DAY IN HISTORY

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Today is the 239th day of 2020 and the 68th day of summer.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1768, British explorer James Cook set sail from England on his first expedition to the southern Pacific Ocean.

In 1920, the 19th Amendment was formally adopted, granting women the right to vote.

In 1957, the Soviet Union announced it had successfully developed

and tested an intercontinental ballistic missile.

In 1968, thousands of antiwar protesters flooded the streets of Chicago as the four-day Democratic National Convention began.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:

Lee de Forest (1873-1961), inventor; Albert Sabin (1906-1993), microbiologist; Mother Teresa (19101997), missionary; Ben Bradlee (1921-2014), journalist; Irving Levine (19222009), journalist; Will Shortz (1952- ), crossword editor; Branford Marsalis (1960- ), musician; Melissa

Mccarthy (1970- ), actress; Macaulay Culkin (1980- ), actor; Chris Pine (1980), actor; John Mulaney (1982- ), actor/comedian; David Price (1985- ), baseball player; James Harden (1989- ), basketball player.

TODAY’S FACT: Lee de Forest invented the Audion tube, which amplified weak electronic signals and made broadcast radio possible.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1939, announcer Red Barber called the first Major League Baseball game to be broadcast on television.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “I’m like an iphone: It’s going to be worse versions of this every year, plus I get super hot in the middle of the afternoon for no reason.” — John Mulaney

TODAY’S NUMBER: 1,550 — strategic nuclear warheads the United States and Russia are permitted to have deployed according to the terms of the New START treaty signed in 2010.

TODAY’S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Aug. 25) and full moon (Sept. 1).