TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Monday, Aug. 14, the 226th day of 2017. There are 139 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History

On Aug. 14, 1947, Pakistan became independent of British rule.

On this date

1848 — The Oregon Territory was created. 1900 — International forces, including U.S. Marines, entered Beijing to put down the Boxer Rebellion, which was aimed at purging China of foreign influence. 1917 — China declared war on Germany and Austria during World War I. 1935 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the So- cial Security Act into law. 1945 — President Harry S. Truman announced that Imperial Japan had surrendered unconditionally, ending World War II. 1967 — Folk singer Joan Baez performed a free concert on the grounds of the Washington Monument a day after she’d been denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution because of her opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. 1969 — British troops went to Northern Ireland to intervene in sectarian violence between Protestants and Roman Catholics. 1973 — U.S. bombing of Cambodia came to a halt. 1980 — Workers went on strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland, in a job action that resulted in creation of the Solidarity labor movement. 1992 — The White House announced that the Pentagon would begin emergency airlifts of food to Somalia to alleviate mass deaths by starvation. 1997 — An unrepentant Timothy McVeigh was formally sentenced to death for the Oklahoma City bombing.

Ten years ago

Teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan transformed the space shuttle Endeavour and space station into a classroom for her first educational session from orbit, fulfilling the legacy of Christa McAuliffe, who died in the Challenger disaster in 1986.

Five years ago

Vice President Joe Biden sparked a campaign commotion, telling an audience in southern Virginia that included hundreds of black voters that Republican Mitt Romney wanted to put them “back in chains” by deregulating Wall Street. (Biden later mocked Republican criticism over the remark while conceding he’d meant to use different words.)

Today’s Birthdays

Broadway lyricist Lee Adams (“Bye Bye Birdie”) is 93. Rock singer David Crosby is 76. Country singer Connie Smith is 76. Comedian-actor Steve Martin is 72. Actor Antonio Fargas is 71. Actress Susan Saint James is 71. Author Danielle Steel is 70. “Far Side” cartoonist Gary Larson is 67. Actress Marcia Gay Harden is 58. Basketball Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson is 58. Rock musician Keith Howland (Chicago) is 53. Actress Halle Berry is 51. Country musician Cody McCarver (Confederate Railroad) is 49. Actress Mila Ku ni sis 34. NFL quarter back turned-baseball player Tim Tebow is 30.

Thought for today ‘The old forget. The young don’t know.’ Japanese proverb