On This Day: Thursday August 11, 2005 This is the 223rd day of the year, with 142 days remaining in 2005. Fact of the Day: watermelon Watermelon is a succulent fruit of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), native to tropical Africa, but under cultivation on every continent except Antarctica. Its vines grow prostrate, with branched tendrils, deeply cut leaves, and flowers borne singly in the axil of a leaf. Each light yellow flower produces either pollen or fruit. The sweet, juicy flesh may be reddish, white, or yellow. Flesh color, shape of the fruit, and thickness of the rind depend on the variety. The history of watermelons is a long one; there is a Sanskrit word for watermelon, and fruits are depicted by early Egyptian artists, indicating an antiquity in agriculture of more than 4,000 years. Watermelon contains vitamin A and some vitamin C and it is 92% water. Watermelon is the third most popular fruit in the United States; however, it is really a vegetable (Citrullus lanatus), a cousin of the cucumber. Holidays Feast day of St. Attracta or Araght, St. Clare of Assisi, St. Tiburtius, St. Susanna, St. Equitius, St. Alexander of Comana, St. Lelia, St. Blane, St. Gerard of Gallinaro, and St. Gery or Gaugericus. Chad: Independence Day. Zimbabwe: Heroes' Day. Events 1874 - Harry S. Parmelee of New Haven, Connecticut, received a patent for the sprinkler head. 1934 - The first federal prisoners arrived at the island prison Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay. 1952 - Prince Hussein was proclaimed the king of Jordan after his father, King Talal, was declared unfit to rule by the Jordanian Parliament on grounds of mental illness. 1954 - Vietnam was partitioned under the terms of the Geneva Accords. 1960 - Chad gained its independence from France. 1965 - The Watts Riots began; in the predominantly black Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, racial tension reached a breaking point after two white policemen scuffle with a black motorist suspected of drunken driving. 1992 - The Mall of America, the biggest shopping mall in the country, opened in Bloomington, Minnesota. 1997 - President Bill Clinton made the first use of the historic line-item veto approved by Congress, rejecting three items in spending and tax bills. Births 1807 - David Atchison, American politician, organizer of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company. 1861 - James Bryan Herrick, American physician who isolated sickle-cell anemia. 1921 - Alex Haley, American Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Deaths 1919 - Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-born American industrialist and philanthropist. 1956 - Jackson Pollock, American painter.