Today is Wednesday, Aug. 15, the 227th day of 2007. 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 pre-recorded 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 was proclaimed.
In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened in upstate New York.
In 1971, President Richard Nixon announced a 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents.
In 1998, 29 people were killed by a car bomb in Omagh, Northern Ireland; a splinter group calling itself the Real IRA claimed responsibility.
Ten years ago: The government expanded its recall of ground beef sold under the Hudson brand name to 1.2 million pounds because of new evidence of possible contamination by E. coli bacteria. The Justice Department decided against prosecuting senior FBI officials in connection with an alleged cover-up that followed the deadly 1992 Ruby Ridge siege in Idaho.
Five years ago: President George W. Bush, using Mount Rushmore as a dramatic backdrop, pressed Congress to give him a flexible, fast-moving homeland security department. Some 600 family members of 9-11 victims filed a trillion-dollar federal lawsuit against Saudi officials, banks and charities, charging they had financed Osama bin Laden’s network and the attacks on New York and Washington.
One year ago: Israel began withdrawing its forces from southern Lebanon. Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, the queen of New Zealand’s indigenous Maori population, died on North Island, New Zealand, at age 75.
Today’s Birthdays: Actress Rose Marie is 84. Political activist Phyllis Schlafly is 83. Actor Mike Connors is 82. Jazz musician Oscar Peterson is 82. Actress Lori Nelson is 74. Singer-producer Bobby Byrd is 73. Civil rights activist Vernon Jordan is 72. Actor Jim Dale is 72. Actress Pat Priest is 71. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is 69. Musician Pete York (Spencer Davis Group) is
65. Author-journalist Linda Ellerbee is 63. Songwriter Jimmy Webb is 61. Britain’s Princess Anne is 57. Actress Tess Harper is 57. Actor Larry Mathews is 52. Actor Zeljko Ivanek is 50. Rock singer-musician Matt Johnson (The The) is 46. Movie director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (“Babel”) is 44. Actress Debi Mazar is 43. Country singer Angela Rae (Wild Horses) is 41. Actress Debra Messing is 39. Actor Anthony Anderson is 37. Actor Ben Affleck is
35. Singer Mikey Graham (Boyzone) is 35. Actress Natasha Henstridge is 33.
Thought for Today: “Life has taught me to think, but thinking has not taught me how to live.” — Alexander Herzen, Russian author (1812-1870).