Today in History
Today is Monday, Aug. 22, the 235th day of 2016. There are 131 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Aug. 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 1910, Japan annexed Korea, which remained under Japanese control until the end of World War II.
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 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 1986, Kerr-McGee Corp. agreed to pay the estate of the late Karen Silkwood $1.38 million, settling a 10-year-old nuclear contamination lawsuit. The Rob Reiner coming-of-age film “Stand By Me” was put into wide release by Columbia Pictures.
In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed welfare legislation ending guaranteed cash payments to the poor and demanding work from recipients.
Ten years ago: A Russian Pulkovo Airlines jet carrying 170 people crashed in eastern Ukraine, killing all aboard. Paramount Pictures severed its ties to actor Tom Cruise after 14 years, citing what it called unacceptable conduct, such as jumping on Oprah Winfrey’s couch and aggressively advocating Scientology.
Five years ago: Hurricane Irene cut a destructive path through the Caribbean, raking Puerto Rico with strong winds and rain and then spinning just north of the Dominican Republic. Nick Ashford, one-half of the legendary Motown songwriting duo Ashford & Simpson, died in New York at age 70. Lyricist Jerry Leiber, who with composer Mike Stoller wrote “Hound Dog,” ”Jailhouse Rock,” ”Yakety Yak” and other hits, died in Los Angeles at age 78.
One year ago: A suicide car bomber attacked a NATO convoy traveling through a crowded neighborhood in Afghanistan’s capital, killing at least 12 people, including four American civilian contractors. A military jet taking part in a British airshow crashed into a busy main road near Brighton in southern England, killing 11 people.
Today’s Birthdays: Heart surgeon Dr. Denton Cooley is 96. Broadcast journalist Morton Dean is 81. Author Annie Proulx (proo) is 81. Baseball Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski is 77. Actress Valerie Harper is 77. Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells is 75. Writer-producer David Chase is 71. CBS newsman Steve Kroft is 71. Actress Cindy Williams is 69. Pop musician David Marks is 68. International Swimming Hall of Famer Diana Nyad is 67. Baseball Hall of Famer Paul Molitor is 60. Country singer Holly Dunn is 59. Rock musician Vernon Reid is 58. Country singer Ricky Lynn Gregg is 57. Country singer Collin Raye is 56. Actress Regina Taylor is 56. Rock singer Roland Orzabal (Tears For Fears) is 55. Rock musician Debbi Peterson (The Bangles) is 55. Rock musician Gary Lee Conner (Screaming Trees) is 54. Singer Tori Amos is 53. Country singer Mila Mason is 53. Rhythm-and-blues musician James DeBarge is 53. International Tennis Hall of Famer Mats Wilander is 52. Actress Brooke Dillman is 50. Rapper GZA (JIHZ’-ah)/The Genius is 50. Actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (ah-day-WAH’-lay ah-kih-NOY’-yay ah-BAH’-jay) is 49. Actor Ty Burrell is 49. Celebrity chef Giada DeLaurentiis is 46. Actress Melinda Page Hamilton is 45. Actor Rick Yune is 45. Rock musician Paul Doucette (Matchbox Twenty) is 44. Rap-reggae singer Beenie Man is 43. Singer Howie Dorough (Backstreet Boys) is 43. Comedian-actress Kristen Wiig is 43. Actress Jenna Leigh Green is 42. Rock musician Bo Koster is 42. Rock musician Dean Back (Theory of a Deadman) is 41. Talk show host James Corden (TV: “The Late Late Show with James Corden”) is 38. Rock musician Jeff Stinco (Simple Plan) is 38. Actor Brandon Adams is 37. Actress Aya Sumika is 36.
Thought for Today: “Charming people live up to the very edge of their charm, and behave as outrageously as the world lets them.” — Logan Pearsall Smith, Anglo-American essayist (1865-1946).