Today is Friday, August 16, the 229th day of the yr 2024. There are 137 days left within the yr.
Today in history:
On August 16, 1977, Elvis Presley died on the age of 42 at his Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee; 41 years later, in 2018, singer Aretha Franklin, often called the “Queen of Soul,” died in Detroit on the age of 76.
Also on this date:
In 1777, American forces won the Battle of Bennington, which is taken into account a turning point within the War of Independence.
In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln issued Proclamation 86, which prohibited states of the Union from trading with states in rise up—that’s, the Confederacy.
In 1896, gold was discovered in Canada's Yukon Territory, sparking “Klondike fever,” which attracted tens of 1000’s of individuals to the region in quest of their fortune.
In 1948, baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York on the age of 53.
The first issue of “Sports Illustrated” was published in 1954.
In 1962, the Beatles fired their original drummer Pete Best and replaced him with Ringo Starr.
In 1978, James Earl Ray, the convicted murderer of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., testified at a hearing on Capitol Hill that he didn’t commit the crime because he was arrange by a mysterious man named “Raoul.”
In 1987, people world wide began a two-day celebration of the “Harmonic Convergence,” which believers called the start of a brand new, purer age of humanity.
In 2014, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency and a curfew within the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson. In the week since 18-year-old black man Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer, there have been repeated clashes between police and protesters.
In 2020, a lightning strike in California sparked the August Complex wildfire. Over the following three months, greater than 4,500 square kilometers burned – greater than the world of Rhode Island.
Today's birthdays:
- Actress Julie Newmar is 91.
- Film director Bruce Beresford is 84.
- Actor Bob Balaban is 79.
- Ballerina Suzanne Farrell is 79.
- Actress Lesley Ann Warren is 78.
- Actor Reginald VelJohnson is 72.
- Singer/writer and TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford is 71.
- Singer JT Taylor (Kool and the Gang) is 71.
- Film director James Cameron is 70.
- The singer and actress Madonna is 66.
- Actress Angela Bassett is 66.
- Actor Timothy Hutton is 64.
- Actor Steve Carell (kuh-REHL') is 62.
- Country musician Emily Strayer (The Chicks) is 52.
- Actor and filmmaker Taika Waititi is 49.
- Singer Vanessa Carlton is 44.
- Country singer Dan Smyers (Dan & Shay) is 37.
- Actor Rumer Willis is 36.
- US Olympic swimming champion Caeleb Dressel is 28.
- Tennis player Jannik Sinner is 23.
Originally published:
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