Today In History

Today is Saturday, Aug. 1, the 214th day of 2020. There are 152 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1957: The United States and Canada announced they had agreed to create the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD).

ON THIS DATE

› 1907: The U.S. Army Signal Corps established an aeronautical division, the forerunner of the U.S. Air Force.

› 1912: The U.S. Marine Corps’ first pilot, 1st Lt. Alfred A. Cunningham, went on his first solo flight as he took off in a Burgess/Curtis Hydroplane from Marblehead Harbor in Massachusetts.

› 1936: The Olympics opened in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler.

› 1944: An uprising broke out in Warsaw, Poland, against Nazi occupation; the revolt lasted two months before collapsing.

› 1981: The rock music video channel MTV made its debut.

› 2013: Defying the United States, Russia granted Edward Snowden temporary asylum, allowing the National Security Agency leaker to slip out of the Moscow airport where he had been holed up for weeks.

› 2014: A medical examiner ruled that a New York City police officer’s chokehold caused the death of Eric Garner, whose videotaped arrest and final pleas of “I can’t breathe!” had sparked outrage.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Singer Ramblin’ Jack Elliott is 89. Former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, R-N.Y., is 83. Actor Giancarlo Giannini is 78. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams is 70. Blues singer-musician Robert Cray is 67. Singer Michael Penn is 62. Rock singer Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) is 61. Rock singer-musician Suzi Gardner (L7) is 60. Rapper Chuck D (Public Enemy) is 60. Actor Jesse Borrego is

58. Actor Demian Bichir is 57. Rapper Coolio is 57. Actor John Carroll Lynch is 57. Rock singer Adam Duritz (Counting Crows) is 56. Country musician Charlie Kelley is 52. Actor Charles Malik Whitfield is 48. Actress Tempestt Bledsoe is 47. Actor Jason Momoa is 41. Actress Honeysuckle Weeks is

41. Singer Ashley Parker Angel is 39. Actress Taylor Fry is 39. Actor Elijah Kelley is 34. Actor James Francis Kelly is 31. Actress Ella Wahlestedt is 22.