August 2 Birthday
On August 2, 1990, 100,000 Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait. Saddam Hussein claimed Kuwait was a historical province of Iraq and accused it of slant-drilling into Iraqi oil fields. The invasion was swift — Kuwait's military was overwhelmed in two days. The UN Security Council condemned the invasion and authorized the use of force. Operation Desert Storm began on January 17, 1991. The air campaign lasted thirty-eight days; the ground war lasted one hundred hours. 147 Americans died in combat. Iraqi military casualties were estimated at 20,000-50,000. Kuwait was liberated but its oil fields had been set ablaze by retreating Iraqi forces — fires burned for ten months. Wild Bill Hickok was shot on August 2, 1876, in Deadwood, Dakota Territory. He was playing poker at Nuttal & Mann's Saloon and had taken the only seat that put his back to the door — contrary to his usual practice. Jack McCall, a drifter whom Hickok had beaten at cards the day before, shot him in the back of the head. Hickok's hand at the time — aces and eights — became known as the "dead man's hand." McCall was acquitted in a miners' court, then retried in a federal court and hanged. Deadwood remains a tourist attraction. People born on August 2 fall under the zodiac sign of Leo. The birthstone is Peridot and the birth flower is Gladiolus. Historical events on August 2 include 1990: Iraq invades Kuwait, triggering Gulf War, 1923: President Warren G. Harding dies suddenly in San Francisco, 1876: Wild Bill Hickok shot in the back during poker game in Deadwood. Famous people born on August 2 include James Baldwin (1924), Carroll O'Connor (1924), Peter O'Toole (1932).