TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Tuesday, Aug. 11.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On August 11, 1997, President Bill Clinton made the first use of the historic line-item veto, rejecting three items in spending and tax bills. (However, the U.S. Supreme Court later struck down the veto as unconstitutional.)
ON THIS DATE:
In 1934, the first federal prisoners arrived at Alcatraz Island (a former military prison) in San Francisco Bay. In 1949, President Harry S. Truman nominated General Omar N. Bradley to become the first chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff.
In 1952, Hussein bin Talal was proclaimed King of Jordan, beginning a reign lasting nearly 47 years.
In 1960, the African country of Chad became independent of France.
In 1964, the Beatles movie "A Hard Day's Night" had its U.S. premiere in New York.
In 1965, rioting and looting that claimed 34 lives broke out in the predominantly Black Watts section of Los Angeles.
In 1991, Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon released two Western captives: Edward Tracy, an American held nearly five years, and Jerome Leyraud, a Frenchman who'd been abducted by a rival group three days earlier.
In 1992, the Mall of America, the nation's largest shopping-entertainment center, opened in Bloomington, Minnesota.
In 1993, President Bill Clinton named Army Gen. John Shalikashvili to be the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, succeeding the retiring Gen. Colin Powell.
In 2012, Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney announced his choice of Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin to be his running mate. Usain Bolt capped his perfect London Olympics by leading Jamaica to victory in a world-record 36.84 seconds in the 4x100 meters. In 2017, a federal judge ordered Charlottesville, Virginia, to allow a weekend rally of white nationalists and other extremists to take place at its originally planned location downtown. (Violence erupted at the rally, and a woman was killed when a man plowed his car into a group of counterprotesters.) In 2014, Academy Awardwinning actor and comedian Robin Williams, 63, died in Tiburon, California, a suicide. Ten years ago: In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police and FBI agents captured Michael Francis Mara, suspected of being the so-called "Granddad Bandit" who'd held up two dozen banks in 13 states for about two years. (Mara later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.) Dan Rostenkowski, a former Illinois congressman who'd wielded enormous power on Capitol Hill for more than 30 years, died at his Wisconsin summer home at age 82.
Five years ago: Federal authorities charged that an international web of hackers and traders had made $100 million on Wall Street by stealing a look at corporate press releases before they went out and then trading on that information ahead of the pack. China rattled global financial markets by devaluing its currency in an effort in part to revive economic growth.
One year ago: A day care center in Erie, Pennsylvania where children could stay overnight was ravaged by a fire that killed five children. Two Americans used their medal-winning moments at the Pan American Games in Peru to draw attention to social issues back home; fencer Race Imboden took a knee, and hammer thrower Gwen Berry raised her fist.
— ASSOCIATED PRESS