DAY IN HISTORY

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Today is the 218th day of 2020 and the 47th day of summer.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1884, the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal was installed on Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor.

In 1962, Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan began to fire 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers for violating his order to return to work.

In 2010, a cave-in at the San Jose Mine near Copiapo, Chile, trapped 33 miners 2,300 feet underground.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:

Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893), author/poet; Joseph Merrick aka “The Elephant Man” (18621890); John Huston (19061987), actor/director; Neil Armstrong (1930-2012), astronaut; Herb Brooks (1937-2003), hockey coach; Loni Anderson (1945- ), actress; David Baldacci (1960- ), novelist; Patrick Ewing (1962- ), basketball player; Adam Yauch (1964-2012), rapper; James Gunn (1970- ), filmmaker; Travie Mccoy (1981- ), rapper; Lolo Jones (1982- ), Olympic athlete.

TODAY’S FACT: Norma Jeane Baker began using the name Marilyn Monroe in 1946, but did not legally change her name until 1956.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1979, Pete Rose of the Philadelphia Phillies hit his 2,427th career single, breaking Honus Wagner’s National League record. Rose would finish his career with 3,215 singles, a major-league record that still stands. by Andrews Mcmeel Almanac

TODAY’S QUOTE:

“Patriotism is a kind of religion; it is the egg from which wars are hatched.” — Guy de Maupassant, “My Uncle Sosthenes”

TODAY’S NUMBER: 91 — minutes legendary magician Harry Houdini spent underwater in a sealed coffin before emerging unharmed, on this day in 1926. The event was Houdini’s last public escape.

TODAY’S MOON: Between full moon (Aug. 3) and last quarter moon (Aug. 11).