At Auburn Prison in New York, the first execution by electrocution
in history is carried out against William Kemmler, who had been convicted of murdering his lover, Matilda Ziegler, with an axe.
Electrocution as a humane means of execution was first suggested
in 1881 by Dr. Albert Southwick, a dentist.
DAILY EVENING EXPOSITOR, Fresno, California, Aug. 6, 1890.
Alfred Porter Southwick
(May 18, 1826–June 11, 1898)
Newly declassified photo of the Bomb.
On August 6, 1945, the United States became the first and only
nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when a B-29
bomber, dubbed the “Enola Gay,” dropped an atomic bomb
on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Approximately 80,000
people are killed as a direct result of the blast, and another
35,000 are injured. At least another 60,000 would be dead by
the end of the year from the effects of the fallout.
Though the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan marked the
end of World War II, many historians argue that it also ignited
the Cold War.
Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 – August 4, 1962)
On August 5, 1962, movie actress Marilyn Monroe was found dead
in her home in Los Angeles. She was discovered lying nude on her
bed, face down, with a telephone in one hand. Empty bottles of pills, prescribed to treat her depression, were littered around the room.
After a brief investigation, Los Angeles police concluded that her
death was “caused by a self-administered overdose of sedative
drugs and that the mode of death is probable suicide.”
On Saturday, July 28, 1945, a B-25 Mitchell bomber of the United
States Army Air Forces crashed into the north side of the Empire
State Building in New York City while flying in thick fog.
The crash killed fourteen people (three crewmen and eleven people
in the building), and an estimated twenty-four others were injured.
The building’s structural integrity was not compromised.
SANDY KOZEL
The musician, actor, film producer and Rolling Stones front
man Mick Jagger was born in Dartford, Kent, England on
July 26, 1943. He’s 81 years old today.
His career has spanned over six decades, and he has been widely described as one of the most popular and influential
front men in the history of rock music.
