Today in History
Today is Monday, Aug. 22, the 235th day of 2016. There are 131 days
left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Aug. 22, 1485,
England's King Richard III was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field,
effectively ending the War of the Roses. On this date: In 1787,
inventor John Fitch demonstrated his steamboat on the Delaware River to
delegates from the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. In 1846,
Gen. Stephen W. Kearny proclaimed all of New Mexico a territory of the
United States. In 1851, the schooner America outraced more than a dozen
British vessels off the English coast to win a trophy that came to be
known as the America's Cup. In 1910, Japan annexed Korea, which
remained under Japanese control until the end of World War II. In 1922,
Irish revolutionary Michael Collins was shot to death, apparently by
Irish Republican Army members opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty that
Collins had co-signed. In 1932, the British Broadcasting Corp.
conducted its first experimental television broadcast, using a 30-line
mechanical system. In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Vice
President Richard Nixon were nominated for second terms in office by
the Republican National Convention in San Francisco. In 1968, Pope Paul
VI arrived in Bogota, Colombia, for the start of the first papal visit
to South America. In 1972, President Richard Nixon was nominated for a
second term of office by the Republican National Convention in Miami
Beach. In 1985, 55 people died when fire broke out aboard a British
Airtours charter jet on a runway at Manchester Airport in England. In
1986, Kerr-McGee Corp. agreed to pay the estate of the late Karen
Silkwood $1.38 million, settling a 10-year-old nuclear contamination
lawsuit. The Rob Reiner coming-of-age film "Stand By Me" was put into
wide release by Columbia Pictures. In 1996, President Bill Clinton
signed welfare legislation ending guaranteed cash payments to the poor
and demanding work from recipients. Ten years ago: A Russian Pulkovo
Airlines jet carrying 170 people crashed in eastern Ukraine, killing
all aboard. Paramount Pictures severed its ties to actor Tom Cruise
after 14 years, citing what it called unacceptable conduct, such as
jumping on Oprah Winfrey's couch and aggressively advocating
Scientology. Five years ago: Hurricane Irene cut a destructive path
through the Caribbean, raking Puerto Rico with strong winds and rain
and then spinning just north of the Dominican Republic. Nick Ashford,
one-half of the legendary Motown songwriting duo Ashford & Simpson,
died in New York at age 70. Lyricist Jerry Leiber, who with composer
Mike Stoller wrote "Hound Dog," 'Jailhouse Rock," 'Yakety Yak" and
other hits, died in Los Angeles at age 78. One year ago: A suicide car
bomber attacked a NATO convoy traveling through a crowded neighborhood
in Afghanistan's capital, killing at least 12 people, including four
American civilian contractors. A military jet taking part in a British
airshow crashed into a busy main road near Brighton in southern
England, killing 11 people. Today's Birthdays: Heart surgeon Dr. Denton
Cooley is 96. Broadcast journalist Morton Dean is 81. Author Annie
Proulx (proo) is 81. Baseball Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski is 77.
Actress Valerie Harper is 77. Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Bill
Parcells is 75. Writer-producer David Chase is 71. CBS newsman Steve
Kroft is 71. Actress Cindy Williams is 69. Pop musician David Marks is
68. International Swimming Hall of Famer Diana Nyad is 67. Baseball
Hall of Famer Paul Molitor is 60. Country singer Holly Dunn is 59. Rock
musician Vernon Reid is 58. Country singer Ricky Lynn Gregg is 57.
Country singer Collin Raye is 56. Actress Regina Taylor is 56. Rock
singer Roland Orzabal (Tears For Fears) is 55. Rock musician Debbi
Peterson (The Bangles) is 55. Rock musician Gary Lee Conner (Screaming
Trees) is 54. Singer Tori Amos is 53. Country singer Mila Mason is 53.
Rhythm-and-blues musician James DeBarge is 53. International Tennis
Hall of Famer Mats Wilander is 52. Actress Brooke Dillman is 50. Rapper
GZA (JIHZ'-ah)/The Genius is 50. Actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
(ah-day-WAH'-lay ah-kih-NOY'-yay ah-BAH'-jay) is 49. Actor Ty Burrell
is 49. Celebrity chef Giada DeLaurentiis is 46. Actress Melinda Page
Hamilton is 45. Actor Rick Yune is 45. Rock musician Paul Doucette
(Matchbox Twenty) is 44. Rap-reggae singer Beenie Man is 43. Singer
Howie Dorough (Backstreet Boys) is 43. Comedian-actress Kristen Wiig is
43. Actress Jenna Leigh Green is 42. Rock musician Bo Koster is 42.
Rock musician Dean Back (Theory of a Deadman) is 41. Talk show host
James Corden (TV: "The Late Late Show with James Corden") is 38. Rock
musician Jeff Stinco (Simple Plan) is 38. Actor Brandon Adams is 37.
Actress Aya Sumika is 36. Thought for Today: "Charming people live up
to the very edge of their charm, and behave as outrageously as the
world lets them. Logan Pearsall Smith, Anglo-American essayist
(1865-1946).
