August 7 - This Day in History

August 7: General Interest
1947: Wood raft makes 4,300-mile voyage

On this day in 1947, Kon-Tiki, a balsa wood raft captained by Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl, completes a 4,300-mile, 101-day journey from Peru to Raroia in the Tuamotu Archipelago, near Tahiti. Heyerdahl wanted to prove his theory that prehistoric South Americans could have colonized the Polynesian islands by drifting on ocean currents... read more


American Revolution
1782 : Washington creates the Purple Heart
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/washington-creates-the-purple-heart


Automotive
1944 : Volkswagen halts production during World War II
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/volkswagen-halts-production-during-world-war-ii


Civil War
1836 : Confederate General Evander Law is born
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/evander-law-is-born


Cold War
1964 : Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/congress-passes-gulf-of-tonkin-resolution


Crime
1945 : Georgia institutes a State Board of Corrections
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/georgia-institutes-a-state-board-of-corrections


Disaster
1956 : Mysterious explosions in Colombia
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mysterious-explosions-in-colombia


General Interest
1912 : Teddy Roosevelt nominated as Bull Moose candidate
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/teddy-roosevelt-nominated-as-bull-moose-candidate

1959 : U.S. satellite photographs earth
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/us-satellite-photographs-earth

1998 : U.S. embassies in East Africa bombed
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/us-embassies-in-east-africa-bombed

2005 : Trapped Russian sub rescued
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/trapped-russian-sub-rescued


Hollywood
1975 : Actress Charlize Theron born
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/actress-charlize-theron-born


Literary
1754 : Henry Fielding leaves London for Lisbon
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/henry-fielding-leaves-london-for-lisbon


Music
1997 : A free concert by Garth Brooks draws the last "six-figure crowd" to New York City's Central Park
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/a-free-concert-by-garth-brooks-draws-the-last-quotsix-figure-crowdquot-to-new-york-citys-central-park


Old West
1869 : Astronomer impresses Indians with eclipse
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/astronomer-impresses-indians-with-eclipse


Presidential
1990 : Bush orders Operation Desert Shield
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/bush-orders-operation-desert-shield


Sports
1987 : Lynne Cox swims into communist territory
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lynne-cox-swims-into-communist-territory


Vietnam War
1964 : Tonkin Gulf Resolution is passed
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/tonkin-gulf-resolution-is-passed

1967 : North Vietnam and People's Republic of China sign aid agreement
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/north-vietnam-and-peoples-republic-of-china-sign-aid-agreement


World War I
1914 : Battle of Mulhouse begins
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-mulhouse-begins


World War II
1942 : U.S. forces invade Guadalcanal
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/us-forces-invade-guadalcanal