August 1
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1981: The music video revolution begins
At 12:01 am on this day in 1981, a new cable television channel flickered to life with the words, “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll.” Moments later, viewers watched “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles—the first music video ever broadcast on MTV. Over the next decade, music television would reshape not only how songs were promoted but also how audiences experienced popular music itself.
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Featured Event
Giraudon/Art Resource, New York
Henry III of France stabbed by assassin
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
Nantucket Historical Association
Born this day in 1818, Maria Mitchell was the first professional woman astronomer in the United States, noted for her discovery that sunspots are whirling vertical cavities and not, as previously thought, clouds.
Famous Birthdays
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© JOSEPH BARRAK—AFP/Getty Images
2005
Fahd, who became king of Saudi Arabia in 1982, died at age 82; he was succeeded by his half brother ʿAbd Allah. [Test your knowledge of kings and emperors.]
Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images
1996
American author George R.R. Martin published A Game of Thrones, the first installment in his hugely popular fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire. [Take our quiz about fantasy lands.]
© Timothy A. Clary—AFP/Getty Images
1987
American boxer Mike Tyson defeated Tony Tucker and was unanimously recognized as heavyweight champion by all three sanctioning organizations (World Boxing Council, World Boxing Association, and International Boxing Federation). [Take our sports quiz.]
ITN/Shutterstock.com
1980
Icelandic teacher and politician Vigdís Finnbogadóttir became president of Iceland; she was the first woman in the world to be elected head of state in a national election. [Test your knowledge of famous female firsts.]
© Bettmann/Getty Images
1966
Charles Whitman, a student and ex-marine, fired down from the clock tower on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, killing 14 people and wounding 31 others (one of whom died years later from complications related to his wounds); it was one of the worst mass murders in a public area in U.S. history. [Watch a video of Neal Spelce, who reported live on the 1966 shooting, describing the response to the event.]
© Jacek Kadaj/Dreamstime.com
1944
The Warsaw Uprising began as the Polish underground tried to oust the German army and seize control of the city before it was occupied by the advancing Soviet army; after running out of supplies, the Poles were forced to surrender in October. [Sort fact from fiction in our World War II quiz.]
United Archives GmbH/Alamy
1944
The final entry was recorded in the diary of Anne Frank, a Jewish girl who spent two years in hiding during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. [Watch an overview of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.]
© Arnie Sachs—Consolidated News Pictures/Archive Photos/Getty Images
1940
John F. Kennedy’s Why England Slept, a critical account of the British military that became a best seller, was published. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about U.S. presidents.]
AP
1936
The Summer Olympics opened in Berlin, and the efforts by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party to demonstrate the superiority of the “Aryan race” were undermined by the success of African American athletes, notably Jesse Owens. [Take our Olympic history quiz.]
West Virginia University/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (sn86072054)
1921
Sid Hatfield, a police chief and supporter of coal miners, was shot and killed in Welch, West Virginia, by agents employed by coal companies. Reactions to his death culminated in the Battle of Blair Mountain, fought in the mountains of West Virginia between local authorities and thousands of mine workers. [Watch a 1921 film shot during and after the Battle of Blair Mountain.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1876
Colorado was admitted to the union, becoming the 38th U.S. state. [Test your knowledge of U.S. states.]
From Herman Melville, Mariner and Mystic, by Raymond M. Weaver, 1921
1819
American writer Herman Melville—best known for his novels of the sea, most notably Moby Dick (1851)—was born. [Take our quiz about famous novels.]
© Morphart Creation/Shutterstock.com
1744
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck—a French biologist best known for his theory that acquired traits are inheritable, an idea known as Lamarckism—was born in Bazentin-le-Petit. [How much do you know about biology?]
The Granger Collection, New York
1714
Alinari/Art Resource, New York
10 bce
Roman Emperor Claudius I, who extended Roman rule in North Africa and made Britain a province, was born in Lugdunum, Gaul (now Lyon, France). [How much do you know about the Roman Empire?]