On this day, Aug. 13

1889 William Gray, of Hartford, Conn., received a patent for a coin- operated telephone.

1932 Adolf Hitler rejected the post of vice chancellor of Germany, saying he was prepared to hold out “for all or nothing.” 1961 East Germany sealed off the border between Berlin’s eastern and western sectors before building a wall that would divide the city for the next 28 years.

1967 The crime caper biopic “Bonnie and Clyde,” starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, had its U. S. premiere; the movie, directed by Arthur Penn, was considered shocking as well as innovative for its graphic portrayal of violence.

1989 Searchers in Ethiopia found the wreckage of a plane which had disappeared almost a week earlier while carrying Rep. Mickey Leland, D- Texas, and 14 other people. There were no survivors. 2003 Libya agreed to set up a $ 2.7 billion fund for families of the 270 people killed in the 1988 Pan Am bombing.

2008 Michael Phelps swam into history as the winningest Olympic athlete ever with his 10th and 11th career gold medals. Today’s Birthdays: Former U. S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, 86. Opera singer Kathleen Battle, 71. Actor Danny Bonaduce (“The Partridge Family”), 60. Actor John Slattery (“Mad Men,” “Spotlight”), 57. Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, 37. Actor Eme Ikwuakor (“Inhumans”), 35.

Thought for Today: “People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges.”