August 23 - This Day in History

August 23: General Interest
1902: Fannie Farmer opens cooking school

On this day in 1902, pioneering cookbook author Fannie Farmer, who changed the way Americans prepare food by advocating the use of standardized measurements in recipes, opens Miss Farmer's School of Cookery in Boston. In addition to teaching women about cooking, Farmer later educated medical professionals about the importance of proper nutrition for the sick... read more


American Revolution
1784 : State of Franklin declares independence
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/state-of-franklin-declares-independence


Automotive
1904 : Patent for tire chain issued
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/patent-for-tire-chain-issued


Civil War
1861 : Rose Greenhow is arrested
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/rose-greenhow-is-arrested


Cold War
1979 : Aleksandr Godunov defects to United States
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/aleksandr-godunov-defects-to-united-states


Crime
2006 : Austrian teen escapes after eight years in captivity
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/austrian-teen-escapes-after-eight-years-in-captivity


Disaster
1999 : NYC reports first cases of West Nile virus
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nyc-reports-first-cases-of-west-nile-virus


General Interest
1926 : Valentino dies
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/valentino-dies

1927 : Sacco and Vanzetti executed
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/sacco-and-vanzetti-executed


Hollywood
2000 : First Survivor finale airs
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-survivor-finale-airs


Literary
1869 : Edgar Lee Masters, author of Spoon River Anthology, is born
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/edgar-lee-masters-author-of-spoon-river-anthology-is-born


Music
1970 : Lou Reed plays his last show with the Velvet Underground
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lou-reed-plays-his-last-show-with-the-velvet-underground


Old West
1877 : Texas Rangers arrest John Wesley Hardin
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/texas-rangers-arrest-john-wesley-hardin


Sports
1989 : Pete Rose gets booted from baseball
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pete-rose-gets-booted-from-baseball


Vietnam War
1966 : U.S. cargo ship strikes a mine near Saigon
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/us-cargo-ship-strikes-a-mine-near-saigon

1968 : Communist forces renew offensive
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/communist-forces-renew-offensive


World War I
1914 : Battle of Mons
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-mons


World War II
1939 : The Hitler-Stalin Pact
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-hitler-stalin-pact