Today in History
Today is Monday, Aug. 8, the 221st day of 2016. There are 145 days left
in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Aug. 8, 1974, President
Richard Nixon announced his resignation, effective the next day,
following damaging new revelations in the Watergate scandal. On this
date: In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena to spend the
remainder of his days in exile. In 1911, President William Howard Taft
signed a measure raising the number of U.S. representatives from 391 to
433, effective with the next Congress, with a proviso to add two more
when New Mexico and Arizona became states. In 1937, during the Second
Sino-Japanese War, Japan completed its oc'cup'ation of Beijing. In
1942, during World War II, six Nazi saboteurs who were captured after
landing in the U.S. were executed in Washington, D.C.; two others who'd
cooperated with authorities were spared. In 1945, President Harry S.
Truman signed the U.S. instrument of ratification for the United
Nations Charter. The Soviet Union declared war against Japan during
World War II. In 1953, the United States and South Korea initialed a
mutual security pact. In 1963, Britain's "Great Train Robbery" took
place as thieves made off with 2.6 million pounds in banknotes. In
1968, the Republican national convention in Miami Beach nominated
Richard Nixon for president on the first ballot. In 1973, Vice
President Spiro T. Agnew branded as "damned lies" reports he had taken
kickbacks from government contracts in Maryland, and vowed not to
resign which he ended up doing. In 1994, Israel and Jordan opened the
first road link between the two once-warring countries. In 2007, space
shuttle Endeavour roared into orbit with teacher-astronaut Barbara
Morgan on board. In 2009, Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as the U.S.
Supreme Court's first Hispanic and third female justice. Ten years ago:
Sen. Joe Lieberman lost the Connecticut Democratic primary to political
newcomer Ned Lamont (however, Lieberman ended up winning re-election to
the Senate by running as an independent). The Federal Reserve left a
benchmark interest rate unchanged after 17 consecutive rate hikes over
more than two years. Roger Goodell was chosen as the NFL's next
commissioner. Five years ago: Eager to calm a nervous nation, President
Barack Obama dismissed an unprecedented downgrade by Standard & Poor's
of the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA-plus, declaring: "No matter
what some agency may say, we've always been and always will be a
triple-A country. One year ago: Several rivals of Republican
presidential candidate Donald Trump criticized his treatment of a
debate moderator; the real estate mogul and reality television star
remained unbowed, refusing to apologize for saying on CNN that Megyn
Kelly, who had aggressively questioned him during the primary debate on
Fox News, had "blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her
wherever" when she asked him about his incendiary comments toward
women. A family of six children and two parents were handcuffed and
fatally shot in the head at a Houston home; David Conley, who
authorities said had previously been in a relationship with the mother
and had a dispute with her, was charged with capital murder. Today's
Birthdays: Actor Richard Anderson is 90. Actress Nita Talbot is 86.
Singer Mel Tillis is 84. Actor Dustin Hoffman is 79. Actress Connie
Stevens is 78. Country singer Phil Balsley (The Statler Brothers) is
77. Actor Larry Wilcox is 69. Actor Keith Carradine is 67. Movie
director Martin Brest is 65. Radio-TV personality Robin Quivers is 64.
Percussionist Anton Fig is 63. Actor Donny Most is 63. Rock musician
Dennis Drew (10,000 Maniacs) is 59. TV personality Deborah Norville is
58. Actor-singer Harry Crosby is 58. Rock musician The Edge (U2) is 55.
Rock musician Rikki Rockett (Poison) is 55. Rapper Kool Moe Dee is 54.
Rock musician Ralph Rieckermann is 54. Middle distance runner Suzy
Favor Hamilton is 48. Rock singer Scott Stapp is 43. Country singer
Mark Wills is 43. Actor Kohl Sudduth is 42. Rock musician Tom Linton
(Jimmy Eat World) is 41. Singer JC Chasez ('N Sync) is 40. Actress
Tawny Cypress is 40. Rhythm-and-blues singer Drew Lachey (lah-SHAY')
(98 Degrees) is 40. Rhythm-and-blues singer Marsha Ambrosius is 39.
Actress Lindsay Sloane is 39. Actress Countess Vaughn is 38. Actor
Michael Urie is 36. Tennis player Roger Federer is 35. Actress Meagan
Good is 35. Britain's Princess Beatrice of York is 28. Actor Ken
Baumann is 27. Pop singer Shawn Mendes is 18. Thought for Today: "We
probably wouldn't worry about what people think of us if we could know
how seldom they do. Olin Miller, American humorist and poet
(1918-2002).
