TODAY’S HISTORY

1521: Hernando Cortes captured the capital of the Aztec empire, Tenochtitlan (later Mexico City), after a three-month siege.

1907:

The first gasoline-powered taxicab took fares in New York City.

1918: Opha May Johnson became the first woman to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps.

1961: East German soldiers began constructing a barbed-wire barrier between the eastern and western parts of Berlin.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:

Annie Oakley (1860-1926), sharpshooter; Alfred Hitchcock (18991980), film director; Ben Hogan (19121997), golfer; Fidel Castro (1926-2016), Cuban president; Don Ho (1930-2007), singer; Philippe Petit (1949-), tightrope walker; Dan Fogelberg (1951-2007), singer-songwriter; Paul Greengrass (1955-), film director; John Slattery (1962-), actor; Valerie Plame (1963-), CIA agent/author; Shani Davis (1982-), Olympic speedskater; Sebastian Stan (1982-), actor; Devin and Jason McCourty (1987-), football players; DeMarcus Cousins (1990-), basketball player.

TODAY’S FACT: Alfred Hitchcock never won an Academy Award for directing. When he was honored with the Academy’s Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1968, his speech was five words long: “Thank you, very much indeed.”

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1948, Baseball Hall of Famer Satchel Paige pitched his first complete game at age 42.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “Give them pleasure. The same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare.” — Alfred Hitchcock

TODAY’S NUMBER: 305 — women who enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps (women were allowed to enlist for office, clerical and secretarial duties) in 1918.

TODAY’S MOON: Between full moon (Aug. 11) and last quarter moon (Aug. 18).