August 3
There are 150 days remaining in 2016.
1527 – The first known letter from North America is sent by
John Rut while at St. John's, Newfoundland.
1678 –
Robert LaSalle builds the
Le Griffon, the first known ship built on the
Great Lakes.
1778 – The theatre
La Scala is inaugurated.
1852 – Harvard University wins
the first Boat Race between Yale University and Harvard. The race is also the first American intercollegiate athletic event.
1900 – The
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is founded.
1907 –
Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis fines
Standard Oil of Indiana a record $29.4 million for illegal rebating to freight carriers; the conviction and fine are later reversed on appeal.
1921 – Major League Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis confirms
the ban of the eight Chicago Black Sox, the day after they were acquitted by a Chicago court.
1936 –
Jesse Owens wins the 100 metre dash, defeating
Ralph Metcalfe, at the
Berlin Olympics.
1936 – A fire wipes out
Kursha-2 in the Meshchera Lowlands, Ryazan Oblast, Russia, killing 1,200 and leaving only 20 survivors.
1949 – The
Basketball Association of America and the
National Basketball League finalize a merger, that creates the
National Basketball Association (NBA).
1977 –
Tandy Corporation announces the
TRS-80, one of the world's first mass-produced personal computers.
2004 – The pedestal of the
Statue of Liberty reopens after being closed since the
September 11 attacks.
2014 – A 6.1 magnitude
earthquake kills at least 617 people and injures more than 2,400 in Yunnan, China.
Births
1808 – Hamilton Fish; 1811 – Elisha Otis (Otis Elevator Company); 1900 – Ernie Pyle, John T. Scopes; 1901 – John C. Stennis; 1905 – Dolores del Río; 1924 – Leon Uris; 1926 – Tony Bennett♪ ♫; 1934 – Haystacks Calhoun; 1938 – Terry Wogan; 1940 – Martin Sheen; 1941 – Martha Stewart; 1946 – Jack Straw, John York

(The Byrds); 1950 – John Landis; 1959 – John C. McGinley; 1961 – Lee Rocker

(Stray Cats); 1963 – James Hetfield

(Metallica); 1963 – Lisa Ann Walter, Isaiah Washington; 1977 – Tom Brady; 1984 – Ryan Lochte; 1992 – Karlie Kloss
Deaths
1966 – Lenny Bruce; 1983 – Carolyn Jones ('Morticia Addams'); 1995 – Ida Lupino; 2001 – Christopher Hewett ('
Mr. Belvedere'); 2011 – Bubba Smith