Today in History
Today is Tuesday, Aug. 14, the 226th day of 2018. There are 139 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On August 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. In 1981, Merle Haggard used it in his song, “Big City,” “and your so-called Social Security.”Â
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 1917, China declared war on Germany and Austria during World War I.
In 1945, President Harry S. Truman announced that Imperial Japan had surrendered unconditionally, ending World War II.
In 1947, Pakistan became independent of British rule.
In 1948, the Summer Olympics in London ended; they were the first Olympic games held since 1936.
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 1980, President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Walter Mondale were nominated for second terms at the Democratic national convention in New York.
In 1992, the White House announced that the Pentagon would begin emergency airlifts of food to Somalia to alleviate mass deaths by starvation.
In 1997, an unrepentant Timothy McVeigh was formally sentenced to death for the Oklahoma City bombing.
In 2003, a huge blackout hit the northeastern United States and part of Canada; 50 million people lost power.
Ten years ago: President George W. Bush signed consumer-safety legislation that banned lead from children’s toys, imposing the toughest standard in the world.
Five years ago: Israeli and Palestinian negotiators kicked off their first substantive round of peace talks in nearly five years, meeting at an undisclosed location in Jerusalem. Riot police swept away two encampments of supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi in Cairo, sparking running street battles. Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for illegally spending $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items.
One year ago: Under pressure from right and left, President Donald Trump condemned white supremacist groups by name, declaring them to be “repugnant to everything that we hold dear as Americans.” The CEO of Merck, the nation’s third-largest pharmaceutical company, resigned from a federal advisory council, citing Trump’s failure to explicitly condemn white nationalists who marched in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Kenneth Frazier was one of the few African Americans to head a Fortune 500 company. The CEOs of Intel and Under Armour also resigned from the American Manufacturing Council later in the day.) Texas A&M University, citing security concerns, called off a white supremacist rally on its campus that had been planned for the following month. Thousands of protesters and dozens of supporters were waiting outside New York’s Trump Tower as the president returned for the first time since his inauguration. A jury in Denver, siding with pop star Taylor Swift, ordered a fired radio DJ to pay her a symbolic $1 after concluding that he had groped her.
Today’s Birthdays: Broadway lyricist Lee Adams (“Bye Bye Birdie”) is 94. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Russell Baker is 93. College Football Hall of Famer John Brodie is 83. Singer Dash Crofts is 80. Rock singer David Crosby is 77. Country singer Connie Smith is 77. Comedian-actor Steve Martin is 73. Movie director Wim Wenders is 73. Actor Antonio Fargas is 72. Singer-musician Larry Graham is 72. Actress Susan Saint James is 72. Actor David Schramm is 72. Author Danielle Steel is 71. Rock singer-musician Terry Adams (NRBQ) is 70. “Far Side” cartoonist Gary Larson is 68. Actor Carl Lumbly is 67. Olympic gold medal swimmer Debbie Meyer is 66. Actress Jackee Harry is 62. Actress Marcia Gay Harden is 59. Basketball Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson is 59. Singer Sarah Brightman is 58. Actress Susan Olsen is 57. Actress-turned-fashion/interior designer Cristi Conaway is 54. Rock musician Keith Howland (Chicago) is 54. Actress Halle Berry is 52. Actor Ben Bass is 50. Actress Catherine Bell is 50. Country musician Cody McCarver (Confederate Railroad) is 50. Rock musician Kevin Cadogan is 48. Actor Scott Michael Campbell is 47. Actress Lalanya Masters is 46. Actor Christopher Gorham is 44. Actress Mila Kunis is 35. Actor Lamorne Morris is 35. TV personality Spencer Pratt is 35. NFL quarterback-turned-baseball player Tim Tebow is 31.
Thought for Today: “Freedom of speech and freedom of action are meaningless without freedom to think. And there is no freedom of thought without doubt.” — Bergen Baldwin Evans, American author (1904-1978).