Today in History
Today is Friday, Aug. 3, the 215th day of 2018. There are 150 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On August 3, 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.
On this date:
In 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, on a voyage that took him to the present-day Americas.
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 1914, Germany declared war on France at the onset of World War I.
In 1921, baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis refused to reinstate the former Chicago White Sox players implicated in the “Black Sox” scandal, despite their acquittals in a jury trial.
In 1943, U.S. Army Lt. 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 1958, the nuclear-powered submarine USS Nautilus became the first vessel to cross the North Pole underwater.
In 1966, comedian Lenny Bruce, whose raunchy brand of satire and dark humor landed him in trouble with the law, was found dead in his Los Angeles home; he was 40.
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 1980, closing ceremonies were held in Moscow for the Summer Olympic Games, which had been boycotted by dozens of countries, including the United States.
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 1987, the Iran-Contra congressional hearings ended, with none of the 29 witnesses tying President Ronald Reagan directly to the diversion of arms-sales profits to Nicaraguan rebels.
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: Nobel Prize-winning Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn died near Moscow at age 89. Al-Qaida confirmed the death of a top commander (Abu Khabab al-Masri), apparently in a U.S. airstrike in Pakistan; he was accused of training the suicide bombers who’d killed 17 American sailors on the USS Cole in 2000. At least 145 people were killed in a stampede of pilgrims at a remote mountaintop Hindu temple in India.
Five years ago: President Barack Obama’s trade representative, Michael Froman, vetoed a yet-to-be-enacted ban on imports of Chinese-made Apple iPads and iPhones, overruling the U.S. International Trade Commission and dealing a setback to rival South Korean electronics company Samsung. Zimbabwe’s electoral panel declared that longtime President Robert Mugabe had won re-election by a landslide.
One year ago: Senators introduced two bipartisan bills aimed at protecting Special Counsel Robert Mueller from being fired by President Donald Trump. (Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the effort was unnecessary, and that he wouldn’t let the legislation reach the floor.) West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said he was switching parties to join the Republicans, a move that came as President Donald Trump visited his increasingly conservative state.
Today’s Birthdays: Football Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy is 93. Singer Tony Bennett is 92. Actor Martin Sheen is 78. College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Lance Alworth is 78. Lifestyle guru Martha Stewart is 77. Singer Beverly Lee (The Shirelles) is 77. Rock musician B.B. Dickerson is 69. Movie director John Landis is 68. Actress JoMarie Payton is 68. Actor Jay North (TV: “Dennis the Menace”) is 67. Hockey Hall-of-Famer Marcel Dionne is 67. Actor Philip Casnoff is 64. Actor John C. McGinley is 59. Rock singer-musician Lee Rocker (The Stray Cats) is 57. Actress Lisa Ann Walter is 57. Rock singer James Hetfield (Metallica) is 55. Rock singer-musician Ed Roland (Collective Soul) is 55. Actor Isaiah Washington is 55. Country musician Dean Sams (Lonestar) is 52. Rock musician Stephen Carpenter (Deftones) is 48. Hip-hop artist Spinderella (Salt-N-Pepa) is 47. Actress Brigid Brannagh is 46. Actor Michael Ealy is 45. Country musician Jimmy De Martini (Zac Brown Band) is 42. NFL quarterback Tom Brady is 41. Actress Evangeline (ee-VAN’-gel-een) Lilly is 39. Actress Mamie Gummer is 35. Olympic gold medal swimmer Ryan Lochte is 34. Country singer Whitney Duncan is 34. Actor Jon Foster is 34. Actress Georgina Haig is 33. Singer Holly Arnstein (Dream) is 33. Actress Tanya Fischer is 33. Pop-rock musician Brent Kutzle (OneRepublic) is 33. Rapper D.R.A.M. is 30.
Thought for Today: “Many of us spend half of our time wishing for things we could have if we didn’t spend half our time wishing.” — Alexander Woollcott, American critic (1887-1943).