Today in History
Today is Monday, Aug. 1, the 214th day of 2016. There are 152 days left
in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Aug. 1, 1966, Charles
Joseph Whitman, 25, an engineering student at the University of Texas
in Austin, went on an armed rampage that killed 14 people, most of whom
were shot by Whitman while he was perched in the clock tower of the
main campus building. Whitman, who had also slain his wife and mother
hours earlier, was finally gunned down by police. 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 oc'cup'ation; the
revolt lasted two months before collapsing. In 1946, President Harry S.
Truman signed measures establishing the Fulbright Program and the
Atomic Energy Commission. In 1957, the United States and Canada agreed
to create the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD). In 1971, the
Concert for Bangladesh, organized by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar,
took place at New York's Madison Square Garden. In 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. 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.) Ten years
ago: Mel Gibson issued a statement in which he denied being a bigot; he
also apologized to "everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic
and harmful words" he'd used when he was arrested for investigation of
drunken driving. Fidel Castro released a statement a day after ceding
power to his brother Raul in which he sought to reassure Cubans that
his health was stable after intestinal surgery. Five years ago: The
U.S. House of Representatives passed, 269-161, emergency legislation to
avert the nation's first-ever financial default; Arizona Congresswoman
Gabrielle Giffords returned to the House for the first time since being
shot in January 2011 to cast a "yes" vote. One year ago: Japan's
Imperial Household Agency released a digital version of Emperor
Hirohito's radio address on Aug. 15, 1945, announcing his country's
surrender in World War II; the digital recording offered clearer audio,
although Hirohito spoke in an arcane form of Japanese that many of his
countrymen would have found difficult to comprehend. British singer and
TV host Cilla Black, 72, died in Estepona (eh-steh-POH'-nah) in
southern Spain. Today's Birthdays: Singer Ramblin' Jack Elliott is 85.
Former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, R-N.Y., is 79. Actor Giancarlo Giannini is
74. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams is 66. Blues
singer-musician Robert Cray is 63. Singer Michael Penn is 58. Rock
singer Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) is 57. Rock singer-musician Suzi
Gardner (L7) is 56. Rapper Chuck D (Public Enemy) is 56. Actor Jesse
Borrego is 54. Actor Demian Bichir is 53. Rapper Coolio is 53. Actor
John Carroll Lynch is 53. Rock singer Adam Duritz (Counting Crows) is
52. Movie director Sam Mendes is 51. Country singer George Ducas is 50.
Country musician Charlie Kelley is 48. Actress Jennifer Gareis is 46.
Actor Charles Malik Whitfield is 44. Actress Tempestt Bledsoe is 43.
Actor Jason Momoa is 37. Actress Honeysuckle Weeks (TV: "Foyle's War")
is 37. Singer Ashley Parker Angel is 35. Actress Taylor Fry is 35.
Actor Elijah Kelley is 30. Actor James Francis Kelly is 27. Actress
Ella Wahlestedt is 18. Thought for Today: "The only fool bigger than
the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him.
Stanislaw J. Lec, Polish writer (1909-1966).
