“THE FEMALE ECTOPARASITE”: World Mosquito Day, observed annually on 20 Aug is a commemoration of British doctor Sir Ronald Ross' discovery in 1897 that the female mosquito or Anopheles stephensi, transmitted malaria between humans. He is responsible for the annual observance, having declared shortly after his discovery that the day should be known as World Mosquito Day in the future.
WWJ in DETROIT: National Radio Day celebrates the great invention of the radio. In the late 19th century it became clear that wireless communication was possible. There were several inventors that had a part in the invention of the radio in the late 1800′s; not just one person can be credited with its beginnings. To make radio a reality, it required a number of different inventions & discoveries including both the transmission and reception methods as well as technology. In 1920 the pioneering American radio station 8MK in Detroit (later WWJ) began broadcasting as the 1st commercial radio station in the US.
*1741: Vitus Bering: Alaska was 1st sighted by Danish explorer Vitus Jonassen Bering at head of Russia’s 1st Kamchatka Expedition & Great Northern Expedition;
*1858: Darwin: Charles Darwin 1st published his theory of evolution in The Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society;
*1912: 1st USMC Pilot: 1st Lt Alfred A. Cunningham, 1st USMC pilot, took off on solo flight in a Burgess/Curtis Hydroplane from Marblehead Harbor, MASS;
*1920: 1st Radio Station: pioneering radio station 8MK in Detroit (later WWJ) began 1st first commercial radio station broadcast;
*1920: NFL Birth: 7 men, including legendary Jim Thorpe, met to organize a pro football league at Jordan & Hupmobile Auto Showroom in Canton, Ohio;
*1940: Winny’s Wartime Speech: PM Winston Churchill made his 4th famed wartime speeches, containing line "Never was so much owed by so many to so few";
*1940: Polish Pilots: the 1st Polish squadrons fight along with Allies in the Battle of Britain: 303 Squadron RAF, aka 303rd "Tadeusz Kościuszko Warsaw" Fighter Squadron, was one of two Polish squadrons that fought during Battle of Britain along with No. 302 Squadron, of 16 total Polish squadrons during WWII (See below);
*1944: Terror Pilots: 168 captured US, UK, Canadaia, and Anzac aviators accused by Gestapo of being “terror fliers” arrived at Buchenwald Concentration Camp;
*1964: EOA: President LBJ signs Economic Opportunity Act anti-poverty measure totaling $1B; part of his “War on Poverty”;
*2017: Jerry’s Yahrzeit: "The King of Comedy"(US), "Le Roi du Crazy"(Fr.) actor, comic, longtime TV Telethon Host Jerry Lewis nee Joseph Levitch (91) died.