Thursday, August 07th
The 220th day of 2008.
There are 146 days left in the year.
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Today's Highlights in History
On Aug. 7, 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving President Johnson broad powers in dealing with reported North Vietnamese attacks on United States forces. (Go to article.)
On Aug. 7, 1904, Ralph Bunche, the American diplomat who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950, was born. Following his death on Dec. 9, 1971, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obit. | Other Birthdays)
Editorial Cartoon of the Day
On August 7, 1886, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about federal taxes. (See the cartoon and read an explanation.)
On this date in:
1782 George Washington created the Order of the Purple Heart, a decoration to recognize merit in enlisted men and noncommissioned officers.
1789 The War Department was established by Congress.
1912 The Progressive Party nominated Theodore Roosevelt for president.
1934 The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against the government's attempt to ban the James Joyce novel "Ulysses."
1942 U.S. forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II.
1947 The balsa wood raft Kon-Tiki, which had carried a six-man crew 4,300 miles across the Pacific Ocean, crashed into a reef in a Polynesian archipelago.
1957 Oliver Hardy of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy died at age 65.
1959 The United States launched Explorer 6, which sent back a picture of the Earth.
1964 Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson broad powers to deal with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.
1971 Apollo 15 returned to Earth after a manned mission to the moon.
1974 French stuntman Philippe Petit walked a tightrope strung between the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center.
1990 President George H.W. Bush ordered U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard the oil-rich desert kingdom against a possible invasion by Iraq.
1998 Al Qaida set off bombs at the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 224 people - including 12 Americans - and injuring more than 5,500.
2000 Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore selected Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman to be the first Jewish vice-presidential candidate on a major party ticket.
2004 Greg Maddux became the 22nd pitcher in major league history to reach 300 victories as he led the Chicago Cubs to an 8-4 victory over San Francisco.
2005 ABC anchorman Peter Jennings died at age 67.
2005 Seven people in a Russian mini-submarine trapped for nearly three days under the Pacific Ocean were rescued after a British remote-controlled vehicle cut away undersea cables that snarled their vessel.
2007 Barry Bonds became baseball's career home run leader when he hit No. 756 during a home game in San Francisco, passing Hank Aaron's mark.
Current Birthdays
Charlize Theron turns 33 years old today.
AP Photo/Peter Kramer Actress Charlize Theron turns 33 years old today.
82 Stan Freberg
Writer, producer
80 Herb Reed
R&B singer (The Platters)
71 Magic Slim
Blues musician
69 Verna Bloom
Actress
66 Garrison Keillor
Writer, humorist ("A Prairie Home Companion")
66 B.J. Thomas
Singer
65 Lana Cantrell
Singer
64 John Glover
Actor
64 David Rasche
Actor
59 Harold Hudson
R&B singer
58 Rodney Crowell
Country singer
56 Caroline Aaron
Actress
53 Wayne Knight
Actor ("Seinfeld")
50 Bruce Dickinson
Rock singer (Iron Maiden)
50 Alberto Salazar
Marathon runner
48 David Duchovny
Actor ("The X Files")
47 Michael Mahler
Country musician (Wild Horses)
45 Harold Perrineau
Actor ("Lost")
45 Marcus Roberts
Jazz pianist
43 Raul Malo
Country singer (The Mavericks)
41 Charlotte Lewis
Actress
37 Sydney Penny
Actress
33 Edgar Renteria
Baseball player
21 Sidney Crosby
Hockey Player
Historic Birthdays
Ralph Bunche
8/7/1904 - 12/9/1971
American civil rights activist and diplomat awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950
(Go to obit.)
61 Alonso de Ercilla y Zuniga
8/7/1533 - 11/29/1594
Spanish soldier and poet
80 Carl Ritter
8/7/1779 - 9/28/1859
German geographer
77 John Heathcoat
8/7/1783 - 1/18/1861
English inventor of lace-making machinery
63 Paulina Kellogg Davis
8/7/1813 - 8/24/1876
American feminist and social reformer
71 Ellen Fitz Pendleton
8/7/1864 - 7/26/1936
American educator; president of Wellesley College (1911-36)
41 Mata Hari
8/7/1876 - 10/15/1917
Dutch dancer executed by the French for espionage during World War I
77 Alan Hazeltine
8/7/1886 - 5/24/1964
American electrical engineer and physicist
69 Louis S. B. Leakey
8/7/1903 - 10/1/1972
Kenyan archaeologist and anthropologist
67 Nicholas Ray
8/7/1911 - 6/16/1979
American film writer and director
41 Abebe Bikila
8/7/1932 - 10/25/1973
Ethiopian Olympic gold medal marathon winner (1960, 1964)
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