Today is Monday, Aug. 24, the 236th day of 2009. There are 129 days left in the year. Sound & pictures from The AP. Inane crap from The UPI.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Aug. 24, 1814, during the War of 1812, British forces invaded Washington, D.C., setting fire to the Capitol (which was still under construction) and the White House, as well as other public buildings.
On this date:
One thousand nine hundred & thirty years ago, in 79, long-dormant Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in volcanic ash; an estimated 20,000 people died.
In 1572, the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of French Protestants at the hands of Catholics began in Paris. [Gawd IS love! — Ed.]
In 1857, the New York branch of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Co. failed, sparking the Panic of 1857.
In 1932, Amelia Earhart embarked on a 19-hour flight from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J., making her the first woman to fly solo, nonstop, from coast to coast.
In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty came into force.
In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Communist Control Act, outlawing the Communist Party in the United States. [Your First Amendment in action! — Ed.]
In 1959, three days after Hawaiian statehood, Hiram L. Fong was sworn in as the first Chinese-American U.S. Senator while Daniel K. Inouye was sworn in as the first Japanese-American U.S. Representative.In 1968, France became the world's fifth thermonuclear power as it exploded a hydrogen bomb in the South Pacific.
In 1970, a bomb planted by anti-war extremists exploded at the University of Wisconsin's Sterling Hall in Madison, killing 33-year-old researcher Robert Fassnacht.
In 1989, Baseball Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti banned Pete Rose from the game for betting on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds. The Voyager 2 space probe flew by Neptune, sending back striking photographs.
In 1992, Hurricane Andrew smashed into Florida, causing $30 billion in damage; 43 U.S. deaths were blamed on the storm.
Ten years ago: The Federal Reserve raised borrowing costs for millions of Americans, increasing its target for the federal funds rate by a quarter point to 5.25 percent, and hiking the discount rate a quarter point to 4.75 percent.
Five years ago: An independent commission said the blame for abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison lay mainly with the American soldiers who ran the jail, but said senior commanders and top-level Pentagon officials could also be faulted for failed leadership and oversight. Chechen separatists set off bombs aboard two Russian airliners that crashed after taking off from the same Moscow airport, killing 90 people. Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, who famously theorized that terminally ill patients go through five stages of grief, died in Scottsdale, Ariz., at age 78.
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union declared that Pluto was no longer a planet, demoting it to the status of a "dwarf planet."
In 2007, a judge in Inverness, Fla., sentenced John Evander Couey to death for kidnapping 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, raping her and burying her alive. James Ford Seale, a reputed Ku Klux Klansman, was sentenced to three life terms for his role in the 1964 abduction and murder of two black teenagers in Mississippi. The NFL indefinitely suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick without pay for his involvement in dogfighting. (He was reinstated with conditions in July 2009 after serving 18 months in prison.)
One year ago: A suicide bomber struck a welcome-home celebration on Baghdad's outskirts for an Iraqi detainee released from U.S. custody, killing at least 25 people. An Iran-bound passenger jet carrying 90 people crashed in Kyrgyzstan, killing some 70 people. On the final day of the Beijing Games, Kobe Bryant hit two 3-pointers in a big fourth quarter to help the United States defeat Spain 118-107 and win the men's basketball gold medal for the first time since 2000. Waipahu, Hawaii, defeated Matamoros, Mexico, in the Little League World Series, 12-3.
Today's Birthdays:
Former education secretary Shirley Hufstedler is 84. Actor Kenny Baker ("Star Wars") is 75. Composer-musician Mason Williams is 71. R&B singer Marshall Thompson (The Chi-Lites) is 67. Rock musician Ken Hensley is 64. Actress Anne Archer is 62. Actor Joe Regalbuto is 60. Actor Kevin Dunn (TV: "Samantha Who?") is 54. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is 54. Actor-writer Stephen Fry is 52. Actor Steve Guttenberg is 51. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Cal Ripken Jr. is 49. Talk show host Craig Kilborn is 47. Rock singer John Bush is 46. Actress Marlee Matlin is 44. Retired NBA player Reggie Miller is 44. Broadcast journalist David Gregory ("Meet the Press") is 39. Country singer Kristyn Osborn (SheDaisy) is 39. Actor-comedian Dave Chappelle is 36. Actor Carmine Giovinazzo is 36. Actress Beth Riesgraf is 31. NBA player Michael Redd is 30. Actor Chad Michael Murray is 28. Christian rock musician Jeffrey Gilbert (Kutless) is 26. Singer Mika is 26. Actor Rupert Grint ("Harry Potter" films) is 21.
Today In Entertainment History August 24
In 1960, Stevie Wonder was the first musician to reach number one on the pop and R-and-B charts with "Fingertips, Part 2" and number one on the album chart with "The 12-Year-Old Genius."
In 1967, the members of The Beatles met the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for the first time in London. During a private meeting, the Maharishi accepted them as disciples.
In 1968, Who drummer Keith Moon drove a Lincoln into the swimming pool of a hotel in Flint, Michigan, to cap off his birthday.
In 1979, The Cars played before half a million people in New York's Central Park.
In 1981, Mark David Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for the shooting death of John Lennon in New York.
In 1983, Jerry Lee Lewis' wife, Shawn, was found dead at their Mississippi home. An autopsy revealed she died of a methadone overdose.
In 1988, country singer Nat Stuckey died in Nashville of lung cancer.
In 1990, a judge in Reno, Nevada, ruled that Judas Priest was not responsible for a suicide pact formed by two fans. But, he said the band's "Stained Class" album did contain hidden messages. Singer Sinead O'Connor banned the "Star-Spangled Banner" from her show in New Jersey. Some radio stations, in turn, refused to play O'Connor's music.
In 1996, Bob Schieffer hosted his last newscast on the "CBS Saturday Evening News." He had been an anchor for 20 years.
Thought for Today:
"No one knows his true character until he has run out of gas, purchased something on the installment plan and raised an adolescent." — Marcelene Cox, American writer. [Good. Never get to know our true character then. But we can affirm that we'd never be stupid enough to run out of gas, even though we've never owned an air-polluting pedestrian-killer. Don't be jealous, though: It's one hell of a burden being this pure, good & decent. — Ed.]
In 1968, France became the world's fifth thermonuclear power as it exploded a hydrogen bomb in the South Pacific.
In 1970, a bomb planted by anti-war extremists exploded at the University of Wisconsin's Sterling Hall in Madison, killing 33-year-old researcher Robert Fassnacht.
In 1989, Baseball Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti banned Pete Rose from the game for betting on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds. The Voyager 2 space probe flew by Neptune, sending back striking photographs.
In 1992, Hurricane Andrew smashed into Florida, causing $30 billion in damage; 43 U.S. deaths were blamed on the storm.
Ten years ago: The Federal Reserve raised borrowing costs for millions of Americans, increasing its target for the federal funds rate by a quarter point to 5.25 percent, and hiking the discount rate a quarter point to 4.75 percent.
Five years ago: An independent commission said the blame for abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison lay mainly with the American soldiers who ran the jail, but said senior commanders and top-level Pentagon officials could also be faulted for failed leadership and oversight. Chechen separatists set off bombs aboard two Russian airliners that crashed after taking off from the same Moscow airport, killing 90 people. Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, who famously theorized that terminally ill patients go through five stages of grief, died in Scottsdale, Ariz., at age 78.
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union declared that Pluto was no longer a planet, demoting it to the status of a "dwarf planet."
In 2007, a judge in Inverness, Fla., sentenced John Evander Couey to death for kidnapping 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, raping her and burying her alive. James Ford Seale, a reputed Ku Klux Klansman, was sentenced to three life terms for his role in the 1964 abduction and murder of two black teenagers in Mississippi. The NFL indefinitely suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick without pay for his involvement in dogfighting. (He was reinstated with conditions in July 2009 after serving 18 months in prison.)
One year ago: A suicide bomber struck a welcome-home celebration on Baghdad's outskirts for an Iraqi detainee released from U.S. custody, killing at least 25 people. An Iran-bound passenger jet carrying 90 people crashed in Kyrgyzstan, killing some 70 people. On the final day of the Beijing Games, Kobe Bryant hit two 3-pointers in a big fourth quarter to help the United States defeat Spain 118-107 and win the men's basketball gold medal for the first time since 2000. Waipahu, Hawaii, defeated Matamoros, Mexico, in the Little League World Series, 12-3.
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