1831: Michael Faraday Discovers Electromagnetic Induction
Michael Faraday experimentally demonstrated that a changing magnetic field can induce a voltage in a conductor. The discovery of electromagnetic induction helped in the creation of electric generators, transformers, and even induction cook tops. An English scientist, Faraday was a prolific researcher and inventor. In addition to discovering electromagnetic induction, he also discovered Benzene and electrolysis. The farad, an International System of Units (SI) measurement of a capacitance – the ability of an object to hold an electric charge was named after Faraday.
1833: Legislation to settle child labour laws was passed in England. The legislation was called the ‘Factory Act’.
1923: The birth of Richard Attenborough, English actor and director. He won two Academy Awards for Gandhi in 1982 and has also won four BAFTA Awards. As an actor he is perhaps best known for his roles in The Great Escape, 10 Rillington Place and Jurassic Park.
1988: Abdul Mohmand becomes the first person from Afghanistan to Visit Space
Mohmand, an Afghan Air Force pilot was a crew member of the Soyuz TM-6, a Soviet spacecraft. He was in space for 9 days, which were spent at the Mir Space Station.
2003: A terrorist bomb kills Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the Shia Muslim leader in Iraq, and nearly 100 worshipers as they leave a mosque in Najaf where the ayatollah had called for Iraqi unity.
2007: Richard Jewell, hero security guard wrongly accused as Olympic bombing suspect, dies
Richard Jewell, the hero security guard turned Olympic bombing suspect, dies at age 44 of natural causes at his Georgia home.
On July 27, 1996, during the Summer Games in Atlanta, a pipe bomb with nails went off in crowded Centennial Olympic Park, killing one woman and injuring 111 other people. Shortly before the explosion, Richard Jewell, who was working as a temporary security guard in the area, discovered a suspicious-looking backpack abandoned beneath a park bench. Jewell alerted police to the backpack, which held a bomb, and moved people out of harm’s way before it exploded. In the aftermath of the bombing, Jewell was praised as a hero for his actions.
However, three days later, the media reported that Jewell was being investigated as a suspect in the case. Although he was never arrested or charged with any crime, for the next three months, Jewell faced intense scrutiny from both law enforcement officials and the media, who combed through his background and tracked his movements. Even after the Justice Department officially cleared Jewell of any involvement in the bombing in late October 1996, some people still viewed him with suspicion.
BIRTHS ON THIS DAY: August 29
Celestine Babayaro, 46 years
Celestine Hycieth Babayaro , the former Nigerian proffessional footballer who played left-back or midfielder was born on 29 August 1978 in Kaduna, Nigeria.
Babayaro spent majority of his career playing in the Premier League, mainly for Chelsea from 1997 to 2005, and then later for Newcastle United, from 2005 to 2008
Michael Jackson is born (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009)
Pop sensation Michael Jackson is born on August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana.
Jackson began performing with his four brothers in the pop group the Jackson 5 when he was a child. The group scored its first No. 1 single in 1969, with “I Want You Back.” By age 11, Jackson was appearing on TV, and by age 14 he had released his first solo album. A Jackson 5 TV cartoon series appeared in the early ’70s, and in 1976 the Jackson family, including sister Janet Jackson, launched a TV variety show called The Jacksons that ran for one season. Throughout the 70s, media attention focused on Michael, who piped vocals in his high voice for “ABC,” “I’ll Be There,” and many other Top 20 hits.
Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, in Los Angeles, California, just weeks before a planned concert tour billed as his “comeback.” He was 50 years old.