DAY IN HISTORY

Friday, August 20, 2021

Today is the 232nd day of 2021 and the 62nd day of summer.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1940, exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico.

In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, allocating nearly $1 billion in an unprecedented anti-poverty measure.

In 1977, NASA launched the unmanned space probe Voyager 2 to relay data and photographs of the outer solar system and interstellar space.

In 1998, the United States attacked suspected terrorist bases in Sudan in retaliation for U.S. embassy bombings earlier in the month.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:

Benjamin Harrison (18331901), 23rd U.S. president; H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), author; Eero Saarinen (1910-1961), architect; Don King (1931- ), boxing promoter; Isaac Hayes (19422008), singer-songwriter; Connie Chung (1946- ), journalist; Robert Plant (1948- ), singer-songwriter; Al Roker (1954- ), TV personality; Joan Allen (1956), actress; David O. Russell (1958- ), filmmaker; Amy Adams (1974- ), actress; Andrew Garfield (1983- ), actor; Demi Lovato (1992), singer/actress.

TODAY’S FACT: Before entering politics, President Lyndon Johnson taught public speaking and debate at a high school in Houston.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1938, Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees hit the 23rd grand slam of his career, setting a record that stood for 75 years, until it was broken by Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez in 2013.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “I never ask a man what his business is, for it never interests me. What I ask him about are his thoughts and dreams.” — H.P. Lovecraft

TODAY’S NUMBER:

28,000 — miles traveled by the first telegram sent around the world, on this day in 1911. The message reached its origination point, the dispatch room on the 17th floor of the New York Times Building, in 16.5 minutes.

TODAY’S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Aug. 15) and full moon (Aug. 22).