Once Upon A Time – August 3 – 2017 – Neymar Transfers From FC Barcelona To Paris Saint-Germain For World-Record Fee

1492 Christopher Columbus with Juan de la Cosa second-in-command sets sail on his first voyage with three ships, Santa María, Pinta and Niña from Palos de la Frontera, Spain for the “Indies”

1596 David Fabricius discovers light variation of Mira (1st variable star)

1914 Germany invades Belgium and declares war on France, beginning World War I

1934 Adolf Hitler merges the offices of German Chancellor and President, declaring himself “Führer” (leader)

1972 US Senate ratifies the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union to limit the use of missile systems capable of defending against missile-delivered nuclear weapons

Historical Events Today Events in 2023

Today in Film & TV

1995 CNN en Espanol premieres

Today in Music

2017 Camila Cabello releases her single “Havana” (biggest song worldwide 2018, 19 million copies sold)

Today in Sport

1936 American sprinter Jesse Owens wins the 100m (10.3 seconds) in front of Adolf Hitler in a famous race at the Berlin Olympics, first of 4 gold medals at the Games

1949 Basketball Association of America (BAA) & National Basketball League (NBL) merge to form National Basketball Association (NBA), Maurice Podoloff elected head of new league

2017 Brazilian soccer forward Neymar transfers from FC Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for a world-record transfer fee of €222M on a 5-year deal

1527 First known letter sent from North America by John Rut while at St. John’s, Newfoundland

1909 MLB umpire Tim Hurst instigates a riot by spitting in the face of A’s 2nd baseman Eddie Collins who had questioned a call; 2 weeks later Hurst banned for life

Famous Weddings

1824 Inventor Charles Goodyear (23) weds Clarissa Beecher

1932 Austro-Hungarian-American theatre and film director Otto Preminger (26) weds Marion Mill

2000 British PM Gordon Brown (49) weds Sarah Jane Macaulay (36) in North Queensferry, Fife

Archimedes may have invented the elevator centuries ago, but Elisha Otis, born on this day, worked out how to make it safe – and the skyscraper was born. – August 3, 1811

He had broken three world records and equalled another, all in 45 minutes. Then, on this day, Jesse Owens made a mockery of Hitler’s belief in black inferiority – August 3, 1936