TODAY IN HISTORY
On August 16, 1977, Elvis Presley died at his Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee, at age 42.
On this date: In 1777, American forces won the Battle of Bennington in what was considered a turning point of the Revolutionary War.
In 1812, Detroit fell to British and Indian forces in the War of 1812.
In 1858, a telegraphed message from Britain's Queen Victoria to President James Buchanan was transmitted over the recently laid trans-Atlantic cable.
In 1937, the American Federation of Radio Artists was chartered.
In 1948, baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York at age 53.
In 1954, Sports Illustrated was first published by Time Inc.
In 1956, Adlai E. Stevenson was nominated for president at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
In 1967, Louis Armstrong recorded "What a Wonderful World" by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss for ABC Records.
In 1977, a judge in New York ruled that Renee Richards, a male-to-female transgender, had the right to compete in the U.S. Open without having to pass a sex chromosome test. (In the opening round of the Open, Richards lost to Virginia Wade in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4).
In 1987, 156 people were killed when Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed while trying to take off from Detroit; the sole survivor was 4-year-old Cecelia Cichan.
In 1991, Pope John Paul II began the first-ever papal visit to Hungary. Ten years ago: Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen held for 3½ years as an enemy combatant, was convicted in Miami of helping Islamic extremists and plotting overseas attacks. (Padilla, once accused of plotting with al-Qaida to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb," was later sentenced to 17 years and four months in prison on the unrelated terror support charges, but that sentence was later increased to 21 years.) Five years ago: Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney declared he had paid at least 13 percent of his income in federal taxes every year for the previous decade; President Barack Obama's campaign shot back: "Prove it." One year ago: Democrat Kathleen Kane, Pennsylvania's first elected female attorney general, announced her resignation a day after being convicted of abusing the powers of the state's top law enforcement office to smear a rival and lying under oath to cover it up.