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New
York Almanac ->
August
New York City in August
This Month:
....Average monthly temperature in August : 75° ...
this month, try a cool alternative to the canned Broadway
musical at the New
York International Fringe Festival
offering
two dozen venues including live theater, musicals, dance
and standup comedy...
...and
later on in August, the borough of Queens becomes the world
capital of tennis with all the action centering around Arthur
Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows at the U.S.
Tennis Open ...
August 7
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August 1
....this day in 1978, New York City begins its "scoop
the poop" campaign against dog owners who allow pets
to poop on city streets. New York City Health Code Section
161.03 now enforces a $25 fine for those who ignore the
new mandate ...
August 2
...author of Go Tell It On The Mountain and Nobody
Knows My Name, writer James
Baldwin is born this day in Harlem in 1924 ....
August 3
... about 50 homes going up in smoke at Cruger's Wharf
(now Old Slip and Water Street) during the Great
Fire of 1778 this day when clueless Continental Army
soldiers take over command from local firefighters. George
Washington soon issues orders that, "in future, no
military man should interfere with any fire that may happen
in the city, but leave the extinguishing thereof to the
entire direction of the firemen and inhabitants..."
August 4
...after languishing in jail for 10 months, John
Peter Zenger finally goes on trial today in 1735 on
charges of seditious libel for daring to criticize the royal
governor, William Cosby. The newspaper publisher is defended
by Philadelphia lawyer Andrew Hamilton, who eloquently acquits
his client of all wrongdoing in one of America's first victories
in the fight for freedom of the press ...
August 5
... John Barrymore stars in Don
Juan today in 1926 in an historic first, as Warner Brothers
introduces the first full-length "sound" film
at the Warner Theater in Times Square. The Vitaphone soundtrack
includes classical music and sound effects ...
August 6
...one of the greatest mysteries in city history begins
this day when New York Supreme Court Judge
Crater waves good-bye to his friends with whom he dined
at Billy Haa's Chophouse, hails a cab on West 45th Street,
and is never seen again ...
August 7
... when 24-year-old high wire artist Philippe
Petit steps off the south tower of the World Trade Center
Twin Towers this morning in 1974, the city comes to a standstill
watching the stuntman walk, dance, (and talk with a seagull)
on a wire stretched 1/4 mile above Manhattan. The show goes
on for 45 minutes until a police helicopter threatens to
blow him off. He later explains the stunt with “When
I see three oranges, I juggle; when I see two towers, I
walk....”
August 9
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August 8
..."Cross at the green, not in between..." New
York has its first jay walking law with 479 summonses issued
($2) this inaugural day in 1958...
August 9
... Mayor
William Jay Gaynor is in critical condition after being
shot in the neck at pointblank range this day in 1913. Although
he appears to recover, Gaynor dies six days later from complications
related to the shooting. The mayor's assailant is James
J. Gallagher, a disgruntled former city employee ...
August 10
...Serial killer Son
of Sam is captured this day in 1977 after being linked
to the scene of his last slaying through a parking ticket
issued to him near a crime scene. David Berkowitz is responsible
for terrorizing the entire city throughout the "Summer
of Sam" with his first words upon arrest reported to
be, "You got me. What took you so long?..."
August 11
...with little assistance from Washington DC to help fund
the monumental
pedestal for the newly arrived Statue of Liberty, citizens
of New York are asked to contribute out of pocket to the
cause by New York World owner Joseph Pulitzer. Two
months later, he reaches the requisite $100,000 goal this
day in 1885 so that work may commence...
August 12
... future owner of a Fifth Avenue mansion and soon-to-be
millionaire, New Yorker Isaac
Singer receives his sewing-machine patent, number 8294,
this day in 1851 ...
August 13
... the street remains, but the convent that gave Convent
Avenue its name burns to the ground this day in 1888. The
Convent of the Sacred Heart stood between 126th Street and
135th Street between 10th and St. Nicholas Avenues...
August 14
...legendary director D.W.
Griffith gets his start this day when his first film,
The Adventures of Dollie premieres in New York in
1908 amid much success. His studio immediately awards him
a one-year contract and a whopping $500 a month salary...
August 19
Borden's
Milk Factory,
Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn.
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August 15
...the 164-year-old Brooklyn
Navy Yard launches its last ship, the Duluth,
this day in 1965...
August 16
...53-year-old baseball legend Babe
Ruth dies in New York City this day in 1948. His body
lays in state for two days at the entrance to Yankee Stadium,
with thousands of fans coming to pay respects at the "House
That Ruth Built"...
August 17
...the whole town is buzzing about the kidnapping
of Sam Bronfman (son of the Seagram liquor heir, Edgar
Bronfman) when it is revealed that Sam's kidnapper is his
homosexual lover, apparently involved in the plot to extort
millions from Papa Bronfman this day in 1975 ...
August 18
...a record 6,654 participants show up to tap at Macy's
Tap-o-mania on 34th Street and Broadway this day in 1996...
August 19
....a patent is granted to Gail Borden, Jr., of Brooklyn,
NY for condensed
milk this day in 1856. The Eagle Brand is later introduced
to combat food poisoning and other illnesses related to
lack of refrigeration and preservation techniques, later
leading to the Borden tagline, "If it's Borden, it's
got to be good!...
August 20
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August 20
...Brooklyn Dodger, 17-year-old Tommy
Brown, becomes the youngest player to hit a home run
in a major-league ball game this day at Ebbets Field in
1945. Eight days later, Brown will be the youngest to steal
home ...
August 21
...this day in 1903, a mud-covered Model F Packard automobile
arrives in New York completing a cross-country trip from
San Francisco. It is driven by "Tommy" Fetch from
the Packard Motor Car works, who averages about 80 miles
a day during the journey in which he replaces three tires
and a broken front spring...
August 22
...New Amsterdam has its first Jewish refugee when Jacob
bar Simson arrives from Amsterdam aboard the ship the Pear
Tree this day in 1654. The journey to the New World
takes more than six weeks at the going fare of 36 guilders
(about $14)....
August 23
... the news of the death of movie heartthrobRudolph
Valentino plunges thousands of New York female fans
into mourning today in 1926. The silver screen's first male
sex symbol draws thousands of fans to his wake at the Frank
E. Campbell funeral home, plus thousands more to his funeral
at Saint Malachy's Roman Catholic Church on West 49th Street
...
August 24
...Louis
‘Lepke’ Buchalter, the leader of Murder, Inc,
gives himself up to New York columnist Walter Winchell this
day in 1939, whereupon Winchell turns the mobster over to
FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover ...
August 25
... pilot Amelia Earhart
becomes the first woman to fly solo nonstop coast to coast
when she lands at Newark Airport on a flight from Los Angeles
this day in 1932. In the process, she also sets women's
nonstop transcontinental speed record (flying 2,447.8 miles
in 19 hours, 5 minutes)...
August 26
...the world's first televised baseball game is broadcast
from Ebbet's Field in Brooklyn this day in 1939. As a special
promotion, a player who hits a long fly ball that bounces
off the Abe Stark sign will earn a free suit at Mr. Stark's
clothing store at 1514 Pitkin Avenue ...
August 27
...the Battle
of Long Island (aka The Battle of Brooklyn) is the first
battle an army of the United States ever engaged in this
day in 1776. The American army is routed by the British
at Brooklyn Heights, but in a surprise move Washington and
his men evacuate across the East River to Manhattan under
cover of thick fog to avoid capture ...
August 27
Washington
hightails it
to Manhattan, 1776.
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August 28
...on this day in 1922, radio station WEAF in New York airs
the first radio commercial sponsored by Queensboro Realty
at a cost $100 dollars for 10 minutes ...
August 29
...as legend has it, chop
suey is born this day in New York when it is concocted
by Chinese ambassador Li Hung Chang's cooks at a dinner
this night in 1896 ...
August 30
.."at Fort Amsterdam...in the presence of the whole
community" a peace treaty is signed with Indians representing
the Tappens, Nayeck and other local tribes this day in 1645
....
August 31
... police
arrest some 1200 people who are planning to peacefully
march to Madison Square Garden to protest the Republican
National Convention and the policies of George W. Bush this
day in 2004...
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September
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