. 1983)
Aug 30 Oļģerts Grāvītis, Latvian-Soviet composer, born in Alūksne, Latvia (d. 2015)

Famous Weddings

Famous Deaths

Aug 1 Israel Zangwill, Jewish author (Children of The Ghetto) and Zionist leader, dies at 62
Aug 14 John H. Moffitt, American politician (b. 1843)
Aug 22 Charles William Eliot, American academic (President of Harvard University, 1869-1909), dies at 92

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