A Brief History On August 7, 1962, a reviewer from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey, was recognized by President John F. Kennedy with the President’s Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service. Digging Deeper Kelsey had previously denied the use of the drug, Thalidomide, for use in the US after it had been used in West Germany since 1957 for a wide range of symptoms, including morning sickness in pregnant women. Dissatisfied with the safety research and record to date, Kelsey turned down the drug for the US, ultimately saving untold hundreds or even thousands of…
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A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on August 7th. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On August 7, 1679, a small ship named Le Griffon (The Griffon) that had been built under the direction of famous explorer of the New World René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, was towed to a point on the Niagara River from which it became the first European sailing vessel worthy of the designation “ship” to ever sail the Great Lakes. On…
A Brief History On August 7, 1978, President Jimmy Carter recognized the toxic waste that had been disposed of negligently into a residential area canal as a federal emergency. Digging Deeper The Love Canal neighborhood of Niagara Falls, New York had been planned in 1890, but only reached a portion of its planned size. The eponymous canal in the neighborhood was used for industrial dumping of various chemical by-products by the Hooker Chemical Company as well as municipal waste products. By the 1950s, people took notice of the health problems experienced by people in the neighborhood, finally drawing the attention…
A Brief History On August 7, 2007, Giants slugger Barry Bonds slammed his 756th career home run at his home field, AT&T Park, in San Francisco. This historic blast catapulted Bonds ahead of Hank Aaron as the all-time major league career home run hitter. Digging Deeper Seemingly a certain future inductee to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Bonds’ achievements, which include the season home run record of 73 dingers in 2001, are unfortunately tainted by the cloud of suspected steroid and or other performance enhancing drugs or compounds and Bonds has so far been denied the coveted entry into the…
A Brief History On August 7, 1987, an American woman named Lynne Cox, age 30, swam all the way from the United States to the Soviet Union, through ice cold water! Cox’s swim was a good will gesture during the latter stages of the Cold War between the USSR and its (communist) allies and the United States and its allies. The successful swim was later given credit for helping to “thaw” relations between the US and USSR, though we doubt the swim helped thaw out Cox! Digging Deeper As far as notable long distance swims go, this particular one was…