Once Upon A Time – August 25 – 1875 – Captain Matthew Webb Makes 1st Observed, Unassisted Swim Across The English Channel In 21 Hours And 45 Minutes

1609 Galileo demonstrates his 1st telescope to Venetian lawmakers

1718 Hundreds of French colonists arrive in Louisiana; New Orleans founded

1768 Captain James Cook departs from Plymouth, England, on his first voyage on board the Endeavour, bound for the Pacific Ocean

1894 Japanese scientist Shibasaburo Kitasato discovers the infectious agent of the bubonic plague and publishes his findings in The Lancet

1944 French General Charles de Gaulle walks the Champs Elysees in Paris after the liberation of the city from Nazi occupation

1990 UN security council authorizes military action against Iraq

1991 Linux is born when Linus Torvalds sends off an email announcing his project to create a new computer operating system

HISTORICAL EVENTS TODAY

TODAY IN FILM & TV

1955 16th Venice Film Festival: “Ordet” directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer wins Golden Lion

TODAY IN MUSIC

1998 “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” debut album by Lauryn Hill is released (5 Grammy Awards including Album of the Year, Billboard Album of the Year 1998)

TODAY IN SPORT

1875 Captain Matthew Webb makes the 1st observed and unassisted swim across the English Channel in 21 hours and 45 minutes

1960 AFL begins placing players names on back of their jerseys

MORE FACTS….

1958 Momofuku Ando markets the first package of precooked instant noodles (Chikin Ramen)

1804 Alicia Thornton becomes first female jockey in England riding at Knavesmire in Yorkshire

FAMOUS WEDDINGS

1749 British admiral Samuel Hood (24) weds Susannah Linzee in Portsmouth, England

1870 German composer Richard Wagner (57) weds Franz Liszt’s daughter Cosima Liszt (32) at a Protestant church in Lucerne, Switzerland

1885 “Little House On The Prairie” author Laura Ingalls (18) weds Almonzo James Wilder (28)