TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Tuesday, Aug. 6, the 218th day of 2019. There are 147 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act.
ON THIS DATE
In 1806, the Holy Roman Empire went out of existence as Emperor Francis II abdicated.
In 1809, one of the leading literary figures of the Victorian era, poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England.
In 1890, Cy Young gained the first of his 511 major league victories as he pitched the Cleveland Spiders to a win over the Chicago Colts (however, the score is a matter of dispute, with some sources saying 6-1, and others saying 8-1).
In 1911, actress-comedian Lucille Ball was born in Jamestown, New York.
In 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war against Russia and Serbia declared war against Germany.
In 1926, Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel, arriving in Kingsdown, England, from France in 14 1/2 hours.
In 1945, during World War II, the U.S. B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb code-named “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, Japan, resulting in an estimated 140,000 deaths. (Three days later, the United States exploded a nuclear device over Nagasaki; five days after that, Imperial Japan surrendered.)
In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov became the second man to orbit Earth as he flew aboard Vostok 2; his call sign, “Eagle,” prompted his famous declaration: “I am Eagle!”
In 1978, Pope Paul VI died at Castel Gandolfo at age 80. In 1986, William J. Schroeder died at Humana HospitalAudubon in Louisville, Kentucky, after living 620 days with the Jarvik 7 artificial heart.
In 1991, the World Wide Web made its public debut as a means of accessing webpages over the Internet. TV newsman Harry Reasoner died in Norwalk, Connecticut, at age 68.
In 2013, U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan went on trial at Fort Hood, Texas, charged with killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in a 2009 attack. (Hasan, who admitted carrying out the attack, was convicted and sentenced to death.) Ten years ago: Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed as the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice by a Senate vote of 68-31.
Five years ago: President Barack Obama closed a three-day U.S.-Africa summit in Washington which brought together leaders from more than 50 African nations.
One year ago: Twin Northern California wildfires grew to become the largest wildfire in state history, burning more than 440 square miles north of San Francisco.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY
“If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. The more things you do, the more you can do.” — Lucille Ball, American actresscomedian (born this date in 1911, died 1989).
— ASSOCIATED PRESS