Today's the Day - 3rd August

• 115 years ago: The Firestone Tyre and Rubber company was founded in Akron, Ohio by Harvey Samuel Firestone and soon became a pioneer in the mass production of motor vehicle tyres. Because of Harvey’s friendship with Henry Ford, the company also became the original supplier to Ford Motor Company automobiles. Firestone Tyres was sold to the Japanese Bridgestone Corporation in 1988

Georgy Shonin

• 80 years ago: Today in 1935, Soviet/Ukrainian cosmonaut Georgy Shonin was born. Considered a hero of the Soviet Union, Georgy commanded the Soyuz 6 space mission which took place just 3 months after the US Apollo 11 moon landing. He and crewman Valeri Kubasov undertook experiments in space welding, testing 3 methods, namely using an electron beam, a low-pressure plasma arc and a consumable electrode. Shonin died of heart failure in 1997.

• 10 years ago: President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya of Mauritania was overthrown in a military coup while attending the funeral of King Fahd in Saudi Arabia (see Today’s the Day – 1^st August)