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.
One year ago: President Barack Obama, in a televised news conference, said that the United States had “tortured” al-Qaida detainees captured after 9/11, adding, “We did some things that were contrary to our values.” Congress approved a $225 million package to replenish Israel’s missile defense system known as Iron Dome. A medical examiner ruled that a New York City police officer’s chokehold caused the death of Eric Garner, whose videotaped arrest and final pleas of “I can’t breathe!” had sparked outrage.
Today’s Birthdays: Singer Ramblin’ Jack Elliott is 84. Former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, R-N.Y., is 78. Actor Giancarlo Giannini is 73. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams is 65. Blues singer-musician Robert Cray is 62. Singer Michael Penn is 57. Rock singer Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) is 56. Rock singer-musician Suzi Gardner (L7) is 55. Rapper Chuck D (Public Enemy) is 55. Actor Jesse Borrego is 53. Actor Demian Bichir is 52. Rapper Coolio is 52. Actor John Carroll Lynch is 52. Rock singer Adam Duritz (Counting Crows) is 51. Movie director Sam Mendes is 50. Country singer George Ducas is 49. Country musician Charlie Kelley is 47. Actress Jennifer Gareis is 45. Actor Charles Malik Whitfield is 43. Actress Tempestt Bledsoe is 42. Actor Jason Momoa is 36. Singer Ashley Parker Angel is 34. Actress Taylor Fry is 34. Actor Elijah Kelley is 29. Actor James Francis Kelly is 26. Actress Ella Wahlestedt is 17.
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).
