TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Wednesday, Aug. 22, the 234th day of 2018. There are 131 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On August 22, 1972, President Richard Nixon was nominated for a second term by the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach.
On this date:
■ In 1787, inventor John Fitch demonstrated his steamboat on the Delaware River to delegates from the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
■ In 1851, the schooner America outraced more than a dozen British vessels off the English coast to win a trophy that came to be known as the America’s Cup.
■ In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln responded to Horace Greeley’s call for more drastic steps to abolish slavery; Lincoln replied his priority was saving the Union, but he also repeated his personal wish “that all men everywhere could be free.”
■ In 1986, Kerr-McGee Corp. agreed to pay the estate of the late Karen Silkwood $1.38 million, settling a 10-year-old nuclear contamination lawsuit. The Rob Reiner comingof-age film “Stand By Me” was put into wide release by Columbia Pictures.
Ten years ago: Russia said it had pulled back forces from Georgia in accordance with an EU-brokered cease-fire agreement. Usain Bolt helped Jamaica win the 400-meter relay final in 37.10 seconds for his third gold medal and third world record of the Beijing Olympics.
Five years ago: Egypt’s ousted leader Hosni Mubarak was released from prison and transported to a military hospital in a Cairo suburb to be held under house arrest.
One year ago: Protesters and police clashed outside a convention center in Phoenix where President Donald Trump had just wrapped up his first political rally since the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia; police fired pepper spray at crowds after someone apparently lobbed rocks and bottles at officers.
Today’s Birthdays:
Broadcast journalist Morton Dean is 83. Author Annie Proulx is 83. Baseball Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski is
79. Actress Valerie Harper is
79. Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells is 77. Writer-producer David Chase is 73. CBS newsman Steve Kroft is 73. Actress Cindy Williams is 71. Singer Tori Amos is 55. Country singer Mila Mason is 55. Rhythmandmusician James DeBarge is 55. International Tennis Hall of Famer Mats Wilander is 54. Singer Howie Dorough (Backstreet Boys) is 45. Comedian-actress Kristen Wiig is 45. Actor Brandon Adams is 39. Actress Aya Sumika is 38. Actor Ari Stidham is 26.
Thought for Today: “Life does not give itself to one who tries to keep all its advantages at once. I have often thought morality may perhaps consist solely in the courage of making a choice.”—Leon Blum, French statesman (1872-1950).