r/ThisDayInHistory

On This Day, August 19, 1964, something happened high above Earth that would help change the way the world communicates.

NASA launched Syncom III, the world's first truly geostationary communications satellite.

Unlike satellites that constantly moved across the sky, Syncom III was placed into an orbit where it appeared to remain stationary above one point on Earth.

That meant communication stations could keep their antennas pointed at the same place in the sky.

But Syncom III had an even bigger moment coming…

Just two months later, it helped transmit live television coverage of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games across the Pacific to the United States.

For the first time, millions of people in America could watch events happening on the other side of the Pacific almost as they happened.

🌎 One satellite.

📡 One orbit.

📺 A world suddenly felt much smaller.

Syncom III helped demonstrate the enormous potential of 24-hour satellite communications and paved the way for the global communications systems we rely on today.

🚀 Before smartphones.

📺 Before global satellite TV.

🌎 There was Syncom III.

The world was getting connected.

On This Day, August 18, 1590, English governor John White returned to Roanoke Island, North Carolina, after being away for nearly three years due to war with Spain.

He expected to find his daughter, granddaughter Virginia Dare, and the other colonists waiting for him.

Instead…

Everyone was gone.

There were no bodies.

No signs of a battle.

No explanation.

The settlement had been abandoned.

But then White discovered something that made the mystery even more fascinating.

The word “CRO” had been carved into a tree.

And at the abandoned settlement, the word “CROATOAN” had been carved into a post.

Croatoan referred to the Native American people and the area now known as Hatteras Island.

White believed the colonists may have relocated there, but before he could properly search the area, a storm forced him to abandon the attempt.

More than 430 years later, historians still cannot definitively say what happened to the Lost Colony.

And there's one eerie coincidence…

August 18, 1590, was Virginia Dare's third birthday.

The grandfather who had left to find supplies returned on her birthday…

…and she was gone.

What happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke?

No one knows for certain.

On This Day, August 17, 1978, three American adventurers made history by completing the first successful nonstop transatlantic balloon flight.

Their balloon, Double Eagle II, departed from Presque Isle, Maine, on August 11.

Inside the giant helium-filled balloon were Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman.

For nearly six days, they drifted across the Atlantic Ocean, battling freezing temperatures, changing winds, and the constant challenge of staying airborne.

After approximately 137 hours and 6 minutes in flight, Double Eagle II finally reached Europe.

On August 17, the balloon landed near Miserey, France, completing a journey of approximately 3,120 miles (5,020 km).

The three men had achieved something that had defeated numerous previous attempts: crossing the Atlantic Ocean nonstop by balloon.

Their historic journey earned them the Harmon Trophy, one of aviation's most prestigious honors.

3 men

1 giant balloon

137+ hours in the air

Across the Atlantic Ocean

They crossed an ocean… in a balloon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_War_of_1862

Austria-Hungary expected a quick victory over Serbia in WW1, having both numerical and technological superiority. On the other hand, Serbian army was still recovering from two brutal Balkan Wars, which happened only a few years prior.

Austro-Hungarian invasion was commanded by General Oskar Potiorek, the Governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Before the battle, Potiorek had predicted an easy victory over the Serbians, calling them "pig farmers." The Serbian army was commanded by Crown Prince Alexander and Field Marshal Radomir Putnik as his deputy and de facto military leader. Generals Petar Bojović, Stepa Stepanović and Pavle Jurišić Šturm commanded the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Serbian Armies, respectively.

The battle began on the night of August 15 when elements of the Serbian 1st Combined Division encountered Austro-Hungarian outposts that had been established on the slopes of Cer Mountain earlier in the invasion. The clashes that followed escalated into a battle for control over several towns and villages near the mountain, especially Šabac.

On August 19, the morale of the Austro-Hungarians collapsed and thousands of soldiers retreated back into Austria-Hungary, many of whom drowned in the Drina River as they fled in panic.

After the battle, Austro-Hungarian soldier and journalist Egon Erwin Kisch wrote in his diary about those dramatic moments: "The army has been utterly defeated and is in a ruthless, wild, and panicked flight. A defeated army - no, a shattered mob - was rushing in blind fear towards the border..."