Today In History

Today is Wednesday, Aug. 15, the 227th day of 2018. There are 138 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1945: In a pre-recorded radio address, Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced that his country had accepted terms of surrender for ending World War II.

ON THIS DATE

› 1483: The Sistine Chapel was consecrated by Pope Sixtus IV.

› 1914: The Panama Canal officially opened as the SS Ancon crossed the just-completed waterway between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

› 1935: Humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post were killed when their airplane crashed near Point Barrow in the Alaska Territory.

› 1947: India became independent after some 200 years of British rule.

› 1961: As workers began constructing a Berlin Wall made of concrete, East German soldier Conrad Schumann leapt to freedom over a tangle of barbed wire in a scene captured in a famous photograph.

› 1965: The Beatles played to a crowd of more than 55,000 at New York’s Shea Stadium.

› 1969: The Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened in upstate New York.

› 1971: President Richard Nixon announced a 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Actress Abby Dalton is 86. Actress Lori Nelson is 85. U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is 80. Musician Pete York (Spencer Davis Group) is 76. Author-journalist Linda Ellerbee is 74. Songwriter Jimmy Webb is 72. Rock singer-musician Tom Johnston (The Doobie Brothers) is 70. Actress Phyllis Smith is 69. Britain’s Princess Anne is 68. Actress Tess Harper is 68. Actor Larry Mathews is 63. Movie director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is 55. Philanthropist Melinda Gates is 54. Country singer Angela Rae (Wild Horses) is 52. Actor Peter Hermann is 51. Actress Debra Messing is 50. Actor Ben Affleck is 46. Singer Mikey Graham (Boyzone) is 46. Actress Natasha Henstridge is 44. Actress Nicole Paggi is 41. Christian rock musician Tim Foreman (Switchfoot) is 40. Rock singer Joe Jonas (The Jonas Brothers) is 29. Actor-singer Carlos PenaVega is 29. Actress Jennifer Lawrence is 28. Rap DJ Smoove da General (Cali Swag District) is 28.