Moments in Time – July 27, 2022

#Middlebury

• On Aug. 10, 1776, news reaches London that the Americans had drafted the Declaration of Independence. Until the Declaration of Independence formally transformed the 13 British colonies into states, the conflict centered in Massachusetts was seen as a local uprising.
• On Aug. 13, 1781, Patriot forces led by Col. William Harden and Brig. Gen.Francis Marion, known as the “Swamp Fox,” lure British commander Maj. Thomas Fraser and his 450 soldiers into an ambush at Parker’s Ferry, near Charleston, South Carolina. Marion had earned his nickname for his ability to “outfox” his opponents in the swamps of the South Carolina backcountry.
• On Aug. 9, 1936, at the Berlin Olympics, African American track star Jesse Owens wins his fourth gold medal of the Games in the 4 x 100 meter relay. His relay team set a new world record of 39.8 seconds, which held for 20 years.
• On Aug 8, 1945, President Harry S. Truman signs the United Nations Charter, and the United States becomes the first nation to complete the ratification process and join the new international organization. Although hopes were high at the time that the United Nations would serve as an arbiter of international disputes, Truman did not even use one of the ceremonial pens to sign, instead opting for a cheap 10-cent desk pen.
• On Aug. 12, 1953, less than one year after the United States tested its first hydrogen bomb, the Soviets detonate a 400-kiloton device in Kazakhstan. Known as the “Layer Cake,” the bomb was fueled by layers of uranium and lithium deuteride, a hydrogen isotope.
• On Aug. 11, 1973, “American Graffiti,” a nostalgic coming-of-age tale steeped in the car-centric culture of suburban California, is released in theaters. The movie went on to become a sleeper hit.
• On Aug. 14, 1985, Michael Jackson takes control of the publishing rights to the vast majority of the Beatles’ catalog for $47 million, outbidding Paul McCartney himself. In the years afterward, the catalog was estimated to be worth in excess of $1 billion.

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