July 31 is the 212th day of the year (213th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 153 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events[link]

• 30 BC – Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.
• 781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mt. Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: July 6, 781).
• 904 – Thessalonica falls to the Arabs, who destroy the city.
• 1009 – Pope Sergius IV becomes the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII.
• 1201 – Attempted usurpation of John Komnenos the Fat.
• 1423 – Hundred Years' War: Battle of Cravant – the French army is defeated at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne.
• 1451 – Jacques Cœur is arrested by order of Charles VII of France.
• 1492 – The Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect.
• 1498 – On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad.
• 1588 – The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England.
• 1655 – Russo-Polish War (1654-1667): the Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years.
• 1658 – Aurangzeb is proclaimed Moghul emperor of India.
• 1667 – Second Anglo-Dutch War: Treaty of Breda ends the conflict.
• 1703 – Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers.
• 1741 – Charles Albert of Bavaria invades Upper Austria and Bohemia.
• 1763 – Odawa chief Pontiac's forces defeat British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac's War.
• 1777 – The U.S. Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that the services of Marquis de Lafayette "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States."
• 1790 – The very first U.S. patent is issued: to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.
• 1856 – Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city.
• 1865 – The first narrow gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Australia.
• 1913 – The Balkan States signs an armistice at Bucharest.
• 1919 – German national assembly adopts the Weimar Constitution, which comes into force on August 14.
• 1930 – The radio mystery program The Shadow airs for the first time.
• 1931 – New York City experimental television station W2XAO (now known as WCBS) begins broadcasts.
• 1932 – The NSDAP (Nazi Party) wins more than 38% of the vote in German elections.
• 1938 – Bulgaria signs a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia).
• 1938 – Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.
• 1940 – A doodlebug train in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio collides with a multi-car freight train heading in the opposite direction, killing 43 people.
• 1941 – Holocaust: under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring, orders SS General Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired final solution of the Jewish question."
• 1945 – Pierre Laval, the fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria.
• 1948 – At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.
• 1954 – First ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio.
• 1956 – Jim Laker becomes the first man to take all 10 wickets in a Test match innings as he returns figures of 10/53 in the Australian 2nd innings. This combined with his 9/37 in the first innings gave him match figures of 19/90 in the 4th Test at Old Trafford.
• 1961 – At Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, the first All-Star Game tie in major league baseball history occurs when the game is stopped in the 9th inning because of rain.
• 1964 – Ranger program: Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes.
• 1970 – Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy.
• 1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover.
• 1972 – The Troubles: In Operation Motorman, the British Army re-takes the urban no-go areas of Northern Ireland. It is the biggest British military operation since the Suez Crisis of 1956, and the biggest in Ireland since the Irish War of Independence. Later that day, nine civilians are killed by car bombs in the village of Claudy.
• 1973 – A Delta Air Lines jetliner, flight DL 723 crashes while landing in fog at Logan Airport, Boston, Massachusetts killing 89.
• 1987 – A rare, class F4 tornado rips through Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 people and causing $330 million in damage.
• 1988 – 32 people are killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapses in Butterworth, Malaysia.
• 1991 – The United States and Soviet Union both sign the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the first to reduce (with verification) both countries' stockpiles.
• 1991 – The Medininkai Massacre in Lithuania. Soviet OMON attacks Lithuanian customs post in Medininkai, killing 7 officers and severely wounding one other.
• 1992 – Thai Airways International Flight 311 crashes into a mountain north of Kathmandu, Nepal killing all 113 people on board.
• 1992 – China General Aviation Flight 7552 from Nanjing to Xiamen Airport crashed after taking off, killing 108 of the 116 people on board.
• 1992 – Georgia joins the United Nations.
• 1999 – Discovery Program: Lunar Prospector – NASA intentionally crashes the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the moon's surface.
• 2002 – Hebrew University of Jerusalem is attacked when a bomb explodes in a cafeteria, killing 9.
• 2006 – Fidel Castro hands over power temporarily to brother Raúl Castro.
• 2007 – Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end.

Births[link]

• 1143 – Emperor Nijo of Japan (d. 1165)
• 1396 – Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1467)
• 1527 – Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1576)
• 1598 – Alessandro Algardi, Italian sculptor and architect (d. 1654)
• 1702 – Jean Denis Attiret, French Jesuit missionary and painter (d. 1768)
• 1704 – Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician (d. 1752)
• 1718 – John Canton, English physicist (d. 1772)
• 1724 – Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer (d. 1801)
• 1737 – Princess Augusta of Great Britain (d. 1813)
• 1777 – Pedro Ignacio de Castro Barros, Argentine statesman and priest (d. 1849)
• 1800 – Friedrich Wöhler, German chemist and founder of organic chemistry (d. 1882)
• 1803 – John Ericsson, Swedish inventor and engineer (d. 1889)
• 1816 – George Henry Thomas, American general (d. 1870)
• 1825 – William S. Clark, American senator and scholar (d. 1886)
• 1835 – Henri Brisson, French statesman (d. 1912)
• 1835 – Paul du Chaillu, French explorer (d. 1903)
• 1837 – William Quantrill, American Civil War rebel guerrilla leader (d. 1865)
• 1843 – Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet (d. 1918)
• 1847 – Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban pianist and composer (d. 1905)
• 1858 – Richard Dixon Oldham, British geologist (d. 1936)
• 1860 – Mary Vaux Walcott, American artist and naturalist (d. 1940)
• 1867 – Sebastian S. Kresge, American merchant and philanthropist (d. 1966)
• 1880 – Munshi Premchand, Indian Author (d. 1936)
• 1884 – Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, German politician (d. 1945)
• 1886 – Salvatore Maranzano, Sicilian-born American organized crime figure (d. 1931)
• 1886 – Fred Quimby, American film producer (d. 1965)
• 1887 – Hans Freyer, German sociologist (d. 1969)
• 1892 – Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist, author and publisher (d. 1986)
• 1892 – Joseph Charbonneau, French-Canadian Roman Catholic archbishop (d. 1959)
• 1894 – Fred Keenor, Welsh footballer (d. 1972)
• 1901 – Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (d. 1985)
• 1904 – Brett Halliday, American writer (d. 1977)
• 1909 – Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, Austrian writer and polyglot (d. 1999)
• 1911 – George Liberace, American musician (d. 1983)
• 1912 – Bill Brown, Australian cricketer (d. 2008)
• 1912 – Milton Friedman, American economist, Nobel laureate (d. 2006)
• 1912 – Irv Kupcinet, American newspaper columnist (d. 2003)
• 1913 – Bryan Hextall, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1984)
• 1914 – Paul J. Christiansen, American choral conductor and composer (d. 1997)
• 1914 – Louis de Funès, French actor and comedian (d. 1983)
• 1916 – Billy Hitchcock, American baseball player and official (d. 2006)
• 1916 – Bill Todman, American game show producer (d. 1979)
• 1916 – Sibte Hassan, Pakistani activist (d. 1986)
• 1918 – Paul D. Boyer, American chemist, Nobel Prize Laureate
• 1918 – Hank Jones, American pianist (d. 2010)
• 1918 – Frank Renouf, New Zealand business tycoon (d. 1998)
• 1919 – Curt Gowdy, American sports announcer (d. 2006)
• 1919 – Primo Levi, Italian author and chemist (d. 1987)
• 1920 – James Esdras Faust, American religious leader (d. 2007)
• 1921 – Peter Benenson, British founder of Amnesty International (d. 2005)
• 1921 – Donald Malarkey, American World War II hero
• 1921 – Whitney Young, American civil rights activist (d. 1971)
• 1922 – Hank Bauer, American baseball player and manager (d. 2007)
• 1923 – Ahmet Ertegün, Turkish-born record company executive (d. 2006)
• 1923 – Jimmy Evert, American tennis coach and father of Chris Evert
• 1926 – Bernard Nathanson, American abortionist turned pro-life activist (d. 2011)
• 1926 – Hilary Putnam, American philosopher
• 1929 – Gilles Carle, Canadian film director and screenwriter (d. 2009)
• 1929 – Don Murray, American actor
• 1929 – Lynne Reid Banks, British author
• 1929 – José Santamaria, Uruguayan footballer
• 1930 – Oleg Popov, Russian clown
• 1931 – Nick Bollettieri, American tennis coach
• 1931 – Kenny Burrell, American guitarist
• 1931 – Ivan Rebroff, German singer (d. 2008)
• 1932 – Ted Cassidy, American actor (d. 1979)
• 1932 – John Searle, American philosopher
• 1933 – Cees Nooteboom, Dutch writer
• 1935 – Yvon Deschamps, French-Canadian author and humorist
• 1935 – Geoffrey Lewis, American actor
• 1936 – Vic Davalillo, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1939 – France Nuyen, French actress
• 1940 – Carol J. Clover, American academic
• 1940 – Roy Walker, Irish comedian and gameshow host
• 1941 – Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician (d. 2004)
• 1943 – William Bennett, 3rd United States Secretary of Education
• 1943 – Susan Flannery, American actress
• 1943 – Lobo, American singer and songwriter
• 1943 – Sab Shimono, Japanese-American actor
• 1944 – Geraldine Chaplin, American actress
• 1944 – Jonathan Dimbleby, British journalist and television presenter
• 1944 – Robert C. Merton, American mathematician
• 1945 – Gary Lewis, American vocalist (Gary Lewis & the Playboys)
• 1945 – William Weld, 68th Governor of Massachusetts
• 1946 – Bob Welch, American musician
• 1946 – Karen Zerby, American religious leader
• 1947 – Richard Griffiths, British actor
• 1950 – Lane Davies, American actor
• 1950 – Steve Miller, American writer
• 1951 – Evonne Goolagong, Australian tennis player
• 1951 – Werner Novak, German footballer
• 1951 – Barry Van Dyke, American actor
• 1952 – Chris Ahrens, American ice hockey player
• 1952 – Alan Autry, American football player and politician
• 1952 – Helmuts Balderis, Latvian hockey player
• 1952 – João Barreiros, Portuguese writer
• 1953 – Ted Baillieu, Australian politician
• 1953 – James Read, American actor
• 1953 – Jimmy Cook, South African cricketer
• 1954 – Derek Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1955 – Jakie Quartz, French singer
• 1956 – Michael Biehn, American actor
• 1956 – Bill Callahan, American football coach
• 1956 – Deval Patrick, American politician, 71st governor of Massachusetts
• 1957 – Daniel Ash, British musician (Bauhaus)
• 1957 – Dirk Blocker, American actor
• 1957 – Leon Durham, American baseball player
• 1958 – Bill Berry, American musician (R.E.M.)
• 1958 – Wally Kurth, American actor
• 1959 – Stanley Jordan, American jazz guitarist
• 1959 – Andrew Marr, British journalist and political commentator
• 1960 – Dale Hunter, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1962 – John Chiang, American politician
• 1962 – Kevin Greene, American football player
• 1962 – John Laurinaitis, American professional wrestler
• 1962 – Wesley Snipes, American actor
• 1963 – Brian Skrudland, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1963 – Norman Cook, British musician (The Housemartins, Freak Power, Beats International, Fatboy Slim)
• 1964 – Jim Corr, Irish singer and musician (The Corrs)
• 1965 – Scott Brooks, American basketball player
• 1965 – Julian Richards, British film director
• 1965 – J. K. Rowling, British writer
• 1966 – Dean Cain, American actor
• 1966 – Tatsuya Ishihara, Japanese anime director
• 1966 – Kevin Martin, Canadian Curler
• 1967 – Minako Honda, Japanese singer and musical actress (d. 2005)
• 1967 – Mitsuo Iwata, Japanese seiyū
• 1967 – Tony Massenburg, American basketball player
• 1967 – Tim Wright, Welsh composer
• 1968 – Mark Cuban, American businessman and basketball team owner
• 1968 – Saeed-Al-Saffar, UAE cricketer
• 1969 – David Cash, American professional wrestler
• 1969 – Loren Dean, American actor
• 1969 – Kenneth D. Schisler, American politician
• 1970 – Ahmad Akbarpour, Iranian writer
• 1970 – Ben Chaplin, English actor
• 1970 – Andrzej Kobylański, Polish footballer
• 1970 – Giorgos Sigalas, Greek basketball player
• 1970 – Amanda Stepto, Canadian actress
• 1970 – Dave Wedge, American journalist
• 1971 – Gus Frerotte, American football player
• 1971 – John Lowery, American guitarist
• 1972 – Giorgos Kapoutzidis, Greek screenwriter and actor
• 1973 – Nathan Brown, Australian rugby league player
• 1973 – Fabulous Flournoy American basketball player and coach Newcastle Eagles
• 1974 – Emilia Fox, English actress
• 1974 – Jonathan Ogden, American football player
• 1975 – Randy Flores, American baseball player
• 1975 – Andrew Hall, Former South African cricketer
• 1975 – Simon Hirst, British radio DJ
• 1975 – Gabe Kapler, American baseball player and manager
• 1975 – Poesy Liang, Founder of Helping Angels
• 1975 – Mike Lincoln, American baseball player
• 1975 – Ruben Patterson, American basketball player
• 1975 – Allan von Schenkel, American musician
• 1976 – Joshua Cain, American musician (Motion City Soundtrack)
• 1976 – Paulo Wanchope, Costa Rican footballer
• 1977 – Tim Couch, American football player
• 1978 – Will Champion, English musician (Coldplay)
• 1978 – Zeta Makripoulia, Greek actress, model and TV presenter
• 1978 – Nick Sorensen, American football player
• 1978 – Justin Wilson, English racing driver
• 1979 – Jaco Erasmus, South African-born Italian rugby player
• 1979 – J. J. Furmaniak, American baseball player
• 1979 – Per Krøldrup, Danish footballer
• 1979 – Jade Kwan, Hong Kong singer
• 1979 – Carlos Marchena, Spanish footballer
• 1979 – B. J. Novak, American actor
• 1980 – Mikko Hirvonen, Finnish Rally driver
• 1980 – Mils Muliaina, New Zealand rugby union player
• 1981 – Titus Bramble, English footballer
• 1981 – Eric Lively, American actor
• 1981 – J.Son Dinant, American comedian
• 1981 – Ira Losco, Maltese singer
• 1981 – Matthew Sanders, American singer (Avenged Sevenfold)
• 1982 – Jeff DaRosa, American multi-instrumentalist (Dropkick Murphys)
• 1982 – Blessing Mahwire, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1982 – DeMarcus Ware, American football player
• 1985 – Daniel Ciofani, Italian footballer
• 1985 – Rémy Di Gregorio, French cyclist
• 1986 – Evgeni Malkin, Russian ice hockey player
• 1987 – Michael Bradley, American soccer player
• 1987 – Brittany Byrnes, Australian actress
• 1988 – Krystal Meyers, American musician
• 1988 – A.J. Green, American football player
• 1989 – Victoria Azarenka, Belarusian tennis player
• 1989 – Joey Richter, American actor/singer (member of Team StarKid)
• 1990 – Besart Abdurahimi, Croatian football player of Albanian origin.
• 1991 – Réka-Luca Jani, Hungarian tennis player
• 1992 – Lizzy, South Korean idol singer (member of After School) and actress
• 1997 – Barbie Forteza, Filipina child actress
• 1998 – Rico Rodriguez II, American child actor

Deaths[link]

• 450 – Peter Chrysologus, Bishop of Ravenna
• 855 – Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Muslim Jurisprudent (b. 780)
• 1396 – William Courtenay, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1342)
• 1508 – Na'od, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1494)
• 1556 – Ignatius Loyola, Spanish priest and founder of the Jesuits (b. 1491)
• 1653 – Thomas Dudley, Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1576)
• 1726 – Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1695)
• 1750 – King John V of Portugal (b. 1689)
• 1762 – Luis Vicente de Velasco e Isla Spanish sailor and commander in the Royal Spanish Navy (b. 1711). Defending Morro Castle during Battle of Havana
• 1784 – Denis Diderot, French philosopher and encyclopedist (b. 1713)
• 1805 – Dheeran Chinnamalai, Indian Freedom Fighter (b. 1756)
• 1864 – Louis Christophe François Hachette, French publisher (b. 1800)
• 1875 – Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (b. 1808)
• 1884 – Emperor Kien Phuc, the 7th emperor of the Vietnamese Nguyễn Dynasty (d. 1869)
• 1886 – Franz Liszt, Hungarian composer (b. 1811)
• 1914 – Jean Jaurès, French politician (d. 1859)
• 1917 – Francis Ledwidge, Irish poet (b. 1881)
• 1917 – Hedd Wyn, Welsh poet (b. 1887)
• 1920 – Ion Dragoumis, Greek diplomat, writer and revolutionary (b. 1878)
• 1940 – Udham Singh, Indian Extremist Freedom Fighter(b. 1899)
• 1943 – Hedley Verity, English Test cricketer (b. 1905)
• 1944 – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French pilot and writer (b. 1900)
• 1953 – Robert Taft, U.S. Senator from Ohio and Presidential candidate (b. 1889)
• 1954 – Onofre Marimón, Argentine racing driver (b. 1923)
• 1963 – Sir Robert Chapman, British soldier and politician (b. 1880)
• 1964 – Jim Reeves, American country and popular music singer-songwriter (b. 1923)
• 1966 – Bud Powell, American jazz pianist (b. 1924)
• 1970 – Walter Briggs, Jr., American sports executive (b. 1912)
• 1972 – Paul-Henri Spaak, Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1899)
• 1973 – Azumafuji Kin'ichi, Japanese sumo wrestler (the 40th Yokozuna) and professional wrestler (b. 1921)
• 1980 – Pascual Jordan, German physicist (b. 1902)
• 1980 – Mohammed Rafi, Indian playback singer (b. 1924)
• 1981 – General Omar Torrijos of Panama (b. 1929).
• 1985 – Eugene Carson Blake, American Protestant Church leader and President of the National Council of Churches (b. 1906)
• 1986 – Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat (b. 1900)
• 1986 – Teddy Wilson, American jazz pianist (b. 1912)
• 1987 – Joseph E. Levine, American film producer (b, 1905)
• 1988 – Trinidad Silva, American actor (b. 1950)
• 1990 – Albert Leduc, French Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
• 1993 – King Baudouin I of Belgium (b. 1930)
• 1996 – Seagram Miller, American rapper (b. 1970)
• 2001 – Poul Anderson, American author (b. 1926)
• 2001 – Francisco da Costa Gomes, 16th President of Portugal (b. 1914)
• 2001 – Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (b. 1910)
• 2003 – Guido Crepax, Italian comics artist (b. 1933)
• 2004 – Virginia Grey, American actress (b. 1917)
• 2004 – Laura Betti, Italian actress (b. 1927)
• 2005 – Wim Duisenberg, Dutch banker (b. 1935)
• 2006 – Paul Eells, American sportscaster (b. 1935)
• 2009 – Sir Bobby Robson, English professional football player and manager (b. 1933)
• 2009 – Harry Alan Towers, English film producer and screenwriter (b. 1920)

Holidays and observances[link]

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Germanus of Auxerre
  • Ignatius of Loyola
  • Neot
  • July 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• End of the Trinity term (sitting of the High Court of Justice of England)
• Heroes' Day (Malaysia)
• Ka Hae Hawaiʻi Day, a Flag Day. (Hawaii)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: July 31

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann on set of his television program "The Big Picture".
Born	(1951-05-07) May 7, 1951 (age 61) Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation	Radio/TV host, political commentator, author, former psychotherapist, former entrepreneur
Spouse	Louise Hartmann
Website
thomhartmann.com

Thom Hartmann (born May 7, 1951) is an American radio host, author, former psychotherapist and entrepreneur, and progressive political commentator. His nationally-syndicated radio show, The Thom Hartmann Program, airs in the United States and has 2.75 million listeners a week.^[1] In 2008, 2009, and 2010, Talkers Magazine named Hartmann the tenth most important talk show host in America,^[2] and number 8 in 2011 defining him as the most important liberal host for four years in a row (the ones above Hartmann are conservatives).

Hartmann's article "Talking Back To Talk Radio" became part of the original business plan of Air America Radio. He replaced Al Franken on the network on February 19, 2007. On March 1, 2009, Hartmann moved syndication of his show from Air America to the former Jones Network, now owned by Dial Global (which also syndicates Neal Boortz, Ed Schultz, Michael Smerconish, Bill Press, Stephanie Miller, and Clark Howard). In the summer of 2009, his program began to also be offered to nonprofit stations via the Pacifica Radio network, and some community/nonprofit stations in the US are also carrying his show. The radio program is also simulcast as a TV program by Free Speech TV^[3] on Dish Network and DirecTV. Additionally, he stars in a one-hour daily TV show which his production company records at the studios of and licenses to the RT news network, The Big Picture; that TV show is also syndicated by Free Speech TV and carried on both Dish Network and local cable TV stations.

Hartmann is a lay scholar of the history and textual analysis of the United States Constitution; attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); Thomas Jefferson; the Assassination of John F. Kennedy; the Federalist Papers; electronic voting rigging; and environmental issues like global warming. He has authored many books on political topics and ADHD. He is the inventor of the Hunter vs. farmer theory of the condition.

Early life[link]

Hartmann was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of a staunch conservative Republican, atheist father and a Christian mother,^[4] and grew up in nearby Lansing. His paternal grandparents were from Norway.^[5] Interested in politics from a young age, he campaigned for Barry Goldwater during the 1964 presidential election when he was 13.^[6] By 1968, Hartmann was studying at Michigan State University and working as a part-time news announcer at local country music station WITL while protesting the Vietnam War with Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).^[7]

Beliefs[link]

Hartmann is considered to have progressive/liberal politics (although he describes himself as part of the radical middle).^[8] He is the author of numerous books including Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights, in which he argues that the 1886 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company (118 U.S. 394) did not actually grant corporate personhood, and that this doctrine derives from a mistaken interpretation of a Supreme Court clerk's notes. Hartmann considers this a clear contradiction of the intent of the Founding Fathers of the United States.^[9] He has also written on the separation of church and state, drawing upon the Federalist Papers to argue that the Founding Fathers warned against the notion of the United States being a Christian nation. He contends that the 2000 American election and 2004 American election were stolen through electronic tampering, denial of the voting franchise by rigged voting lists, and limiting availability of voting machines in selected precincts. He also accuses the Bush administration of eroding democracy and individual freedoms.

Hartmann is also a vocal critic of the effects of neoliberal globalization on the U.S. economy, claiming that economic policies enacted during and since the presidency of Ronald Reagan have led, in large part, to many American industrial enterprises' being acquired by multinational firms based in overseas countries, leading in many cases to manufacturing jobs' – once considered a major foundation of the U.S. economy – being relocated to countries in Asia and other areas where the costs of labor are lower than in the U.S.; and the concurrent reversal of the United States' traditional role of a leading exporter of finished manufactured goods to that of a primary importer of finished manufactured goods (exemplified by massive trade deficits with countries such as China). Hartmann argues that this phenomenon is leading to the erosion of the American middle class, whose survival Hartmann deems critical to the survival of American democracy. This argument is expressed in Hartmann's 2006 book, Screwed: The Undeclared War Against The Middle Class and What We Can Do About It. One of the book's main arguments is that media deregulation leads to corporate media's shifting the American consensus towards the acceptance of privatization and massive corporate profits – which causes the shrinking of the middle class.

In the book Ultimate Sacrifice, he and co-author Lamar Waldron argue that President John F. Kennedy's assassination resulted from a conspiracy by two mafia godfathers (Carlos Marcello and Santo Trafficante, Jr.) who took advantage of a proposed 1963 USA-sponsored coup (against Cuba's Fidel Castro) to kill the President and then hide their tracks in the resulting cover-up of the top-secret coup plans. Gore Vidal, in his recent autobiography "Point To Point Navigation" devotes much of the final two chapters of his book to praising Hartmann's and Lamar Waldron's scholarship in "solving" the JFK case (JFK was a friend of Vidal's).

Talk radio career[link]

Thom Hartmann doing his radio show, the Thom Hartmann Program.

Hartmann started in radio as a DJ (country, rock, progressive overnight) in 1968 in Lansing, Michigan, (on WITL, WVIC, WFMK) and program director at WNBY and worked full or part-time in radio while also attending school and/or running businesses in Michigan for a decade. He returned to radio in February 2003 with a show on a local station in Vermont, then a month later picked up the noon-3 PM ET slot on the i.e. America Radio Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. In 2005, he moved from Vermont to Oregon and, in addition to continuing his national show, also co-hosted a local talk show in Portland, Oregon (with Carl Wolfson, the late Heidi Tauber, and later Christine Alexander), from 2005 until early 2007 on KPOJ, initially an affiliate of Air America Radio owned by Clear Channel Communications. The KPOJ local morning 6 – 9 AM PT is now hosted by Carl Wolfson. In late 2010 Hartmann moved his show from Portland to Washington D.C.^{[citation needed]}

Hartmann's national program, on the air since 2003 and now in the 3PM to 6PM ET daypart, was chosen by Air America to replace Al Franken on most Air America affiliates in 2007.^[10] Some stations, such as The Quake in San Francisco, had already dropped or moved Franken for Hartmann, who now is, according to Talkers Magazine, America's most important liberal talker. As of March 2012, the show was carried on 81 terrestrial radio stations in 34 states as well as on Sirius and XM satellite radio. A community radio station in Africa, Radio Builsa in Ghana, also broadcasts the show. Various local cable TV networks simulcast the program.

According to his syndicator Dial Global, more people listen to Hartmann's show on more stations than any other progressive talk show in America. The Thom Hartmann Show is estimated by industry magazine Talkers to have 2.75 million unique listers per week. In addition to Dial Global, a subsidiary of Triton Media Group, the show is now also offered via Pacifica Audioport to non-profit stations in a non-profit compliant format and is simulcast on Dish Network Channel 9415 via Free Speech TV Network.

Many guests appear on the show purporting points of view on diverse social and political topics. Some guests proffer progressive views similar to Hartmann's, but more than half are conservatives, libertarians, or Ayn Rand Institute members^[11] who espouse opposing views. A vigorous debate with the host usually ensues. There are four regular guests on the program, and they are sympathetic to Hartmann's political views. Sen. Bernie Sanders (Ind.-VT) appears every Friday during the first hour of the show titled "Brunch with Bernie". Ellen Ratner of the Talk Radio News Service provides Washington commentary daily. Victoria Jones who is the White House correspondent for Talk Radio News Service appears occasionally as does Dr. Ravi Batra an economics professor at SMU.

Like all talk radio shows, The Thom Hartmann Program takes calls from listeners. When callers asked Thom how he was, he used to reply, "I'm great, but I'll get better." But after a time callers would regularly try to elicit this response so he's stopped replying this way routinely. Hartmann ends each show with the phrase, "Activism begins with you, democracy begins with you. Get out there, get active! Tag, you're it!"

TV program[link]

Hartmann produces a one hour daily TV show, The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann, which is seen worldwide on the Russian-based RT news channel, as well as on Free Speech TV; through Free Speech TV it is also seen on selected local-origination and Public-access television cable TV channels.

Business career[link]

Hartmann began his business career in the early 1970s while in his 20s, co-founding The Woodley Herber Company. Woodley Herber sold herbal products, potpourris and teas, and operated until 1978. It was during this time that Hartmann obtained three degrees in herbology and homeopathic medicine, one of which was from a diploma mill. Thereafter Hartmann moved to New Hampshire to begin The New England Salem Children's Village,^[12] which still operates in Rumney, New Hampshire. He was Executive Director of NESCT for five years, and on its board for over 25 years. NESCT's child-care model was based on that of the German Salem International organization, and through his affiliation with that group he helped start international relief programs in Uganda, Colombia, Russia, Israel, India, Australia, and several other countries between 1979 and today.

Hartmann founded International Wholesale Travel and its retail subsidiary Sprayberry Travel in Atlanta in 1983, a business which in the intervening years^{[clarification needed]} has generated over a quarter of a billion dollars in revenue.^{[citation needed]} According to their website, Sprayberry Travel was lauded by the Wall Street Journal in 1984 for being one of the early adopters of frequent travel programs analogous to the recently initiated frequent flyer programs of the airline industry.^[13] He sold his share in the business in 1986 and retired with his family to Germany to work with the international relief organization Salem International.^[14] In the late 1970s, he had been a trainer in advertising and marketing for The American Marketing Centers (now defunct), and in 1987 after returning from Germany founded the Atlanta advertising agency Chandler, MacDonald, Stout, Schneiderman & Poe, Inc., which did business as The Newsletter Factory.^[15] He sold his interest in that company in 1996 and retired to Vermont.

Other areas of notability[link]

Hartmann is a writer who has published more than twenty books on diverse topics. The title which won the most critical acclaim is The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight. In 1999 he was invited by the Dalai Lama to spend a week in Dharamsala after the Dalai Lama finished reading this book. Hartmann won the Project Censored Award in 2004 for Unequal Protection. As a result of a book on spirituality, The Prophet's Way, he was invited in 1998 to meet Pope John Paul II.

Trained in the 1970s in Neuro-Linguistic Programming by Richard Bandler (Hartmann is licensed by Bandler's Society of NLP as both an NLP Practitioner and an NLP Trainer, and Bandler wrote the foreword to his book "Healing ADD"), Hartmann popularized some of its concepts in Cracking the Code (2007), which argues that Newt Gingrich and Frank Luntz made use of them in the 1980s and 1990s for Republican Party causes and advocates using them to advance liberalism. His book "Healing ADD" also leans heavily on NLP techniques. His book on the JFK Assassination (written with Lamar Waldron) titled "Ultimate Sacrifice" is cited extensively in the last two chapters of Gore Vidal's recent autobiography as having "finally solved" that case.

Hartmann was one of several contributors to Air America, the Playbook, a 300 plus page collection of essays, transcripts, and interviews by liberal radio personalities. It was published shortly before the 2006 Congressional elections and was on The New York Times Best Seller list for October 8, 2006.^[16]

Leonardo DiCaprio made a web movie titled "Global Warning" that was inspired by The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight. Hartmann appears in DiCaprio's 2007 documentary The 11th Hour, as well as the feature documentary film Dalai Lama Renaissance (with Harrison Ford), and Crude Impact.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder[link]

Hartmann has authored in the area of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and adult attention-deficit disorder (AADD) and is the creator (first proposed by him in 1978, first published nationally in 1992) of the now well-known hunter vs. farmer theory that ADD is an expected evolutionary adaptation to hunting lifestyles. These individuals have the ability of rapidly shifting their focus and external attention and of holding multiple trains of thought. This ability causes difficulties when they must live and work in cultures in which "farming" – well-planned, predictable, organized and repetitive behaviors – is typical. His first book on the disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder: a Different Perception was described by Scientific American as "innovative and fresh".^[17] Hartmann has established specialized schools^[quantify] for children with ADHD, such as The Hunter School in Rumney, New Hampshire,^[18] which he co-founded with his wife Louise.

He also operated the "ADD Forum" and "DeskTop Publishing Forum", along with several others, on CompuServe.^[19]

Bibliography[link]

• 2011: Rebooting the American Dream: 11 Ways to Rebuild Our Country. Berrett-Koehler. ISBN 978-1-60509-706-0. 
• 2010 (second edition): Unequal Protection: How Corporations Became "People" – And How You Can Fight Back. Berrett-Koehler. ISBN 1-60509-559-1. 
• 2009: Threshold: The Crisis of Western Culture. Viking. ISBN 0-670-02091-5. 
• 2008: Legacy of Secrecy: The Long Shadow of the JFK Assassination (by Lamar Waldron with Thom Hartmann). Counterpoint. ISBN 1-58243-535-9. 
• 2007: Cracking The Code: How to Win Hearts, Change Minds, and Restore America's Original Vision. Berrett-Koehler. ISBN 978-1-57675-458-0. 
• 2006: Screwed: The Undeclared War Against The Middle Class and What We Can Do About It. Berrett-Koehler. ISBN 1-57675-414-6. 
• 2006: Walking Your Blues Away: Practical Bilateral Therapies for Healing the Mind and Optimizing Emotional Well-Being. Park Street Press. ISBN 1-59477-144-8. 
• 2005: Ultimate Sacrifice: John and Robert Kennedy, the Plan for a Coup in Cuba, and the Murder of JFK. Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0-7867-1441-7.  by Lamar Waldron, with Thom Hartmann
• 2004: What Would Jefferson Do?. Harmony Books. ISBN 1-882109-38-4. 
• 2004: We the People: A Call to Take Back America. Coreway Media, Inc.. ISBN 1-4000-5208-4. 
• 2004 (revised ed.): Unequal Protection. Rodale Books. ISBN 1-57954-955-1. 
• 2004 (revised ed. – first ed. 1998): The Prophet's Way. Park Street Press. ISBN 0-89281-198-6. 
• 2004 (revised ed. – first ed. 1997): Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 1-4000-5157-6. 
• 2003: The Edison Gene. Park Street Press. ISBN 0-89281-128-5. 
• 2000: Thom Hartmann's Complete Guide to ADHD: Help for Your Family at Home, School and Work. Underwood Books. ISBN 1-887424-52-0. 
• 2000: The Greatest Spiritual Secret of the Century. Hampton Roads. ISBN 1-57174-166-6. 
• 1998: Healing ADD. Underwood Books. ISBN 1-887424-37-7. 
• 1996: Beyond ADD. Underwood Books. ISBN 1-887424-12-1. 
• 1996: Think Fast!. Underwood Books. ISBN 1-887424-08-3.  by Thom Hartmann and Jane Bowman, with Susan Burgess
• 1995: ADD Success Stories. Underwood Books. ISBN 1-887424-03-2. 
• 1994: Focus Your Energy: Hunting for Success in Business. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-51689-2. 
• 1994: ADHD Secrets of Success: Coaching Yourself to Fulfillment in the Business World. Select Books. ISBN 1-59079-017-0. 
• 1992 (first edition): ADD: A Different Perception. Underwood Books. ISBN 1-887424-14-8. 

References[link]

External links[link]

• ThomHartmann.com Official site. Includes information on and streaming of the radio and TV shows, essays, chatroom, and a discussion board.
• Past episodes of The Big Picture on YouTube
• Various video clips at BigPicture.tv Hartmann speaking on various topics.
• Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class and What We Can Do About It, Hartmann talks about his book in a video at Fora TV.
• Thom Hartmann with the Dalai Lama Videos made during the filming of the documentary Dalai Lama Renaissance.
• "When Democracy Fails" Podcast on Google Video.
• C-SPAN Q&A interview with Hartmann, February 7, 2010

Justin Verlander
Verlander warming up before a game.
Detroit Tigers – No. 35
Starting pitcher
Born: (1983-02-20) February 20, 1983 (age 29) Manakin-Sabot, Virginia
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
July 4, 2005 for the Detroit Tigers
Career statistics (through May 29, 2012)
Win–Loss record	112–60
Earned run average	3.48
Strikeouts	1,297
Teams
Detroit Tigers (2005–present)
Career highlights and awards
4× MLB All-Star (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011) AL Rookie of the Year (2006) AL MVP (2011) AL Cy Young Award (2011) Pitched a no-hitter on June 12, 2007 against the Milwaukee Brewers. Pitched a second no-hitter on May 7, 2011 against the Toronto Blue Jays. Led AL in strikeouts (269), innings pitched (240), and tied in wins (19) in 2009. AL pitching Triple Crown (2011) AL TSN Pitcher of the Year (2011) Sporting News Player of the Year (2011) Led AL in strikeouts (250), wins (24), ERA (2.40) and WHIP (0.92) in 2011.

Medal record
Baseball
Competitor for  United States
Pan American Games
Silver	Santo Domingo 2003	Baseball at the 2003 Pan American Games

Justin Brooks Verlander (born February 20, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher with the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball.

In 2006, he was named the American League Rookie of the Year. On June 12, 2007, he pitched a no-hitter—the first ever at Comerica Park—against the Milwaukee Brewers, striking out 12 batters and walking four.^[1] He pitched a second no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays on May 7, 2011, in Toronto, walking one and facing the minimum 27 batters.^[2] On November 15, 2011, Verlander was named the 2011 AL Cy Young Award winner by a unanimous vote, becoming the first American League pitcher since Johan Santana in 2006 to win the award in such a fashion. On November 21, 2011, Verlander was voted the AL MVP, winning with 280 points over Jacoby Ellsbury's 242, completing a sweep of the Cy Young Award and MVP, a rare feat for a pitcher in the modern era.^[3]

Playing career[link]

Amateur career[link]

His father Richard, who was president of the local Richmond, Virginia chapter of the Communications Workers of America, sent Justin to The Richmond Baseball Academy. Justin clocked 84 mph (135 km/h) shortly after joining the academy. His velocity kept climbing, and hit 86 MPH by the time he entered Goochland High School. He had been a top pitching prospect in high school, but his career suffered a setback when he came down with strep throat early in his senior season of baseball. A weakened Verlander topped out at 81 during that season, causing professional scouts to lose interest.^[4] After he recovered, his velocity reached 87 during his first year at Old Dominion.

Verlander, a 6' 5" 200 pound (1.96 m, 91 kg) right-hander, pitched for the Old Dominion University baseball team for three years. On May 17, 2002, he struck out a then school record 17 batters against James Madison. In 2003, he set a school single-season record by recording 139 strikeouts; in 2004, he broke his own record and established a new Colonial Athletic Association record with 151 strikeouts. Verlander completed his career as the all-time strikeout leader in Old Dominion, the Colonial Athletic Association and the Commonwealth of Virginia (Division I) history with 427 in 335⅔ innings. During his three years, he averaged 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings, and his career collegiate earned run average was 2.57.

Verlander pitched for Team USA in 2003 and helped the USA to a silver medal in the Pan Am Games. He was named CAA Rookie of the Year in 2002 and earned All-CAA honors in 2003 and 2004. Verlander was named the ODU Alumni Association's Male Athlete of the Year in 2004, and was the second overall pick in the 2004 Baseball draft by Detroit.

Minor leagues[link]

Verlander's professional baseball career began when the Detroit Tigers selected him second overall in the 2004 MLB Draft. After lengthy negotiations, he signed a contract on October 25, 2004. Verlander started the 2005 season for the Lakeland Tigers, where he showed surprisingly good control. He was rewarded with a brief appearance in the majors, making his first major league start against the Cleveland Indians on July 4, 2005. After two starts in the majors, he returned to the minor leagues pitching for the Erie SeaWolves, the AA affiliate of the Tigers.

Major leagues[link]

2006[link]

Verlander and his teammates celebrate after the final out of his first no-hitter.

In his first full season, Verlander went 17–9 with a 3.63 ERA, striking out 124 batters in 186 innings. On July 4, 2006, at McAfee Coliseum in Oakland, California, Verlander, Joel Zumaya, and Fernando Rodney each threw multiple fastballs clocked in at over 100 mph (160 km/h), becoming the first time in MLB history that three pitchers, on the same team, had done so during a game. He allowed only one stolen base in 2006 and picked off 7 baserunners. In 2006, he became the first rookie pitcher in the history of the game to win 10 games before the end of June, which eventually led to him being named AL Rookie of the Year at the end of the season. During Game 1 of the 2006 World Series, Verlander was the Tigers' starting pitcher against Anthony Reyes of the St. Louis Cardinals; the first time two rookies faced off to start a World Series.

2007[link]

His success continued in 2007, as he accumulated 18 wins and posted a 3.66 ERA with 183 strikeouts 201⅔ innings. On June 12, Verlander recorded a no-hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers, striking out 12 and hitting 102 MPH on the radar gun.

2008[link]

In 2008, Verlander performed poorly to start the season. He lost 4 consecutive games before winning his first one. He led the A.L. in losses, totaling 17. Overall, he finished the 2008 season with a 11-17 win-loss record and an ERA of 4.84.

2009[link]

His 2009 season proved successful. He finished with a 19–9 record, an ERA of 3.45 and an MLB-leading 269 strikeouts.^[5] Verlander finished third in the AL Cy Young Award voting behind winner Zack Greinke and runner-up Felix Hernandez.

2010[link]

On February 4, 2010, it was announced that Verlander and the Tigers had reached a deal for an $80 million, 5 year contract extension.^[6] On July 3, Verlander earned his 10th win of the season. This marked the fourth time in five years he has had double digit wins before the All-Star break. On September 18 Verlander beat the Chicago White Sox, throwing a complete game to earn his 17th win of the season. With that win he became the first pitcher to win 17 games in 4 of his first 5 seasons since Dwight Gooden.^[7] He would finish 2010 with an 18–9 record and 3.37 ERA.

2011[link]

On April 22, Verlander recorded his 1,000th career strikeout in a 9–3 win over the White Sox, becoming the 15th Tiger to do so.^[8] On May 7, he recorded his second career no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays, throwing four strikeouts, walking one batter and throwing at a maximum speed of 101 MPH on the radar gun. He carried a perfect game into the 8th inning before allowing a walk to J. P. Arencibia, who was the only man to reach base for the game.^[2] Verlander became the second Tigers pitcher since Virgil Trucks, and the thirtieth pitcher in the history of baseball, to throw multiple no-hitters. On his next start, against the Kansas City Royals on May 13, Verlander took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before surrendering a triple. Altogether, he pitched 15⅔ consecutive no-hit innings, spread over three starts.

On June 14, Verlander took a no-hitter into the eighth inning. He pitched 7⅓ innings until he gave up a base hit to Cleveland's Orlando Cabrera. Verlander ended up with a complete game shutout allowing two hits. In his next start on June 19, he threw another complete game allowing a solo home run to Ty Wigginton.^[9] On June 25, he recorded a career-high 14 strikeouts against Arizona.^[10] On July 3, 2011, Verlander was selected to his fourth AL All-Star team, but he was unable to participate in the game due to the scheduling of his starts. On July 31, 2011, Verlander took a no-hitter into the eighth inning before surrendering a single to Maicer Izturis. He walked two and struck out nine. On August 11, Justin won his 100th major league game against the Cleveland Indians. On August 27, he became the first pitcher in the major leagues to attain 20 wins in the current season. The victory also made Verlander the first Tiger since Bill Gullickson in 1991 to win 20 games, and the first major leaguer since Curt Schilling in 2002 to reach 20 wins before the end of August.^[11]

By the end of the season, Verlander had won the Triple Crown of pitching in the AL, leading the league in wins (24), strikeouts (250; tied for 6th-most in Tigers history), and ERA (2.40).^[12] Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw clinched the NL Triple Crown earlier in the week, making it the first since 1924 that a season featured a Triple Crown pitcher in both leagues. Verlander also led the AL in innings pitched (251), win-loss percentage (.828; 6th-best in Tigers history), and in errors committed by a pitcher (5).^[13] Throughout the season, he never had an outing in which he threw fewer than 6 innings or 100 pitches. Through 2011, Verlander had the best career strikeouts-per-9-innings-pitched percentage in Tigers' history (8.3), and the second-best career win-loss percentage (.652; also the fourth-best percentage of all active pitchers).^[13][14]

Verlander received various awards for his play in 2011. Those awards included the AL TSN Pitcher of the Year, The Sporting News Player of the Year Award, a Players Choice Award for Player the Year and Most Outstanding American League pitcher, and a USA Today American League Cy Young.

On November 3, 2011, Verlander was named the cover athlete of Major League Baseball 2K12.^[15]

On November 15, the Baseball Writers Association of America announced that Verlander had unanimously won the 2011 AL Cy Young Award.^[16]

On November 21, 2011, it was announced that Verlander had also won the AL MVP Award, a rarity for a pitcher, in a much closer vote. Verlander edged out Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury, 280 points to 242 points, while collecting 13 of 28 first-place votes.^[17] He became the first pitcher to claim an AL MVP Award since Dennis Eckersley in 1992, the first starting pitcher to do so since Roger Clemens in 1986, and the third Tiger to do so in franchise history (joining Denny McLain and Hal Newhouser).

2012[link]

On May 18, Verlander took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates before giving up a one-out single in a 6-0 victory. It was his first-career complete game one-hitter, his 16th complete game overall, and sixth career shutout. Verlander, who struck out 12 in the game, was hitting the upper-90s and even 100 mph into the eighth inning.^[18]

Pitch repertoire[link]

He features two fastballs: a four-seamer in the high-90s (which routinely pushes and occasionally eclipses 100 MPH) and a two-seamer in the low- to mid-90s with good arm-side run. He also throws a 12–6 curveball in the 78–83 mph range, a circle changeup in the low to mid-80s, and a slider which he throws 83–89 mph. Observers frequently note that Verlander's fastball regularly registers in the high-90s, and the velocity of the pitch remains relatively uniform throughout the course of a game. Many attribute Verlander's success to his outstanding endurance.^[19]

Awards and accolades[link]

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	Baseball portal

• List of Major League Baseball strikeout champions
• List of Major League Baseball wins champions
• List of Major League Baseball no-hitters

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Justin Verlander

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)