Today in History August 15
By The Associated Press
Fri Aug 15, 12: 02 AM ET
Today is Friday, Aug. 15, the 228th day of 2008. There are 138 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Aug. 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).
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