Today is Thursday, August 29, the 242nd day of the yr 2024. There are 124 days left within the yr.
Today in history:
On August 29, 2008, Republican presidential candidate John McCain named Sarah Palin, a conservative outsider who had served as governor of Alaska for lower than two years, as his running mate.
Also on this date:
In 1814, through the War of 1812, Alexandria, Virginia, officially surrendered to British forces, who occupied town until September 3.
In 1862, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing began operations on the U.S. Treasury Department.
In 1944, 15,000 American soldiers of the twenty eighth Infantry Division marched down the Champs Elysees in Paris because the French capital continued to have a good time its liberation from the Nazis.
In 1958, the US Air Force Academy opened in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
In 1966, the Beatles ended their fourth American tour with their last public concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
In 2004, marathon runner Vanderlei de Lima was attacked by a spectator through the Olympic Marathon in Athens. De Lima, who was leading the race on the time, eventually finished third and was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin Medal for Sportsmanship along with his bronze medal.
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the U.S. Gulf Coast near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana, breaching levees and triggering flooding that devastated New Orleans. Katrina was the most costly storm in U.S. history, killing nearly 1,400 people and causing an estimated $200 billion in damage.
In a sweeping recent policy statement in 2013, the Justice Department said it will not stand in the way in which of states searching for to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana so long as there have been effective controls in place to maintain marijuana away from children, the black market and federal property.
In 2021, Hurricane Ida hit the Louisiana coast as some of the powerful storms to ever hit the United States, knocking out power to all of New Orleans, ripping roofs off buildings, and causing the Mississippi River to reverse its flow.
Today's birthdays:
- Actor Elliott Gould is 86.
- Former US Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin is 86.
- Olympic sprint gold medalist Wyomia Tyus is 79.
- Olympic long jump gold medalist Bob Beamon is 78.
- Animal behaviorist and autism educator Temple Grandin is 77.
- Former US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is 69.
- Dancer and choreographer Mark Morris is 68.
- Actress Rebecca De Mornay is 65.
- Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is 57.
- Singer Me'Shell NdegeOcello (n-DAY'-gay-OH'-chehl-oh) is 56.
- Actress Carla Gugino is 53.
- Actress and singer Lea Michele is 38.
- MLB pitcher Noah Syndergaard (SIHN'-dur-gahrd) is 32.
- Rock singer Liam Payne (One Direction) is 31.
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