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Almanac

Today is Saturday, August 29, the 241st day of 2015. There are 124 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast near Buras, Louisiana, bringing floods that devastated New Orleans. More than 1,800 people in the region died.

On this date:

In 1533, the last Incan King of Peru, Atahualpa (ah-tuh-WAHL’-puh), was executed on orders of Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro.

In 1814, during the War of 1812, Alexandria, Virginia, formally surrendered to British military forces, which occupied the city until September 3.

In 1864, the Democratic National Convention, which nominated Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan for president, opened in Chicago.

In 1877, the second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Brigham Young, died in Salt Lake City, Utah, at age 76.

In 1915, Academy Award-winning actress Ingrid Bergman was born in Stockholm, Sweden. (Bergman died in London on this date in 1982 at age 67.)

In 1935, the film “Top Hat,” starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

In 1944, 15,000 American troops of the 28th Infantry Division marched down the Champs Elysees (shahms ay-lee-ZAY’) in Paris as the French capital continued to celebrate its liberation from the Nazis.

In 1958, pop superstar Michael Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana.

In 1964, Roy Orbison’s single “Oh, Pretty Woman” was released on the Monument label.

In 1965, Gemini 5, carrying astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles “Pete” Conrad, splashed down in the Atlantic after 8 days in space.

In 1975, Irish statesman Eamon de Valera (AY’-muhn dehv-uh-LEHR’-uh) died near Dublin at age 92.

In 1987, Academy Award-winning actor Lee Marvin died in Tucson, Arizona, at age 63.

Ten years ago: Economist Jude Wanniski, who advocated tax cuts as economic stimulus and was credited with coining the term “supply-side economics,” died in Morristown, New Jersey, at age 69.

Five years ago: Five years after Hurricane Katrina’s wrath, President Barack Obama sought to reassure disaster-weary Gulf Coast residents during a speech at Xavier University that he would not abandon their cause.

Almanac

Today is Friday, August 28, the 240th day of 2015. There are 125 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 28, 1955, Emmett Till, a black teen-ager from Chicago, was abducted from his uncle’s home in Money, Mississippi, by two white men after he had supposedly whistled at a white woman; he was found brutally slain three days later.

On this date:

In 1609, English sea explorer Henry Hudson and his ship, the Half Moon, reached present-day Delaware Bay.

In 1862, the Second Battle of Bull Run (also known as Second Manassas) began in Prince William County, Virginia, during the Civil War; the result was a Confederate victory.

In 1922, the first-ever radio commercial aired on station WEAF in New York City; the 10-minute advertisement was for the Queensboro Realty Co., which had paid a fee of $100.

In 1944, during World War II, German forces in Toulon and Marseille, France, surrendered to Allied troops. In 1945, the Allies began occupying Japan at the end of World War II.

In 1963, more than 200,000 people listened as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Thursday, August 27, the 239th day of 2015. There are 126 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 27, 1975, Haile Selassie (HY’-lee sehl-AH’-see), the last emperor of Ethiopia’s 3,000-year-old monarchy, died in Addis Ababa at age 83 almost a year after being overthrown.

On this date:

In 1776, the Battle of Long Island began during the Revolutionary War as British troops attacked American forces, who ended up being forced to retreat two days later.

In 1883, the island volcano Krakatoa erupted with a series of cataclysmic explosions; the resulting tidal waves in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait claimed some 36,000 lives in Java and Sumatra.

In 1908, Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th president of the United States, was born near Stonewall, Texas.

In 1928, the Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed in Paris, outlawing war and providing for the peaceful settlement of disputes.

In 1939, the first turbojet-powered aircraft, the Heinkel He 178, went on its first full-fledged test flight over Germany.

In 1949, a violent white mob prevented an outdoor concert headlined by Paul Robeson from taking place near Peekskill, New York. (The concert was held eight days later.)

In 1957, the USS Swordfish, the second Skate Class nuclear submarine, was launched from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine.

In 1962, the United States launched the Mariner 2 space probe, which flew past Venus in December 1962.

In 1965, influential Swiss-born architect Le Corbusier, 77, died in Cap Martin, France.

In 1979, British war hero Lord Louis Mountbatten and three other people, including his 14-year-old grandson Nicholas, were killed off the coast of Ireland in a boat explosion claimed by the Irish Republican Army.

In 1989, the first U.S. commercial satellite rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida – a Delta booster carrying a British communications satellite, the Marcopolo 1.

In 2008, Barack Obama was nominated for president by the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Ten years ago: Coastal residents jammed freeways and gas stations as they rushed to get out of the way of Hurricane Katrina, which was headed toward New Orleans. President George W. Bush asked Americans in his weekly radio address to be patient with the U.S. military mission in Iraq as thousands of pro-Bush and anti-war demonstrators competed for attention in his tiny hometown of Crawford, Texas.

Five years ago: Aijalon Gomes (EYE’-jah-lahn gohms), an American held seven months in North Korea for trespassing, stepped off a plane in his hometown of Boston accompanied by former President Jimmy Carter, who had flown to Pyongyang to negotiate his freedom. Cuba issued a pair of surprising free market decrees, allowing foreign investors to lease government land for at least 99 years and loosening state controls on commerce to let citizens grow and sell their own fruits and vegetables.

One year ago: Both Israel’s prime minister and Hamas declared victory in the Gaza war, though their competing claims left questions over future terms of their uneasy peace still lingering.

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Wednesday, August 26, the 238th day of 2015. There are 127 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing American women’s right to vote, was certified in effect by Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby.

On this date:

In 1789, France’s National Assembly adopted its Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

In 1883, the island volcano Krakatoa began cataclysmic eruptions, leading to a massive explosion the following day.

In 1939, the first televised major league baseball games were shown on experimental station W2XBS: a double-header between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. (The Reds won the first game, 5-2, the Dodgers the second, 6-1.)

In 1944, French Gen. Charles de Gaulle braved the threat of German snipers as he led a victory march in Paris, which had just been liberated by the Allies from Nazi occupation.

In 1958, Alaskans went to the polls to overwhelmingly vote in favor of statehood.

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson was nominated for a term of office in his own right at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

In 1968, the Democratic National Convention opened in Chicago.

In 1972, the summer Olympics games opened in Munich, West Germany.

In 1978, Cardinal Albino Luciani (al-BEE’-noh loo-CHYAH’-nee) of Venice was elected pope following the death of Paul VI. The new pontiff took the name Pope John Paul I. (However, he died just over a month later.)

In 1985, 13-year-old AIDS patient Ryan White began “attending” classes at Western Middle School in Kokomo, Indiana, via a telephone hook-up at his home after school officials had barred Ryan from participating in person.

In 1996, Democrats opened their 42nd national convention in Chicago.

In 2009, authorities in California solved the 18-year disappearance of Jaycee Lee Dugard after she appeared at a parole office with her children and the Antioch couple who’d kidnapped her when she was 11.

Ten years ago: Utility crews in South Florida scrambled to restore power to more than 1 million customers blacked out by Hurricane Katrina, which continued to churn in the Gulf of Mexico. A fire raced through a crowded, rundown Paris apartment building housing African immigrants, killing 17 people, mainly children.

Five years ago: The government of Chile released a video of the 33 miners trapped deep in a copper mine; the men appeared slim but healthy as they sang the national anthem and yelled, “Long live Chile, and long live the miners!”

One year ago: In a speech to the American Legion’s national convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, President Barack Obama defended his administration’s response to Veterans Affairs lapses that had delayed health care for thousands of former service members, but conceded more needed to be done to regain their trust. Burger King announced it would buy Canadian restaurant chain Tim Hortons in an $11 billion deal to create the world’s third largest fast-food chain.

Today’s Birthdays: Actress Francine York is 79. Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is 70.

Thought for Today: “While we read history we make history.” – George William Curtis, American author-editor (1824-1892).

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday, August 25, the 237th day of 2015. There are 128 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 25, 1985, Samantha Smith, 13, the schoolgirl whose letter to Yuri V. Andropov resulted in her famous peace tour of the Soviet Union, died with her father, Arthur, and six other people in a commuter plane crash in Auburn, Maine.

On this date:

In 1718, hundreds of French colonists arrived in Louisiana, with some settling in present-day New Orleans.

In 1825, Uruguay declared independence from Brazil.

In 1916, the National Park Service was established within the Department of the Interior.

In 1921, the United States signed a peace treaty with Germany.

In 1944, during World War II, Paris was liberated by Allied forces after four years of Nazi occupation. Romania declared war on former ally Germany.

In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a measure providing pensions for former U.S. presidents and their widows.

In 1965, former baseball player-turned-doctor Archibald “Moonlight” Graham, who’d briefly played in only one major league game (for the New York Giants), died in Chisholm, Minnesota, at age 87.

In 1975, the Bruce Springsteen album “Born to Run” was released by Columbia Records.

In 1980, the Broadway musical “42nd Street” opened. (Producer David Merrick stunned the cast and audience during the curtain call by announcing that the show’s director, Gower Champion, had died earlier that day.)

In 1981, the U.S. spacecraft Voyager 2 came within 63,000 miles of Saturn’s cloud cover, sending back pictures of and data about the ringed planet.

In 1989, Voyager 2 made its closest approach to Neptune, its final planetary target.

In 2009, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the liberal lion of the U.S. Senate, died at age 77 in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, after a battle with a brain tumor.

Ten years ago: Hurricane Katrina hit Florida with 80 mph winds and headed into the Gulf of Mexico. The base closing commission voted to shut down the Army’s historic Walter Reed hospital and move much of its staff and services to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The Miss America pageant announced it was leaving Atlantic City, New Jersey, its home for 84 years. (The pageant ended up moving to Las Vegas, but moved back to Atlantic City in 2013.)

Five years ago: North Korea welcomed Jimmy Carter back to Pyongyang as the former U.S. president arrived to bring home Aijalon Mahli Gomes (EYE’-jah-lahn MAH’-lee gohms), an American jailed in the communist country since January 2010 for entering the country illegally from China.

One year ago: A funeral was held in St. Louis for Michael Brown, the unarmed 18-year-old shot to death by a police officer in suburban Ferguson on August 9. At the Emmy Awards, ABC’s “Modern Family” won best comedy series for the fifth time, while the final season of AMC’s “Breaking Bad” captured the top drama award and a trio of acting honors for its stars, including Bryan Cranston.

Today’s Birthdays: Game show host Monty Hall is 94. Actor Sean Connery is 85. Actor Page Johnson is 85. TV personality Regis Philbin is 84. Actor Tom Skerritt is 82. Jazz musician Wayne Shorter is 82.

Thought for Today: “Tradition is what you resort to when you don’t have the time or the money to do it right.” – Kurt Herbert Adler, Austrian-born conductor (1905-1988).

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Monday, August 24, the 236th day of 2015. There are 129 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 24, A.D. 79, long-dormant Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in volcanic ash; an estimated 20,000 people died.

On this date:

In 1572, the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre of French Protestants at the hands of Catholics began in Paris.

In 1814, during the War of 1812, British forces invaded Washington D.C., setting fire to the Capitol (which was still under construction) and the White House, as well as other public buildings.

In 1821, the Treaty of Cordoba was signed, granting independence to Mexico from Spanish rule.

In 1912, Congress passed a measure creating the Alaska Territory. Congress approved legislation establishing Parcel Post delivery by the U.S. Post Office Department, slated to begin on January 1, 1913.

In 1932, Amelia Earhart embarked on a 19-hour flight from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, making her the first woman to fly solo, non-stop, from coast to coast.

In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty came into force.

In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Communist Control Act, outlawing the Communist Party in the United States.

In 1964, the first Roman Catholic Mass celebrated in English took place at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis.

In 1970, an explosives-laden van left by anti-war extremists blew up outside the University of Wisconsin’s Sterling Hall in Madison, killing 33-year-old researcher Robert Fassnacht.

In 1989, Baseball Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti (juh-MAH’-tee) banned Pete Rose from the game for betting on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds.

In 1992, Hurricane Andrew smashed into Florida, causing $30 billion in damage; 43 U.S. deaths were blamed on the storm.

In 2006, the International Astronomical Union declared that Pluto was no longer a planet, demoting it to the status of a “dwarf planet.”

Ten years ago: Tropical Depression 12 strengthened into Tropical Storm Katrina over the central Bahamas. A federal commission voted against closing the New London submarine base in Groton, Connecticut, and the Portsmouth shipyard in Kittery, Maine. Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson apologized for calling for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (OO’-goh CHAH’-vez).

Five years ago: A Chinese passenger jet broke apart and burst into flames as it hit the runway, killing 42 people and injuring 54 others.

Thought for Today: “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” – Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher (born and died in the 6th century, B.C.E.).

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Saturday, August 22, the 234th day of 2015. There are 131 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 22, 1485, England’s King Richard III was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field, effectively ending the War of the Roses.

On this date:

In 1787, inventor John Fitch demonstrated his steamboat on the Delaware River to delegates from the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

In 1846, Gen. Stephen W. Kearny proclaimed all of New Mexico a territory of the United States.

In 1851, the schooner America outraced more than a dozen British vessels off the English coast to win a trophy that came to be known as the America’s Cup.

In 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war against Belgium.

In 1922, Irish revolutionary Michael Collins was shot to death, apparently by Irish Republican Army members opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty that Collins had co-signed.

In 1932, the British Broadcasting Corp. conducted its first experimental television broadcast, using a 30-line mechanical system.

In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon were nominated for second terms in office by the Republican National Convention in San Francisco. In 1962, French President Charles de Gaulle survived an attempt on his life in suburban Paris.

In 1968, Pope Paul VI arrived in Bogota, Colombia, for the start of the first papal visit to South America.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon was nominated for a second term of office by the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach.

In 1985, 55 people died when fire broke out aboard a British Airtours charter jet on a runway at Manchester Airport in England.

In 1989, Black Panthers co-founder Huey P. Newton was shot to death in Oakland, California. (Gunman Tyrone Robinson was later sentenced to 32 years to life in prison.)

Ten years ago: The last Jewish settlers left Gaza, making way for the Palestinian government. During a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Salt Lake City, President George W. Bush compared the fight against terrorism to both world wars and other great conflicts of the 20th century. Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson suggested on “The 700 Club” that American operatives assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (OO’-goh CHAH’-vez), whom he called a “terrific danger” to the United States. (Robertson later apologized, saying he had spoken out of frustration.)

Thought for Today: “There are mighty few people who think what they think they think.” – Robert Henri, American artist

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Friday, August 21, the 233th day of 2015. There are 132 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 21, 1945, President Harry S. Truman ended the Lend-Lease program that had shipped some $50 billion in aid supplies to America’s allies during World War II.

On this date:

In 1831, Nat Turner led a violent slave rebellion in Virginia resulting in the deaths of at least 55 white people. (He was later executed.)

In 1858, the first of seven debates between Illinois senatorial contenders Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas took place.

In 1911, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. (The painting was recovered two years later in Italy.)

In 1940, exiled Communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky died in a Mexican hospital from wounds inflicted by an assassin the day before.

In 1944, the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union and China opened talks at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington that helped pave the way for establishment of the United Nations. (The talks concluded on October 7.)

In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order making Hawaii the 50th state.

In 1963, martial law was declared in South Vietnam as police and army troops began a violent crackdown on Buddhist anti-government protesters.

In 1972, the Republican National Convention opened in Miami Beach.

In 1983, Philippine opposition leader Benigno S. Aquino Jr., ending a self-imposed exile in the United States, was shot dead moments after stepping off a plane at Manila International Airport. The musical play “La Cage Aux Folles” opened on Broadway.

In 1991, the hard-line coup against Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev collapsed in the face of a popular uprising led by Russian Federation President Boris N. Yeltsin.

In 1993, in a serious setback for NASA, engineers lost contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft as it was about to reach the red planet on a $980 million mission.

In 1995, ABC News settled a $10 billion libel suit by apologizing to Philip Morris for reporting the tobacco giant had manipulated the amount of nicotine in its cigarettes.

Ten years ago: Pope Benedict XVI triumphantly ended his four-day trip to his native Germany, celebrating an open-air Mass for a million people in Cologne. Robert A. Moog (mohg), whose electronic synthesizers revolutionized music in the 1960s, died in Asheville, North Carolina, at age 71.

Five years ago: Iranian and Russian engineers began loading fuel into Iran’s first nuclear power plant, which Moscow promised to safeguard to prevent material at the site from being used in any potential weapons production. A Vincent van Gogh painting, “Poppy Flowers,” was stolen in broad daylight from Cairo’s Mahmoud Khalil Museum. (Although Egyptian authorities initially said they’d recovered the painting the same day at the Cairo airport, ; the painting remains missing.)

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Thursday, August 20, the 232nd day of 2015. There are 133 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlights in History:

On August 20, 1940, during World War II, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill paid tribute to the Royal Air Force before the House of Commons, saying, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” Exiled Communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky was assassinated in Coyoacan, Mexico by Ramon Mercader, a Spanish Communist agent working at the behest of Josef Stalin. (Trotsky died the next day.)

On this date:

In 1833, Benjamin Harrison, 23rd president of the United States, was born in North Bend, Ohio.

In 1866, President Andrew Johnson formally declared the Civil War over, months after fighting had stopped.

In 1882, Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” had its premiere in Moscow.

In 1910, a series of forest fires swept through parts of Idaho, Montana and Washington, killing at least 85 people and burning some 3 million acres.

In 1914, German forces occupied Brussels, Belgium, during World War I.

In 1953, the Soviet Union publicly acknowledged it had tested a hydrogen bomb.

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act, a nearly $1 billion anti-poverty measure.

In 1968, the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations began invading Czechoslovakia to crush the “Prague Spring” liberalization drive.

In 1972, the Wattstax concert took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

In 1977, the U.S. launched Voyager 2, an unmanned spacecraft carrying a 12-inch copper phonograph record containing greetings in dozens of languages, samples of music and sounds of nature.

In 1989, entertainment executive Jose Menendez and his wife, Kitty, were shot to death in their Beverly Hills mansion by their sons, Lyle and Erik. Fifty-one people died when a pleasure boat sank in the River Thames (tehmz) in London after colliding with a dredger.

In 1994, Benjamin Chavis Jr. was fired as head of the NAACP after a turbulent 16-month tenure.

Ten years ago: Northwest Airlines mechanics went on strike rather than accept pay cuts and layoffs; Northwest ended up hiring replacement workers. San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Thomas Herrion, 23, died of a heart attack shortly after a preseason game against the Denver Broncos.

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Wednesday, August 19, the 231st day of 2015. There are 134 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 19, 1955, torrential rains caused by Hurricane Diane resulted in severe flooding in the northeastern U.S., claiming some 200 lives.

On this date:

In A.D. 14, Caesar Augustus, Rome’s first emperor, died at age 76 after a reign lasting four decades; he was succeeded by his stepson Tiberius.

In 1812, the USS Constitution defeated the British frigate HMS Guerriere off Nova Scotia during the War of 1812, earning the nickname “Old Ironsides.”

In 1814, during the War of 1812, British forces landed at Benedict, Maryland, with the objective of capturing Washington D.C.

In 1918, “Yip! Yip! Yaphank,” a musical revue by Irving Berlin featuring Army recruits from Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York, opened on Broadway.

In 1934, a plebiscite in Germany approved the vesting of sole executive power in Adolf Hitler.

In 1936, the first of a series of show trials orchestrated by Soviet leader Josef Stalin began in Moscow as 16 defendants faced charges of conspiring against the government (all were convicted and executed).

In 1942, during World War II, about 6,000 Canadian and British soldiers launched a disastrous raid against the Germans at Dieppe, France, suffering more than 50-percent casualties.

In 1964, The Beatles opened their first full-fledged U.S. tour as they performed at San Francisco’s Cow Palace.

In 1974, U.S. Ambassador Rodger P. Davies was fatally wounded by a bullet that penetrated the American embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus, during a protest by Greek Cypriots.

In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford won the Republican presidential nomination at the party’s convention in Kansas City.

In 1980, 301 people aboard a Saudi Arabian L-1011 died as the jetliner made a fiery emergency return to the Riyadh airport.

In 1991, Soviet hard-liners made the stunning announcement that President Mikhail S. Gorbachev had been removed from power. (The coup attempt collapsed two days later.)

Ten years ago: A Texas jury found pharmaceutical giant Merck and Co. liable for the death of a man who’d taken the once-popular painkiller Vioxx, awarding his widow $253.4 million in damages. (Texas caps on punitive damages reduced that figure to about $26 million; a Texas court overturned the verdict in May 2008, but the widow has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear her case.) Attackers firing Katyusha rockets narrowly missed a U.S. amphibious assault ship docked at the Red Sea resort of Aqaba, but killed a Jordanian soldier. Britain’s former Northern Ireland chief, Mo Mowlam, died in Canterbury, England; she was 55.

Five years ago: The last American combat brigade exited Iraq, seven years and five months after the U.S.-led invasion began. A federal grand jury in Washington indicted seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens for allegedly lying to Congress about steroid use. (However, Clemens’ trial in 2011 ended in a mistrial when the jury was shown inadmissible evidence by prosecutors; Clemens was acquitted in a retrial in 2012.)

One year ago: A video released by Islamic State militants purported to show the beheading of American journalist James Foley as retribution for U.S. airstrikes in Iraq. The New York Islanders announced the team had been sold to a former Washington Capitals co-owner Jon Ledecky and London-based investor Scott Malkin.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor L.Q. Jones is 88. Actress Debra Paget is 82. USTA Eastern Tennis Hall of Famer Renee Richards is 81. Former MLB All-Star Bobby Richardson is 80. Actress Diana Muldaur is 77. Rock musician Ginger Baker (Cream, Blind Faith) is 76. Singer Johnny Nash is 75. Actress Jill St. John is 75. Actor and former U.S. senator Fred Thompson is 73. Singer Billy J. Kramer is 72. Country singer-songwriter Eddy Raven is 71. Rock singer Ian Gillan (Deep Purple) is 70. Former President Bill Clinton is 69. Actor Gerald McRaney is 68. Tipper Gore, wife of former Vice President Al Gore, is 67. Actor Jim Carter is 67. Rock musician John Deacon (Queen) is 64. Actor-director Jonathan Frakes is 63. Political consultant Mary Matalin is 62. Actor Peter Gallagher is 60. Actor Adam Arkin is 59. Singer-songwriter Gary Chapman is 58. Actor Martin Donovan is 58. Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Anthony Munoz is 57. Rhythm-and-blues singer Ivan Neville is 56. Actor Eric Lutes is 53. Actor John Stamos is 52.

Thought for Today: “Cheer up! The worst is yet to come!” – Philander Chase Johnson, American author (1866-1939).

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday, August 18, the 230th day of 2015. There are 135 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 18, 1587, Virginia Dare became the first child of English parents to be born in present-day America, on what is now Roanoke Island in North Carolina. (However, the Roanoke colony ended up mysteriously disappearing.)

On this date:

In 1838, the first marine expedition sponsored by the U.S. government set sail from Hampton Roads, Virginia; the crews traveled the southern Pacific Ocean, gathering scientific information.

In 1846, U.S. forces led by General Stephen W. Kearny captured Santa Fe, New Mexico.

In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson issued his Proclamation of Neutrality, aimed at keeping the United States out of World War I.

In 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing all American women’s right to vote, was ratified as Tennessee became the 36th state to approve it.

In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King dedicated the Thousand Islands Bridge connecting the United States and Canada.

In 1955, the romantic drama “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing,” starring William Holden and Jennifer Jones, had its world premiere in New York.

In 1963, James Meredith became the first black student to graduate from the University of Mississippi.

In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in Bethel, New York, wound to a close after three nights with a mid-morning set by Jimi Hendrix.

In 1976, two U.S. Army officers were killed in Korea’s demilitarized zone as a group of North Korean soldiers wielding axes and metal pikes attacked U.S. and South Korean soldiers.

In 1983, Hurricane Alicia slammed into the Texas coast, leaving 21 dead and causing more than a billion dollars’ worth of damage. The Kansas City Royals defeated the New York Yankees, 5-4, in the completion of the “pine-tar” game in just 12 minutes.

In 1988, Vice President George H.W. Bush accepted the presidential nomination of his party at the Republican National Convention in New Orleans.

In 1995, Shannon Faulkner, who’d won a 2 1/2-year legal battle to become the first female cadet at The Citadel, quit the South Carolina military college after less than a week, most of it spent in the infirmary.

Thought for Today: “Memory is more indelible than ink.” – Anita Loos, American author

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Monday, August 17, the 229th day of 2015. There are 136 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 17, 1915, a mob in Cobb County, Georgia, lynched Jewish businessman Leo Frank, 31, whose death sentence for the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan had been commuted to life imprisonment. (Frank, who’d maintained his innocence, was pardoned by the state of Georgia in 1986.)

On this date:

In 1807, Robert Fulton’s North River Steamboat began heading up the Hudson River on its successful round trip between New York and Albany.

In 1863, Federal batteries and ships began bombarding Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor during the Civil War, but the Confederates managed to hold on despite several days of pounding.

In 1943, the Allied conquest of Sicily during World War II was completed as U.S. and British forces entered Messina.

In 1945, Indonesian nationalists declared their independence from the Netherlands. The George Orwell novel “Animal Farm,” an allegorical satire of Soviet Communism, was first published in London by Martin Secker & Warburg.

In 1962, East German border guards shot and killed 18-year-old Peter Fechter, who had attempted to cross the Berlin Wall into the western sector.

In 1969, Hurricane Camille slammed into the Mississippi coast as a Category 5 storm that was blamed for 256 U.S. deaths, three in Cuba.

In 1978, the first successful trans-Atlantic balloon flight ended as Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman landed their Double Eagle II outside Paris.

In 1982, the first commercially produced compact discs, a recording of ABBA’s “The Visitors,” were pressed at a Philips factory near Hanover, West Germany.

In 1985, more than 1,400 meatpackers walked off the job at the Geo. A. Hormel and Co.’s main plant in Austin, Minnesota, in a bitter strike that lasted just over a year.

In 1987, Rudolf Hess, the last member of Adolf Hitler’s inner circle, died at Spandau Prison at age 93, an apparent suicide.

In 1998, President Bill Clinton gave grand jury testimony via closed-circuit television from the White House concerning his relationship with Monica Lewinsky; he then delivered a TV address in which he denied previously committing perjury, admitted his relationship with Lewinsky was “wrong,” and criticized Kenneth Starr’s investigation.

In 1999, more than 17,000 people were killed when a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Turkey.

Ten years ago: Israeli security forces poured into four Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, beginning the forcible removal of protesters who’d refused orders to leave the area ahead of a deadline. Three car bombs exploded in Baghdad, killing up to 43 people. Hundreds of anti-war vigils were held nationwide, part of an effort spurred by Cindy Sheehan’s protest near President George W. Bush’s Texas ranch in memory of her son Casey, who was killed in Iraq.

Five years ago: A mistrial was declared on 23 corruption charges against ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (blah-GOY’-uh-vich), who was accused of trying to sell President Barack Obama’s old Senate seat

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Saturday, August 15, the 227th day of 2015. There are 138 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 15, 1945, Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced in a recorded radio address that his country had accepted terms of surrender for ending World War II.

On this date:

In 1057, Macbeth, King of Scots, was killed in battle by Malcolm, the eldest son of King Duncan, whom Macbeth had slain.

In 1483, the Sistine Chapel was consecrated by Pope Sixtus IV.

In 1812, the Battle of Fort Dearborn took place as Potawatomi warriors attacked a U.S. military garrison of about 100 people. (Most of the garrison was killed, while the remainder were taken prisoner.)

In 1914, the Panama Canal officially opened as the SS Ancon crossed the just-completed waterway between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

In 1935, humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post were killed when their airplane crashed near Point Barrow in the Alaska Territory.

In 1939, the MGM musical “The Wizard of Oz” opened at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

In 1947, India became independent after some 200 years of British rule.

In 1965, The Beatles played to a crowd of more than 55,000 at New York’s Shea Stadium.

In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened in upstate New York.

In 1974, a gunman attempted to shoot South Korean President Park Chung-hee during a speech; although Park was unhurt, his wife, Yuk Young-soo, was struck and killed, along with a teenage girl. (The gunman was later executed.)

In 1989, F.W. de Klerk was sworn in as acting president of South Africa, one day after P.W. Botha resigned as the result of a power struggle within the National Party.

In 1995, the Justice Department agreed to pay $3.1 million to white separatist Randy Weaver and his family to settle their claims over the killing of Weaver’s wife and son during a 1992 siege by federal agents at Ruby Ridge, Idaho. Pioneering TV journalist and Timex watch pitchman John Cameron Swayze died in Sarasota, Florida, at age 89.

Ten years ago: Iraqi leaders failed to meet a key deadline for finishing a new constitution. Gang members rioted in seven Guatemalan prisons, leaving 35 inmates dead.

Phil Mickelson claimed a one-shot victory in the PGA Championship in Springfield, New Jersey.

Thought for Today: “Life has taught me to think, but thinking has not taught me how to live.” – Alexander Herzen, Russian author (1812-1870).

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Friday, August 14, the 226th day of 2015. There are 139 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 14, 1945, President Harry S. Truman announced that Imperial Japan had surrendered unconditionally, ending World War II.

On this date:

In 1848, the Oregon Territory was created.

In 1900, international forces, including U.S. Marines, entered Beijing to put down the Boxer Rebellion, which was aimed at purging China of foreign influence.

In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law.

In 1944, the federal government allowed the manufacture of certain domestic appliances, such as electric ranges and vacuum cleaners, to resume on a limited basis.

In 1947, Pakistan became independent of British rule.

In 1951, newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, 88, died in Beverly Hills, California.

In 1969, British troops went to Northern Ireland to intervene in sectarian violence between Protestants and Roman Catholics.

In 1973, U.S. bombing of Cambodia came to a halt.

In 1975, the cult classic movie musical “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick, had its world premiere in London.

In 1980, workers went on strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk (guh-DANSK’), Poland, in a job action that resulted in creation of the Solidarity labor movement. Actress-model Dorothy Stratten, 20, was shot to death by her estranged husband and manager, Paul Snider, who then killed himself.

In 1989, South African President P.W. Botha announced his resignation after losing a bitter power struggle within his National Party.

In 1995, Shannon Faulkner officially became the first female cadet in the history of The Citadel, South Carolina’s state military college. (However, Faulkner quit the school less than a week later, citing the stress of her court fight, and her isolation among the male cadets.)

Ten years ago: Israel sealed the Gaza Strip to Israeli civilians, signaling the start of the historic withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. A Cypriot plane crashed into a hill north of Athens, killing all 121 people on board. First lady Laura Bush announced that Cristeta Comerford had been chosen to be the new White House executive chef, the first woman to hold the post.

Five years ago: A day after weighing in on the issue, President Barack Obama repeated that Muslims had the right to build a mosque near New York’s ground zero, but said he was not commenting on the “wisdom” of such a choice. Eight people leaving a party at a downtown Buffalo, New York, restaurant were shot, four fatally, including a Texas man who’d returned to his hometown to celebrate his first wedding anniversary. (Former gang member Riccardo McCray was later convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder, and sentenced to life without parole.)

Thought for Today: “There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else.” – James Thurber, American author and cartoonist (1894-1961).

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Thursday, August 13, the 225th day of 2015. There are 140 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 13, 1961, East Germany sealed off the border between Berlin’s eastern and western sectors; within days, the Communist authorities began building a wall that would stand for the next 28 years.

On this date:

In 1624, King Louis XIII of France appointed Cardinal Richelieu (ree-shuh-LYOO’) his first minister.

In 1792, French revolutionaries imprisoned the royal family.

In 1846, the American flag was raised for the first time in Los Angeles.

In 1910, Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, died in London at age 90.

In 1923, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was again elected Speaker of Turkey’s Grand Assembly.

In 1934, the satirical comic strip “Li’l Abner,” created by Al Capp, made its debut.

In 1946, author H.G. Wells, 79, died in London.

In 1960, the first two-way telephone conversation by satellite took place with the help of Echo 1. The Central African Republic became totally independent of French rule.

In 1979, Lou Brock of the St. Louis Cardinals became the 14th player in major league baseball history to reach the 3,000th career hit plateau as his team defeated the Chicago Cubs, 3-2.

In 1981, in a ceremony at his California ranch, President Ronald Reagan signed a historic package of tax and budget reductions.

In 1989, searchers in Ethiopia found the wreckage of a plane which had disappeared almost a week earlier while carrying Rep. Mickey Leland, D-Texas, and 14 other people – there were no survivors.

In 1995, Baseball Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle died at a Dallas hospital of rapidly spreading liver cancer; he was 63.

Ten years ago: The Pentagon said for the second time since the Iraq war began that it was replacing body armor for U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, citing a need for better protection. Former New Zealand Prime Minister David Lange died in Auckland at age 63.

Five years ago: Weighing in for the first time on a controversy gripping New York City and the nation, President Barack Obama endorsed allowing a mosque near ground zero, telling a White House dinner celebrating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan that the country’s founding principles demanded no less. Veteran NBC newsman Edwin Newman died in Oxford, England, at age 91.

One year ago: Six people – including Associated Press video journalist Simone Camilli – were killed when leftover ordnance believed to have been dropped in an Israeli airstrike blew up in the Gaza Strip. Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos died when the small plane that was carrying him and several campaign officials plunged into a residential neighborhood in the port city of Santos.

Today’s Birthdays: Former Cuban President Fidel Castro is 89. Actor Pat Harrington is 86. Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders is 82. Actor Kevin Tighe is 71. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is 69. Opera singer Kathleen Battle is 67. High wire aerialist Philippe Petit is 66. Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke is 66. Golf Hall of Famer Betsy King is 60.

Thought for Today: “People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges.” – Joseph Fort Newton, American clergyman (1876-1950).s.

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Wednesday, August 12, the 224th day of 2015. There are 141 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 12, 1985, the world’s worst single-aircraft disaster occurred as a crippled Japan Airlines Boeing 747 on a domestic flight crashed into a mountain, killing 520 people. (Four people survived.)

On this date:

In 1867, President Andrew Johnson sparked a move to impeach him as he defied Congress by suspending Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.

In 1898, fighting in the Spanish-American War came to an end.

In 1902, International Harvester Co. was formed by a merger of McCormick Harvesting Machine Co., Deering Harvester Co. and several other manufacturers.

In 1915, the novel “Of Human Bondage,” by William Somerset Maugham, was first published in the United States, a day before it was released in England.

In 1939, the MGM movie musical “The Wizard of Oz,” starring Judy Garland, had its world premiere at the Strand Theater in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, three days before opening in Hollywood.

In 1944, during World War II, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., eldest son of Joseph and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, was killed with his co-pilot when their explosives-laden Navy plane blew up over England.

In 1953, the Soviet Union conducted a secret test of its first hydrogen bomb.

In 1960, the first balloon communications satellite – the Echo 1 – was launched by the United States from Cape Canaveral.

In 1962, one day after launching Andrian Nikolayev into orbit, the Soviet Union also sent up cosmonaut Pavel Popovich; both men landed safely August 15.

In 1978, Pope Paul VI, who had died August 6 at age 80, was buried in St. Peter’s Basilica.

In 1981, IBM introduced its first personal computer, the model 5150, at a press conference in New York.

In 1994, Woodstock ’94 opened in Saugerties, New York.

Ten years ago: A NASA spacecraft, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, began a seven-month voyage to the Red Planet. Sri Lanka’s foreign minister (Lakshman Kadirgamar), an ethnic Tamil, was shot to death by snipers in Colombo.

Five years ago: General Motors Co. chief Ed Whitacre announced he was stepping down as CEO on September 1, 2010, saying his mission was accomplished as the company reported its second straight quarterly profit. One year ago: Steve Ballmer officially became the new owner of the Los Angeles Clippers; the sale closed after a California court confirmed the authority of Shelly Sterling, on behalf of the Sterling Family Trust, to sell the franchise. (Her husband, Donald Sterling, had unsuccessfully fought the sale of the team he owned since 1981 in court.)

Thought for Today: “The secret to life is meaningless unless you discover it yourself.” – From “Of Human Bondage” by W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965).

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday, August 11, the 223rd day of 2015. There are 142 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 11, 1965, rioting and looting that claimed 34 lives broke out in the predominantly black Watts section of Los Angeles.

On this date:

In 1786, Capt. Francis Light arrived in Penang to claim the Malaysian island for Britain.

In 1860, the nation’s first successful silver mill began operation near Virginia City, Nevada.

In 1909, the steamship SS Arapahoe became the first ship in North America to issue an S.O.S. distress signal, off North Carolina’s Cape Hatteras. In 1934, the first federal prisoners arrived at Alcatraz Island (a former military prison) in San Francisco Bay.

In 1942, during World War II, Pierre Laval, prime minister of Vichy France, publicly declared that “the hour of liberation for France is the hour when Germany wins the war.”

In 1954, a formal peace took hold in Indochina, ending more than seven years of fighting between the French and Communist Viet Minh.

In 1956, abstract painter Jackson Pollock, 44, died in an automobile accident on Long Island, New York. In 1964, the Beatles movie “A Hard Day’s Night” had its U.S. premiere in New York.

In 1975, the United States vetoed the proposed admission of North and South Vietnam to the United Nations, following the Security Council’s refusal to consider South Korea’s application.

In 1984, during a voice test for a paid political radio address, President Ronald Reagan joked that he had “signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.”

Thought for Today: “You will have bad times, but they will always wake you up to the stuff you weren’t paying attention to.” – Robin Williams

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Monday, August 10, the 222nd day of 2015. There are 143 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 10, 1945, a day after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Imperial Japan conveyed its willingness to surrender provided the status of Emperor Hirohito remained unchanged. (The Allies responded the next day, saying they would determine the Emperor’s future status.)

On this date:

In 1792, during the French Revolution, mobs in Paris attacked the Tuileries (TWEE’-luh-reez) Palace, where King Louis XVI resided. (The king was later arrested, put on trial for treason, and executed.)

In 1821, Missouri became the 24th state.

In 1846, President James K. Polk signed a measure establishing the Smithsonian Institution.

In 1874, Herbert Clark Hoover, the 31st president of the United States, was born in West Branch, Iowa.

In 1913, the Treaty of Bucharest was signed, ending the Second Balkan War.

In 1921, Franklin D. Roosevelt was stricken with polio at his summer home on the Canadian island of Campobello.

In 1949, the National Military Establishment was renamed the Department of Defense.

In 1969, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were murdered in their Los Angeles home by members of Charles Manson’s cult, one day after actress Sharon Tate and four other people had been slain.

In 1975, television personality David Frost announced he had purchased the exclusive rights to interview former President Richard Nixon.

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed a measure providing $20,000 payments to still-living Japanese-Americans who’d been interned by their government during World War II.

In 1993, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was sworn in as the second female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1995, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were charged with 11 counts in the Oklahoma City bombing (McVeigh was convicted of murder and executed; Nichols was convicted of conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to life in prison). Norma McCorvey, “Jane Roe” of the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, announced she had joined the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue.

Ten years ago: A defiant Iran resumed full operations at its uranium conversion plant. President George W. Bush signed a $286 billion transportation bill. Tennessee prison inmate George Hyatte and his wife, Jennifer, surrendered in Columbus, Ohio, a day after she’d ambushed two prison guards at a courthouse, killing one of them, to help her husband escape. (Both later pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and were sentenced to life in prison without parole.)

Five years ago: The House pushed through an emergency $26 billion jobs bill that Democrats said would save 300,000 teachers, police and others from layoffs; President Barack Obama immediately signed it into law. Talk radio host Dr. Laura Schlessinger quoted the “N-word” 11 times in an on-air conversation with a caller who she said was “hypersensitive” to racism; Schlessinger ended up apologizing. Hollywood producer David L. Wolper, 82, died in Beverly Hills, Calif.

One year ago: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Malaki resisted calls for his resignation and accused the country’s new president, Fouad Massoum, of violating the constitution (al-Maliki stepped down three days later). Rory McIlroy won his second straight major championship and fourth of his young career, rallying on the back nine in the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky.

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Saturday, August 8, the 220th day of 2015. There are 145 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlights in History:

On August 8, 1945, President Harry S. Truman signed the U.S. instrument of ratification for the United Nations Charter. The Soviet Union declared war against Japan during World War II.

On this date:

In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena to spend the remainder of his days in exile.

In 1911, President William Howard Taft signed a measure raising the number of U.S. representatives from 391 to 433, effective with the next Congress, with a proviso to add two more when New Mexico and Arizona became states.

In 1937, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japan completed its occupation of Beijing.

In 1942, during World War II, six Nazi saboteurs who were captured after landing in the U.S. were executed in Washington, D.C.; two others who’d cooperated with authorities were spared.

In 1953, the United States and South Korea initialed a mutual security pact.

In 1963, Britain’s “Great Train Robbery” took place as thieves made off with 2.6 million pounds in banknotes.

In 1968, the Republican national convention in Miami Beach nominated Richard Nixon for president on the first ballot.

In 1973, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew branded as “damned lies” reports he had taken kickbacks from government contracts in Maryland, and vowed not to resign – which he ended up doing.

In 1974, President Richard Nixon announced his resignation, effective the next day, following damaging new revelations in the Watergate scandal.

In 1994, Israel and Jordan opened the first road link between the two once-warring countries.

In 2007, space shuttle Endeavour roared into orbit with teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan on board.

In 2009, Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as the U.S. Supreme Court’s first Hispanic and third female justice.

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush signed a bill to give billions in tax breaks to encourage homegrown energy production but acknowledged it wouldn’t quickly reduce high gasoline prices or the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. Iran resumed work at a uranium conversion facility after suspending nuclear work for nine months to avoid U.N. sanctions. Actress Barbara Bel Geddes, 82, died in Northeast Harbor, Maine. Publisher John H. Johnson, founder of Ebony and Jet magazines, died in Chicago at 87.

Five years ago: Flooding in Gansu province in China resulted in mudslides that killed more than 1,400 people. Academy Award-winning actress Patricia Neal died in Edgartown, Massachusetts, at 84.

One year ago: The U.S. unleashed its first airstrikes against the Islamic State group in northern Iraq amid a worsening humanitarian crisis. Israel and militants from Gaza resumed cross-border attacks, after a three-day truce expired. Israeli movie producer Menachem Golam, 85, died in Tel Aviv. British-born actor Charles Keating, 72, died in Weston, Connecticut.

– – –

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Friday, August 7, the 219th day of 2015. There are 146 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 7, 1782, Gen. George Washington created the Order of the Purple Heart, a decoration to recognize merit in enlisted men and noncommissioned officers.

On this date:

In 1789, the U.S. War Department was established by Congress.

In 1814, Pope Pius VII issued a bull restoring the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, four decades after the order had been suppressed by Pope Clement XIV.

In 1882, the famous feud between the Hatfields of West Virginia and the McCoys of Kentucky erupted into full-scale violence.

In 1927, the already opened Peace Bridge connecting Buffalo, New York, and Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, was officially dedicated.

In 1942, U.S. and other allied forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II. (Japanese forces abandoned the island the following February.)

In 1959, the United States launched the Explorer 6 satellite, which sent back images of Earth.

In 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson broad powers in dealing with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.

In 1974, French stuntman Philippe Petit repeatedly walked a tightrope strung between the twin towers of New York’s World Trade Center.

Thought for Today: “There are a lot of people who think our job is to reassure the public every night that their home, their community and their nation is safe. I don’t subscribe to that at all. I subscribe to leaving people with essentially sorry it’s a cliche a rough draft of history. Some days it’s reassuring, some days it’s absolutely destructive.” – Peter Jennings (1938-2005).

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Thursday, August 6, the 218th day of 2015. There are 147 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 6, 1945, during World War II, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, resulting in an estimated 140,000 deaths. (Three days later, the United States exploded a nuclear device over Nagasaki; five days after that, Imperial Japan announced its surrender.)

On this date:

In 1813, during the Venezuelan War of Independence, forces led by Simon Bolivar recaptured Caracas.

In 1825, Upper Peru became the autonomous republic of Bolivia.

In 1862, the Confederate ironclad CSS Arkansas was scuttled by its crew on the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to prevent capture by the Union.

In 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war against Russia and Serbia declared war against Germany.

In 1926, Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel, arriving in Kingsdown, England, from France in 14 1/2 hours.

In 1930, New York State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Force Crater went missing after leaving a Manhattan restaurant; his disappearance remains a mystery.

In 1956, the DuMont television network went off the air after a decade of operations.

In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov became the second man to orbit Earth as he flew aboard Vostok 2.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act.

In 1978, Pope Paul VI died at Castel Gandolfo at age 80.

In 1986, William J. Schroeder (SHRAY’-dur) died at at Humana Hospital-Audubon in Louisville, Kentucky, after living 620 days with the Jarvik 7 artificial heart.

In 1993, Louis Freeh won Senate confirmation to be FBI director.

Ten years ago: Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, whose soldier-son, Casey, was killed in Iraq, began a weeks-long protest outside President George W. Bush’s Texas ranch. Former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, who’d quit Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Cabinet to protest the Iraq war, died in Inverness, Scotland, at age 59. A Tunisian airliner plunged into the Mediterranean while trying to make an emergency landing in Sicily; 16 of the 39 people aboard were killed.

Five years ago: In a stunning announcement, Hewlett-Packard Co. said it had ousted CEO Mark Hurd after an investigation of a sexual harassment complaint found that he had falsified expense reports and other documents to conceal a relationship with a contractor.

One year ago: President Barack Obama closed a three-day U.S.-Africa summit in Washington which brought together leaders from more than 50 African nations. Michael Worthington was put to death by the state of Missouri for raping and killing college student Melinda “Mindy” Griffin in 1995, making him the first U.S. prisoner executed since a lethal injection in Arizona the previous month in which an inmate took nearly two hours to die.

Today’s Birthdays: Children’s performer Ella Jenkins is 91. Actor-director Peter Bonerz is 77. Actress Louise Sorel is 75. Actor Michael Anderson Jr. is 72. Actor Ray Buktenica is 72. Actor Dorian Harewood is 65. Actress Catherine Hicks is 64.

Thought for Today: “If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. The more things you do, the more you can do.” – Lucille Ball, American actress-comedian

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Wednesday, August 5, the 217th day of 2015. There are 148 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 5, 1965, during the Vietnam War, “The CBS Evening News” sparked controversy as it aired a report by correspondent Morley Safer showing a group of U.S. Marines torching huts in the village of Cam Ne, considered a Viet Cong stronghold, using flamethrowers and Zippo cigarette lighters.

On this date:

In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Adm. David G. Farragut led his fleet to victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay, Alabama.

In 1884, the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal was laid on Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor.

In 1914, what’s believed to be the first electric traffic light system was installed in Cleveland, Ohio, at the intersection of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue. Montenegro declared war on Austria-Hungary at the start of World War I.

In 1924, the comic strip “Little Orphan Annie” by Harold Gray made its debut.

In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the National Labor Board, which was later replaced with the National Labor Relations Board. In 1953, Operation Big Switch began as remaining prisoners taken during the Korean War were exchanged at Panmunjom.

In 1957, the teenage dance show “American Bandstand,” hosted by Dick Clark, made its network debut on ABC-TV.

Thought for Today: “If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.” – Gen. George S. Patton (1885-1945).

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday, August 4, the 216th day of 2015. There are 149 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 4, 1790, the U.S. Coast Guard had its beginnings as President George Washington signed a measure authorizing a group of revenue cutters to enforce tariff and trade laws and prevent smuggling.

On this date:

In 1735, a jury found John Peter Zenger of the New York Weekly Journal not guilty of committing seditious libel against the colonial governor of New York, William Cosby.

In 1830, plans for the city of Chicago were laid out.

In 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden were axed to death in their home in Fall River, Massachusetts. Lizzie Borden, Andrew’s daughter from a previous marriage, was accused of the killings, but acquitted at trial.

In 1914, Britain declared war on Germany for invading Belgium; the United States proclaimed its neutrality in the mushrooming world conflict.

In 1915, English nurse Edith Cavell was arrested by German authorities in occupied Belgium; she was executed later that year.

In 1936, Jesse Owens of the U.S. won the second of his four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics as he prevailed in the long jump over German Luz Long, who was the first to congratulate him.

In 1944, 15-year-old diarist Anne Frank was arrested with her sister, parents and four others by the Gestapo after hiding for two years inside a building in Amsterdam. (Anne and her sister, Margot, died at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.)

In 1964, the bodies of missing civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney were found buried in an earthen dam in Mississippi.

In 1975, the Swedish pop group ABBA began recording their hit single “Dancing Queen” at Glen Studio outside Stockholm (it was released a year later).

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed a measure establishing the Department of Energy.

In 1987, the Federal Communications Commission voted to abolish the Fairness Doctrine, which required radio and television stations to present balanced coverage of controversial issues.

In 1991, the Greek luxury liner Oceanos sank in heavy seas off South Africa’s southeast coast; all the passengers and crew members survived.

Ten years ago: Al-Qaida’s No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri (AY’-muhn ahl-ZWAH’-ree), threatened more destruction in London in a videotape aired on Al-Jazeera. He also threatened the United States.

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Monday, August 3, the 215th day of 2015. There are 150 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, on a voyage that took him to the present-day Americas.

On this date:

In 1807, former Vice President Aaron Burr went on trial before a federal court in Richmond, Virginia, charged with treason. (He was acquitted less than a month later.)

In 1863, the first thoroughbred horse races took place at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.

In 1914, Germany declared war on France at the onset of World War I.

In 1936, Jesse Owens of the United States won the first of his four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics as he took the 100-meter sprint.

In 1943, Gen. George S. Patton slapped a private at an army hospital in Sicily, accusing him of cowardice. (Patton was later ordered by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower to apologize for this and a second, similar episode.)

In 1949, the National Basketball Association was formed as a merger of the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League.

In 1958, the nuclear-powered submarine USS Nautilus became the first vessel to cross the North Pole underwater.

In 1966, comedian Lenny Bruce, 40, was found dead in his Los Angeles home.

In 1972, the U.S. Senate ratified the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union. (The U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the treaty in 2002.)

In 1981, U.S. air traffic controllers went on strike, despite a warning from President Ronald Reagan they would be fired, which they were.

In 1993, the Senate voted 96-3 to confirm U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

In 1994, Arkansas carried out the nation’s first triple execution in 32 years. Stephen G. Breyer was sworn in as the Supreme Court’s newest justice in a private ceremony at Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist’s Vermont summer home.

Ten years ago: Fourteen Marines from a Reserve unit in Ohio were killed in a roadside bombing in Iraq. Spacewalking astronaut Stephen Robinson removed two worrisome pieces of filler material from the shuttle Discovery’s belly in an unprecedented space repair job. The journal Nature reported that a South Korean researcher had created the world’s first cloned dog, an Afghan hound named “Snuppy.” (Although the scientist, Hwang Woo-suk, was later disgraced over faked research, the cloning of Snuppy was independently confirmed.)

Almanac

By The Associated Press

Today is Saturday, August 1, the 213th day of 2015. There are 152 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 1, 1975, a 35-nation summit in Finland concluded with the signing of a declaration known as the Helsinki Accords dealing with European security, human rights and East-West contacts.

On this date:

In 1714, Britain’s Queen Anne died at age 49; she was succeeded by George I.

In 1876, Colorado was admitted as the 38th state.

In 1907, the U.S. Army Signal Corps established an aeronautical division, the forerunner of the U.S. Air Force.

In 1913, the Joyce Kilmer poem “Trees” was first published in “Poetry: A Magazine of Verse.”

In 1936, the Olympics opened in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler.

In 1944, an uprising broke out in Warsaw, Poland, against Nazi occupation; the revolt lasted two months before collapsing.

In 1957, the United States and Canada agreed to create the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD).

In 1966, Charles Joseph Whitman, 25, went on a shooting rampage at the University of Texas in Austin, killing 14 people. Whitman, who had also slain his wife and mother hours earlier, was gunned down by police.

In 1971, the Concert for Bangladesh, organized by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, took place at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

In 1981, the rock music video channel MTV made its debut. In 1994, Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley confirmed they’d been secretly married 11 weeks earlier. (Presley filed for divorce from Jackson in January 1996, citing irreconcilable differences.)

In 2007, the eight-lane Interstate 35W bridge, a major Minneapolis artery, collapsed into the Mississippi River during evening rush hour, killing 13 people.

Ten years ago: Saudi Arabia’s ruler, King Fahd, died; Crown Prince Abdullah, the king’s half-brother, became the country’s new monarch. President George W. Bush used a recess appointment to install John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations, bypassing the Senate after a testy standoff with Democrats.

Five years ago: The United States announced that it would provide Pakistan with $10 million in humanitarian assistance in the wake of deadly flooding. Lolita Lebron, a Puerto Rico independence activist who’d spent 25 years in prison for participating in a gun attack on the U.S. Congress in 1954, died in San Juan at age 90.

Thought for Today: “As scarce as truth is, the supply is always greater than the demand.” – “Josh Billings” (Henry Wheeler Shaw), American author (1818-1885).

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