On this day, August 18

1587 Virginia Dare became the first child of English parents to be born in present-day America, on what is now Roanoke Island in North Carolina. (However, the Roanoke colony ended up mysteriously disappearing.)

1877 The See of Allegheny of the Roman Catholic Church was merged with the See of Pittsburgh.

1920 The 19th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing all American women’s right to vote, was ratified as Tennessee became the 36th state to approve it.

1940 Spear & Co. leased a 14-story building on Wood Street that was formerly occupied by McCreery’s Department Store and announced plans for a $1 million renovation program. 1992 Kennywood Park was designated a historical landmark by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology).

— Compiled by Rick Nowlin

Today’s birthdays: Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, 93. Movie director Roman Polanski, 87. Olympic gold medal decathlete Rafer Johnson, 85. Actor-director Robert Redford, 84. Actor Henry G. Sanders, 78. Actor-comedian Martin Mull, 77. Comedian Elayne Boosler, 68. Actor Denis Leary, 63. Actor Madeleine Stowe, 62. Former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, 59. ABC News reporter Bob Woodruff, 59. The former president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, 58. Actor Adam Storke, 58. Actor Craig Bierko, 56. Actor Christian Slater, 51. Actor Edward Norton, 51. Actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner, 50. Actor Kaitlin Olson, 45. Actorcomedian Andy Samberg (TV: “Saturday Night Live”), 42. Actor Madelaine Petsch, 26. Actor Parker McKenna Posey, 25.

Thought for today: “In the end it is worse to suppress dissent than to run the risk of heresy.”

— Judge Learned Hand (1872-1961)