Today in History: It Begins...

It begins, as many events, such as large scale battles and discoveries took place today.

A painting of Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus, the Italian explorer who was said to "find the New World," lands in South America (in modern-day Venezuela), and claims the land for Spain on this day in 1498. Columbus believed that the earth was round, contrary to many in his time period that believed it was flat, like a map. On October 12th, 1492, Columbus arrived in a small island in the present-day Bahamas, believing that he has circled the world and reached India. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain had sent Columbus out with a fleet of six ships, instructing him to discover a direct route to India. Columbus did not discover a sea route from Spain to India, though claimed much land for Spain to rise to become the wealthiest nation on earth in the 1500s.

A depiction of Joseph Priestly,
the man who discovered oxygen 

One of the most important discoveries today was British minister Joseph Priestly's discovery of oxygen on this day in 1774. Priestly was a tutor to the 2nd Earl of Shelburne's son, who discovered oxygen while at the Bowood House in Wiltshire, England. Many of his discoveries were shared with many of America's revolutionary leaders including John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, who all later became a good friend and correspondent. Also supporting the American and French revolutions, Priestley moved to Northumberland, Pennsylvania until his death.

On this day in 1914, the First World War erupted in Europe when Germany and Russia declared war against each other, four days after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. The outbreak to World War I can be regarded to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Germany also declared war with France two days later on August 3rd, along with Great Britain on August 4th. People of Europe joyously celebrated the outbreak of the war, believing that their respective country would win the battle, unaware of the impact it truly had. This raging war became one of the deadliest conflicts in human history with deaths of over 10 million military personnel and 7 million civilians.

An image of troops
during World War I

If you are an amusement park lover, Six Flags should not be an exotic name. On the morning of Thursday, August 1st, 1961, the first park in the Six Flags chain, Six Flags Over Texas, opens in Arlington, Texas. This amusement park houses many firsts, including the first to feature a log flume, mine train rides, 360-degree looping roller coaster, parachute drop, and a man made river rapid. With a $10 million spent to build it, Six Flags Over Texas took a year to build. Unlike many theme parks, Six Flags Over Texas did not have a random collection of rides; all of the rides were Texas-themed. Recently, the park has come under a bit of controversy when a Dallas women fell to her death while riding the Texas Giant.

MTV's famous astronaut and
an MTV logo on the moon

Finally, in music and television news, Music Television, or MTV, makes its debut in the television industry on this day in 1981. In the early morning of August 1st, 1981, MTV launched its first broadcast with a chunky guitar riff playing over the famous American astronaut image with a large "MTV" logo suck on it. The next video was "Video Killed the Radio Star," which at the time, was produced by an unknown electronic band, the Buggles. Through controversy, MTV had been praised or blamed for "the big things" in music.