August 20
Today is the 232nd day of 2017; there are 133 days left in the year.
1833 - Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States, was born in North Bend, Ohio.
1866 - More than a year after the end of fighting in the Civil War, President Andrew Johnson issued Proclamation 157, which declared that "peace, order, tranquillity, and civil authority now exist in and throughout the whole of the United States of America."
1910 - A series of forest fires swept through parts of Idaho, Montana and Washington, killing at least 85 people and burning some 3 million acres.
1914 - German forces occupied Brussels, Belgium during World War I.
1918 - Britain opened an offensive on the Western front during World War I.
1940 - British Prime Minister Winston Churchill paid tribute to the Royal Air Force, saying, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."
1953 - The Soviet Union publicly acknowledged it had tested a hydrogen bomb.
1955 - Hundreds of people were killed in anti-French rioting in Morocco and Algeria.
1964 - As part of his Great Society policies, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act, which, among other things, the nearly $1 billion anti-poverty measure established the Head Start program.
1968 - The Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the "Prague Spring" liberalization drive of Alexander Dubcek's regime.
1977 - The space probe Voyager 2 was launched. It continues to explore to this day, and is now more than 10 billion miles from Earth. Voyager 2 carries with it a 12-inch copper phonograph record containing greetings in dozens of languages, samples of music and sounds of nature.
1980 - Italian Reinhold Messner made the first successful solo ascent of Mount Everest and without oxygen.
1989 - Entertainment executive Jose Menendez and his wife, Kitty, were shot to death in their Beverly Hills mansion by their sons, Lyle and Erik.
1992 - The Republican National Convention in Houston nominated President George H.W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle for a second term.
1998 - U.S. cruise missiles hit suspected terrorist bases in Afghanistan and Sudan.
2006 - Former Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal, who took the iconic Iwo Jima flag-raising picture during World War II, died at age 94.
2009 - Voting in Afghanistan's presidential election was marred by rampant ballot-box stuffing. (Hamid Karzai was declared the winner in November.)
2009 - The only man convicted of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 returned home to Libya after his release from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds.
Birthdays
22 - Liana Liberato (actress)
23 - Antje Utgaard (model)
25 - Demi Lovato (singer)
25 - Neslihan Atagul (actress)
28 - Olivia Pierson (reality star)
32 - Brant Daugherty (actor)
34 - Andrew Garfield (actor)
35 - Meghan Ory (actress)
36 - Byron Saxton (professional wrestler)
36 - Ben Barnes (actor)
41 - Nicole Curtis (TV host)
43 - Misha Collins (actor)
43 - Amy Adams (actress)
46 - David Walliams (comedian)
47 - Fred Durst (singer)
54 - Carole Radziwill (reality star)
55 - James Marsters (actor)
63 - Al Roker (TV host)
69 - Robert Plant (singer)
74 - Sylvester McCoy (actor)
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Today in Sports History - August 20
1920 - Representatives of four professional football clubs met in the first of two meetings in Canton, Ohio. The meetings led to the founding of the American Professional Football Association. Two years later the APFA officially became the National Football League.
1945 - Tommy Brown of the Brooklyn Dodgers becomes the youngest player to ever hit a major league home run, at age 17.
1958 - Dale Long becomes first major league lefty catcher in 52 years.
1961 - Philadelphia Phillies set dubious record of 23 straight losses.
1974 - Nolan Ryan throws a fastball clocked at 100.4 mph.
1985 - Dwight Gooden becomes the first National League pitcher to strike out over 200 batters in his first two seasons.
1990 - George Steinbrenner steps down as owner of the New York Yankees.
2000 - Tiger Woods won the PGA Championship, becoming the first player since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three majors in one year.
2005 - Thomas Herrion (San Francisco 49ers) collapsed and died after a preseason game in Denver.
2008 - Usain Bolt of Jamaica wins the 200 meters at the Beijing Summer Olympics with a new world record time of 19.30 seconds.
2009 - At the World Track & Field Championships in Berlin, Usain Bolt lowers his own world record in the 200 meters with a time of 19.19 seconds.
2012 - In a historic change at one of the world's most exclusive golf clubs, Augusta National invited former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore to become the first female members; both accepted.
2016 - At the Rio Games, the U.S. women's basketball team won a sixth consecutive Olympic gold medal in dominant fashion, routing Spain 101-72. Allyson Felix and LaShawn Merritt anchored the 4x400 relay teams to victory.
Today is the 232nd day of 2017; there are 133 days left in the year.
1833 - Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States, was born in North Bend, Ohio.
1866 - More than a year after the end of fighting in the Civil War, President Andrew Johnson issued Proclamation 157, which declared that "peace, order, tranquillity, and civil authority now exist in and throughout the whole of the United States of America."
1910 - A series of forest fires swept through parts of Idaho, Montana and Washington, killing at least 85 people and burning some 3 million acres.
1914 - German forces occupied Brussels, Belgium during World War I.
1918 - Britain opened an offensive on the Western front during World War I.
1940 - British Prime Minister Winston Churchill paid tribute to the Royal Air Force, saying, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."
1953 - The Soviet Union publicly acknowledged it had tested a hydrogen bomb.
1955 - Hundreds of people were killed in anti-French rioting in Morocco and Algeria.
1964 - As part of his Great Society policies, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act, which, among other things, the nearly $1 billion anti-poverty measure established the Head Start program.
1968 - The Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the "Prague Spring" liberalization drive of Alexander Dubcek's regime.
1977 - The space probe Voyager 2 was launched. It continues to explore to this day, and is now more than 10 billion miles from Earth. Voyager 2 carries with it a 12-inch copper phonograph record containing greetings in dozens of languages, samples of music and sounds of nature.
1980 - Italian Reinhold Messner made the first successful solo ascent of Mount Everest and without oxygen.
1989 - Entertainment executive Jose Menendez and his wife, Kitty, were shot to death in their Beverly Hills mansion by their sons, Lyle and Erik.
1992 - The Republican National Convention in Houston nominated President George H.W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle for a second term.
1998 - U.S. cruise missiles hit suspected terrorist bases in Afghanistan and Sudan.
2006 - Former Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal, who took the iconic Iwo Jima flag-raising picture during World War II, died at age 94.
2009 - Voting in Afghanistan's presidential election was marred by rampant ballot-box stuffing. (Hamid Karzai was declared the winner in November.)
2009 - The only man convicted of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 returned home to Libya after his release from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds.
Birthdays
22 - Liana Liberato (actress)
23 - Antje Utgaard (model)
25 - Demi Lovato (singer)
25 - Neslihan Atagul (actress)
28 - Olivia Pierson (reality star)
32 - Brant Daugherty (actor)
34 - Andrew Garfield (actor)
35 - Meghan Ory (actress)
36 - Byron Saxton (professional wrestler)
36 - Ben Barnes (actor)
41 - Nicole Curtis (TV host)
43 - Misha Collins (actor)
43 - Amy Adams (actress)
46 - David Walliams (comedian)
47 - Fred Durst (singer)
54 - Carole Radziwill (reality star)
55 - James Marsters (actor)
63 - Al Roker (TV host)
69 - Robert Plant (singer)
74 - Sylvester McCoy (actor)
========================================
Today in Sports History - August 20
1920 - Representatives of four professional football clubs met in the first of two meetings in Canton, Ohio. The meetings led to the founding of the American Professional Football Association. Two years later the APFA officially became the National Football League.
1945 - Tommy Brown of the Brooklyn Dodgers becomes the youngest player to ever hit a major league home run, at age 17.
1958 - Dale Long becomes first major league lefty catcher in 52 years.
1961 - Philadelphia Phillies set dubious record of 23 straight losses.
1974 - Nolan Ryan throws a fastball clocked at 100.4 mph.
1985 - Dwight Gooden becomes the first National League pitcher to strike out over 200 batters in his first two seasons.
1990 - George Steinbrenner steps down as owner of the New York Yankees.
2000 - Tiger Woods won the PGA Championship, becoming the first player since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three majors in one year.
2005 - Thomas Herrion (San Francisco 49ers) collapsed and died after a preseason game in Denver.
2008 - Usain Bolt of Jamaica wins the 200 meters at the Beijing Summer Olympics with a new world record time of 19.30 seconds.
2009 - At the World Track & Field Championships in Berlin, Usain Bolt lowers his own world record in the 200 meters with a time of 19.19 seconds.
2012 - In a historic change at one of the world's most exclusive golf clubs, Augusta National invited former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore to become the first female members; both accepted.
2016 - At the Rio Games, the U.S. women's basketball team won a sixth consecutive Olympic gold medal in dominant fashion, routing Spain 101-72. Allyson Felix and LaShawn Merritt anchored the 4x400 relay teams to victory.
