1. US History This Day in American History August 7 1782 Washington creates the Purple Heart - On this day in 1782, in Newburgh, New York, General George Washington, the commander in chief of the Continental Army, creates the “Badge for Military Merit,” a decoration consisting of a purple, heart-shaped piece of silk, edged with a narrow binding of silver.

2. US History This Day in American History August 7 1912 Teddy Roosevelt nominated as Bull Moose candidate - Theodore Roosevelt, the former U.S. president, is nominated for the presidency by the Progressive Party, a group of Republicans dissatisfied with the renomination of President William Howard Taft.

3. US History This Day in American History August 7 1964 Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin Resolution - The United States Congress overwhelming approves the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson nearly unlimited powers to oppose “communist aggression” in Southeast Asia.

4. US History This Day in American History August 7 1990 Bush orders Operation Desert Shield - On this day in 1990, President George Herbert Walker Bush orders the organization of Operation Desert Shield in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait on August 2.