Today in History
Today is Friday, Aug. 26, the 239th day of 2016. There are 127 days
left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Aug. 26, 1968, the
Democratic National Convention opened in Chicago; the four-day event
was marked by a bloody police crackdown on anti-war protesters in the
streets and a tumultuous nominating process that resulted in the choice
of Hubert H. Humphrey for president. On this date: In 1789, France's
National Assembly adopted its Declaration of the Rights of Man and of
the Citizen. In 1883, the island volcano Krakatoa began cataclysmic
eruptions, leading to a massive explosion the following day. In 1920,
the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing American
women's right to vote, was certified in effect by Secretary of State
Bainbridge Colby. In 1939, the first televised major league baseball
games were shown on experimental station W2XBS: a double-header between
the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. (The Reds
won the first game, 5-2, the Dodgers the second, 6-1.) In 1944, French
Gen. Charles de Gaulle braved the threat of German snipers as he led a
victory march in Paris, which had just been liberated by the Allies
from Nazi oc'cup'ation. In 1958, Alaskans went to the polls to
overwhelmingly vote in favor of statehood. In 1964, President Lyndon B.
Johnson was nominated for a term of office in his own right at the
Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In 1972,
the summer Olympics games opened in Munich, West Germany. In 1978,
Cardinal Albino Luciani (al-BEE'-noh loo-CHYAH'-nee) of Venice was
elected pope following the death of Paul VI; the new pontiff took the
name Pope John Paul I. (However, he died just over a month later.) In
1986, in the so-called "preppie murder case," 18-year-old Jennifer
Levin was found strangled in New York's Central Park; Robert Chambers
later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and served 15 years in prison. In
1996, Democrats opened their 42nd national convention in Chicago. In
2009, authorities in California solved the 18-year disappearance of
Jaycee Lee Dugard after she appeared at a parole office with her
children and the Antioch couple who'd kidnapped her when she was 11.
Ten years ago: Iran's hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
(mahk-MOOD' ah-muh-DEE'-neh-zhahd), inaugurated a heavy-water
production plant, a facility the West feared would be used to develop a
nuclear bomb. Chad's President Idriss Deby ordered California-based
Chevron Corp. and Malaysian company Petronas to leave the country,
saying neither had paid taxes. (The dispute over taxes was later
resolved, with the two companies agreeing to pay $289 million.) Five
years ago: More than 2 million people along the Eastern Seaboard were
ordered to move to safer ground as Hurricane Irene approached the
coast. A Boko Haram sect member detonated a car loaded with explosives
at the United Nations headquarters in Nigeria's capital Abuja, killing
25 people and wounding more than 100 others. One year ago: Alison
Parker, a reporter for WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, Virginia, and her cameraman,
Adam Ward, were shot to death during a live outdoor interview with
Vicki Gardner, executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of
Commerce, by Vester Lee Flanagan, a disgruntled former station employee
who then fatally shot himself while being pursued by police. (Gardner
was seriously wounded in the attack.) Amelia Boynton Robinson, 104, who
was widely considered the mother of the American civil rights movement,
died in Montgomery, Alabama. Today's Birthdays: Actress Francine York
is 80. Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is 71.
Rhythm-and-blues singer Valerie Simpson is 71. Pop singer Bob Cowsill
is 67. Broadcast journalist Bill Whitaker is 65. Actor Brett Cullen is
60. NBA coach Stan Van Gundy is 57. Jazz musician Branford Marsalis is
56. Country musician Jimmy Olander (Diamond Rio) is 55. Actor Chris
Burke is 51. Actress-singer Shirley Manson (Garbage) is 50. Rock
musician Dan Vickrey (Counting Crowes) is 50. TV writer-actress Riley
Weston is 50. Rock musician Adrian Young (No Doubt) is 47. Actress
Melissa McCarthy is 46. Latin pop singer Thalia is 45. Rock
singer-musician Tyler Connolly (Theory of a Deadman) is 41. Actor Mike
Colter is 40. Actor Macaulay Culkin is 36. Actor Chris Pine is 36.
Country singer Brian Kelley (Florida Georgia Line) is 31.
Rhythm-and-blues singer Cassie Ventura is 30. Actor Evan Ross is 28.
Actor Dylan O'Brien is 25. Actress Keke Palmer is 23. Thought for
Today: "When the political columnists say 'Every thinking man' they
mean themselves, and when candidates appeal to 'Every intelligent
voter' they mean everybody who is going to vote for them. Franklin P.
Adams, American journalist-humorist (1881-1960).
