TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Tuesday, Aug. 30, the 243rd day of 2016. There are 123 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Aug. 30, 1861, Union Gen. John C. Fremont instituted martial law in Missouri and declared slaves there to be free. (However, Fremont’s emancipation order was countermanded by President Abraham Lincoln). On this date:
In 1935, the film “Anna Karenina,” MGM’s version of the Tolstoy novel starring Greta Garbo, opened in New York.
In 1945, U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrived in Japan to set up Allied occupation headquarters.
In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, which was intended to promote private development of nuclear energy.
In 1983, Guion S. Bluford Jr. became the first black American astronaut to travel in space as he blasted off aboard the Challenger.
In 1991, Azerbaijan declared its independence, joining the stampede of republics seeking to secede from the Soviet Union.
Ten years ago: Hurricane John lashed tourist resorts with heavy winds and rain as the dangerous Category 4 storm marched up Mexico’s Pacific coast.
Five years ago: National Guard helicopters rushed food and water to a dozen cut-off Vermont towns after the rainy remnants of Hurricane Irene washed out roads in a deluge that had taken many people in the landlocked New England state by surprise.
One year ago: The White House announced that President Barack Obama would change the name of North America’s tallest mountain peak from Mount McKinley to Denali, bestowing the traditional Alaska Native name on the eve of a historic presidential visit to Alaska.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Bill Daily is 89. Actress Elizabeth Ashley is 77. Actor Ben Jones is 75. Cartoonist R. Crumb is 73. Actor Timothy Bottoms is 65. Actor Michael Chiklis is 53.
Thought for Today: “If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction.”—Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian (1906-1945).