Today in History
Today is Tuesday, Aug. 16, the 229th day of 2016. There are 137 days
left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Aug. 16, 1777,
American forces won the Battle of Bennington in what was considered a
turning point of the Revolutionary War. On this date: In 1812, Detroit
fell to British and Indian forces in the War of 1812. In 1858, a
telegraphed message from Britain's Queen Victoria to President James
Buchanan was transmitted over the recently laid trans-Atlantic cable.
In 1937, the American Federation of Radio Artists was chartered. In
1948, baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York at age 53. In 1954,
Sports Illustrated was first published by Time Inc. In 1956, Adlai E.
Stevenson was nominated for president at the Democratic National
Convention in Chicago. In 1962, The Beatles fired their original
drummer, Pete Best, replacing him with Ringo Starr. In 1976, the ABBA
single "Dancing Queen" was released in Sweden. In 1977, Elvis Presley
died at his Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee, at age 42. In 1978,
James Earl Ray, convicted assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., told
a Capitol Hill hearing he did not commit the crime, saying he'd been
set up by a mysterious man called "Raoul. In 1987, 156 people were
killed when Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed while trying to take
off from Detroit; the sole survivor was 4-year-old Cecelia Cichan
(SHEE'-an). In 1991, Pope John Paul II began the first-ever papal visit
to Hungary. Ten years ago: A former American school teacher, John Mark
Karr, was arrested in Thailand as a suspect in the 1996 slaying of
child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey in Boulder, Colorado. (Karr's
confession that he had killed JonBenet was later discredited.) New York
City officials released new tapes of hundreds of heart-wrenching phone
calls from the World Trade Center on 9/11, along with other emergency
transcripts. Alfredo Stroessner, the anti-communist general who'd ruled
Paraguay for decades, died in Brasilia, Brazil, at age 93. Five years
ago: President Barack Obama, on a Midwest bus tour, implored Iowans
during a stopover in Peosta to share ideas with him about how leaders
could give an economic jolt to the nation's heartland. Chancellor
Angela Merkel of Germany and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, meeting
in Paris, called for greater economic discipline and unity among
European nations but declined to take immediate financial measures. One
year ago: Trigana Air Service Flight 257, an Indonesian ATR 42-300,
crashed during a domestic flight; all 54 people on board were killed.
Tens of thousands of Brazilians demonstrated their discontent with
President Dilma Roussef. Today's Birthdays: Actress Ann Blyth is 88.
Actor Gary Clarke is 83. Actress Julie Newmar is 83. Actor John
Standing is 82. College Football Hall of Famer and NFL player Bill
Glass is 81. Actress Anita Gillette is 80. Actress Carole Shelley is
77. Country singer Billy Joe Shaver is 77. Movie director Bruce
Beresford is 76. Actor Bob Balaban is 71. Ballerina Suzanne Farrell is
71. Actress Lesley Ann Warren is 70. Actor Marshall Manesh is 66. Rock
singer-musician Joey Spampinato is 66. Actor Reginald VelJohnson is 64.
TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford is 63. Rhythm-and-blues singer J.T.
Taylor is 63. Movie director James Cameron is 62. Actor Jeff Perry is
61. Rock musician Tim Farriss (INXS) is 59. Actress Laura Innes is 59.
Singer Madonna is 58. Actress Angela Bassett is 58. Actor Timothy
Hutton is 56. Actor Steve Carell (kuh-REHL') is 54. Former tennis
player Jimmy Arias is 52. Actor-singer Donovan Leitch is 49. Actor Andy
Milder is 48. Actor Seth Peterson is 46. Country singer Emily Robison
(The Dixie Chicks) is 44. Actor George Stults is 41. Singer Vanessa
Carlton is 36. Actor Cam Gigandet is 34. Actress Agnes Bruckner is 31.
Singer-musician Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes) is 31. Actress Cristin Milioti
is 31. Actor Shawn Pyfrom is 30. Country singer Ashton Shepherd is 30.
Country singer Dan Smyers (Dan & Shay) is 29. Actor Kevin G. Schmidt is
28. Actress Rumer Willis is 28. Actor Parker Young is 28. Actor Cameron
Monaghan is 23. Singer-pianist Greyson Chance is 19. Thought for Today:
"Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness
without action. Benjamin Disraeli, British statesman (1804-1881).
