By The Associated Press

Today in History

Today is Thursday, Aug. 5, the 217th day of 2021. There are 148 days left in the year.

Todayís Highlight in History:

On August 5, 1962, South African anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela was arrested on charges of leaving the country without a passport and inciting workers to strike; it was the beginning of 27 years of imprisonment.

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 1921, a baseball game was broadcast for the first time as KDKA radio announcer Harold Arlin described the action between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies from Forbes Field. (The Pirates won, 8-5.)

In 1936, Jesse Owens of the United States won the 200-meter dash at the Berlin Olympics, collecting the third of his four gold medals.

In 1953, Operation Big Switch began as remaining prisoners taken during the Korean War were exchanged at Panmunjom.

In 1954, 24 boxers became the first inductees into the Boxing Hall of Fame, including Henry Armstrong, Gentleman Jim Corbett, Jack Dempsey, Jack Johnson, Joe Louis and John L. Sullivan.

In 1964, U.S. Navy pilot Everett Alvarez Jr. became the first American flier to be shot down and captured by North Vietnam; he was held prisoner until February 1973.

In 1974, the White House released transcripts of subpoenaed tape recordings showing that President Richard Nixon and his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, had discussed a plan in June 1972 to use the CIA to thwart the FBIís Watergate investigation; revelation of the tape sparked Nixonís resignation.

In 1981, the federal government began firing air traffic controllers who had gone out on strike.

In 1991, Democratic congressional leaders formally launched an investigation into whether the 1980 Reagan-Bush campaign had secretly conspired with Iran to delay release of American hostages until after the presidential election, thereby preventing an ìOctober surpriseî that supposedly would have benefited President Jimmy Carter. (A task force later concluded there was ìno credible evidenceî of such a deal.)

In 2002, the coral-encrusted gun turret of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor was raised from the floor of the Atlantic, nearly 140 years after the historic warship sank during a storm.

In 2010, the Senate confirmed Elena Kagan, 63-37, as the Supreme Courtís 112th justice and the fourth woman in its history. Thirty-three workers were trapped in a copper mine in northern Chile after a tunnel caved in (all were rescued after being entombed for 69 days).

In 2019, Toni Morrison, the first Black woman to receive the Nobel literature prize, died at 88 in New York; her novels included ìBeloved,î and ìThe Bluest Eye.î

Ten years ago: Standard & Poorís lowered the United Statesí AAA credit rating by one notch to AA-plus. A federal jury convicted three New Orleans police officers, a former officer and a retired sergeant of civil rights violations in the 2005 shooting deaths of a teenager and a mentally disabled man crossing the Danziger Bridge following Hurricane Katrina. (The convictions were overturned because of prosecutorial misconduct, and the former officers pleaded guilty in April 2016 to a reduced number of charges.) The sun-powered robotic explorer Juno rocketed toward Jupiter on a five-year quest to discover the secret recipe for making planets. (Juno reached Jupiter on July 4, 2016.)