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Friday, August 15, 2008

AUGUST 15TH


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Today is Friday, August 15, the 228th day of 2008.
There are 138 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:
  • On August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced to his subjects in a prerecorded radio address that Japan had accepted terms of surrender for ending World War II.
On this date:
  • In 1057, Macbeth, King of Scots, was killed in battle by Malcolm, the eldest son of King Duncan, whom Macbeth had slain.
  • In 1769, Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the island of Corsica.
  • In 1914, the Panama Canal opened to traffic.
  • In 1935, humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post were killed when their airplane crashed near Point Barrow, Alaska.
  • In 1944, during World War II, Allied forces landed in southern France in Operation Dragoon.
  • In 1947, India became independent after some 200 years of British rule.
  • In 1948, the Republic of Korea (South Korea) was proclaimed.
  • In 1961, East German workers began building the Berlin Wall.
  • In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened in upstate New York.
  • In 1971, President Nixon announced a 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents.
Ten years ago:
  • Twenty-nine people were killed by a car bomb that tore apart the center of Omagh, Northern Ireland; a splinter group calling itself the Real IRA claimed responsibility.
Five years ago:
  • Bouncing back from the largest blackout in U.S. history, cities from the Midwest to Manhattan restored power to millions of people — but encountered difficulties in fully reviving public services.
One year ago:
  • Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to felony charges for taking cash payoffs from gamblers and betting on games he'd officiated in a scandal that rocked the league. (A federal judge sentenced Donaghy to 15 months behind bars.)
  • A magnitude-8 earthquake in Peru's southern desert killed at least 540 people.
  • Master jazz percussionist Max Roach died in New York at age 83.
Today's Birthdays:
  • Actress Rose Marie is 85.
  • Political activist Phyllis Schlafly is 84.
  • Actor Mike Connors is 83.
  • Actress Lori Nelson is 75.
  • Civil rights activist Vernon Jordan is 73.
  • Actor Jim Dale is 73.
  • Actress Pat Priest is 72.
  • Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is 70.
  • Musician Pete York (Spencer Davis Group) is 66.
  • Author-journalist Linda Ellerbee is 64.
  • Songwriter Jimmy Webb is 62.
  • Britain's Princess Anne is 58.
  • Actress Tess Harper is 58.
  • Actor Larry Mathews is 53.
  • Actor Zeljko Ivanek is 51.
  • Actor-comedian Rondell Sheridan is 50.
  • Rock singer-musician Matt Johnson (The The) is 47.
  • Movie director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("Babel") is 45.
  • Actress Debi Mazar is 44.
  • Country singer Angela Rae (Wild Horses) is 42.
  • Actor Peter Hermann is 41.
  • Actress Debra Messing is 40.
  • Actor Anthony Anderson is 38.
  • Actor Ben Affleck is 36.
  • Singer Mikey Graham (Boyzone) is 36.
  • Actress Natasha Henstridge is 34.
  • Actress Nicole Paggi is 31.
  • Latin pop singer Belinda (Film: "The Cheetah Girls 2") is 19.
  • Rock singer Joe Jonas (The Jonas Brothers) is 19.
Thought for Today:
"We must not read either law or history backwards."
Helen M. Cam, English historian and educator (1885-1968).


"Let's all be careful out there!"