AUGUST 22ND

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Today is Friday, August 22, the 235th day of 2008.
There are 131 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On August 22, 1968, Pope Paul VI arrived in Bogota, Colombia, for the start of the first papal visit to South America.

On this date:

• In 1485, England's King Richard III was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field, ending the War of the Roses.
• 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 1904, Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping was born in Sichuan province.
• In 1910, Japan annexed Korea, which remained under Japanese colonial rule until 1945.
• In 1956, President Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon were nominated for second terms in office by the Republican National Convention in San Francisco.
• In 1978, President Jomo Kenyatta, a leading figure in Kenya's struggle for independence, died; Vice President Daniel arap Moi was sworn in as acting president.
• In 1985, 55 people died when fire broke out aboard a British Airtours charter jet on a runway at Manchester Airport in England.
• In 1989, Black Panther co-founder Huey P. Newton was shot to death in Oakland, Calif. (Gunman Tyrone Robinson was later sentenced to 32 years to life in prison.)

Ten years ago:

• President Clinton, in his Saturday radio address, announced he had signed an executive order putting Osama bin Laden's Islamic Army and two of his main lieutenants on a list of terrorist groups.

Five years ago:

• Alabama's chief justice, Roy Moore, was suspended for his refusal to obey a federal court order to remove his Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of his courthouse.
• Texas Gov. Rick Perry pardoned 35 people arrested in the 1999 Tulia drug busts and convicted on the testimony of a lone undercover agent. (The agent, Tom Coleman, was later found guilty of aggravated perjury and sentenced to 10 years probation — he's been appealing his conviction.)
• In Brazil, a rocket exploded on its launch pad during tests just days before liftoff, killing 21 workers.

One year ago:

• President Bush, addressing the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Kansas City, Mo., offered a fresh endorsement of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, calling him "a good guy, good man with a difficult job."
• A U.S. helicopter crashed in Iraq, killing 14 soldiers.
• Hurricane Dean slammed into Mexico for the second time in as many days.
• The Texas Rangers became the first team in 110 years to score 30 runs in a game, setting an American League record in a 30-3 rout of the Baltimore Orioles in the first game of a doubleheader.
• Poet and short story writer Grace Paley died in Thetford Hill, Vt., at age 84.

Today's Birthdays:

• Author Ray Bradbury is 88.
• Heart surgeon Dr. Denton Cooley is 88.
• Retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf is 74.
• Broadcast journalist Morton Dean is 73.
• Writer Annie Proulx is 73.
• Rockabilly singer Dale Hawkins is 72.
• Baseball Hall-of-Famer Carl Yastrzemski is 69.
• Actress Valerie Harper is 68.
• Football coach Bill Parcells is 67.
• CBS newsman Steve Kroft is 63.
• Actress Cindy Williams is 61.
• Musician David Marks is 60.
• Country singer Holly Dunn is 51.
• Rock musician Vernon Reid is 50.
• Country singer Ricky Lynn Gregg is 49.
• Country singer Collin Raye is 48.
• Actress Regina Taylor is 48.
• Rock singer Roland Orzabal (Tears For Fears) is 47.
• Rock musician Debbi Peterson (The Bangles) is 47.
• Rock musician Gary Lee Conner (Screaming Trees) is 46.
• Singer Tori Amos is 45.
• Country singer Mila Mason is 45.
• Rhythm-and-blues musician James DeBarge is 45.
• Tennis player Mats Wilander is 44.
• Rapper GZA/The Genius is 42.
• Actor Ty Burrell is 41.
• Actor Rick Yune is 37.
• Rock musician Paul Doucette (Matchbox Twenty) is 36.
• Rap-reggae singer Beenie Man is 35.
• Singer Howie Dorough (Backstreet Boys) is 35.
• Actress Jenna Leigh Green is 34.
• Rock musician Jeff Stinco (Simple Plan) is 30.
• Actress Aya Sumika (TV: "Numb3rs") is 28.

Thought for Today:

"If you want to be thought a liar, always tell the truth."
Logan Pearsall Smith, Anglo-American essayist (1865-1946).

"Let's all be careful out there!"