August 7

Today in History
• 1428 - Valais witch trial proceedings begin in Valais Canton, Switzerland
• 1620 - Astronomer Johannes Kepler's mother arrested for witchcraft
• 1750 - Slave uprising on Curacao
• 1760 - Ft Loudon, Tennessee surrenders to Cherokee Indians
• 1782 - George Washington creates the Purple Heart medal
• 1789 - US Congress creates the Department of War
• 1820 - 1st potatoes planted in Hawaii
• 1927 - Peace Bridge between US and Canada dedicated


Holidays - Traditional and Obscure
• Aged Care Employee Day
• Battle of Boyaca
• British Columbia Day
• Côte d'Ivoire Independence Day
• Festival Monday
• Ivory Coast Independence Day
• New Brunswick Day
• Purple Heart Day

Birthdays
• 317 - Flavius Julius Constantius II, Emperor Egypt/Byzantine/Rome, 337-61
• 1282 - Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, youngest daughter of King Edward I and Queen Eleanor
• 1742 - Nathanael Greene, American Revoluntionary War General
• 1751 - Wilhelmina of Prussia, Princess of Orange (1767-1806)
• 1783 - John Heathcoat, inventor, lace-making machinery
• 1829 - Thomas Ewing Jr, American attorney, 1st chief justice of Kansas
• 1862 - Victoria of Baden, Queen of Sweden
• 1881 - François DarlanFrançois Darlan, French Admiral of the Fleet during WWII