DAY IN HISTORY

Thursday, August 26, 2021

Today is the 238th day of 2021 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: “In my 20s I used to cry about why I wasn’t thinner or prettier, but I want to add that I also used to cry about things like: ‘I wish my hair would grow faster. I wish I had different shoes.’” — Melissa Mccarthy

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 full moon (Aug. 22) and last quarter moon (Aug. 30).