TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Monday, Aug. 19, the 231st day of 2019. There are 134 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On August 19, 1934, a plebiscite in Germany approved the vesting of sole executive power in Adolf Hitler.
On this date:
■ In 1848, the New York Herald reported the discovery of gold in California.
■ In 1909, the first automobile races were run at the justopened Indianapolis Motor Speedway; the winner of the first event was auto engineer Louis Schwitzer, who drove a Stoddard-Dayton touring car twice around the 2.5-mile track at an average speed of 57.4 mph.
■ In 1942, during World War II, about 6,000 Canadian and British soldiers launched a disastrous raid against the Germans at Dieppe, France, suffering more than 50-percent casualties.
■ In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford won the Republican presidential nomination at the party’s convention in Kansas City.
■ In 1980, 301 people aboard a Saudi Arabian L-1011 died as the jetliner made a fiery emergency return to the Riyadh airport.
■ In 1982, Soviet cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the second woman to be launched into space.
■ In 1990, Leonard Bernstein conducted what turned out to be the last concert of his career at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass. with the Boston Symphony Orchestra; the program ended with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.
■ In 2003, a suicide truck bomb struck U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, killing 22, including the top U.N. envoy, Sergio Vieira de Mello. A suicide bombing of a bus in Jerusalem killed 22 people.
Ten years ago: Suicide bombers struck Iraq’s finance and foreign ministries, killing more than 100 people.
Five years ago: A video released by Islamic State militants purported to show the beheading of American journalist James Foley as retribution for U.S. airstrikes in Iraq.
One year ago: “Crazy Rich Asians,” in its opening weekend in American theaters, was the top money-making film.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor L.Q. Jones is 92. Actress Debra Paget is 86. Actress Diana Muldaur is 81. Singer Johnny Nash is 79. Actress Jill St. John is 79. Singer Billy J. Kramer is 76. Country singer-songwriter Eddy Raven is 75. Former President Bill Clinton is 73. Tipper Gore, wife of former Vice President Al Gore, is 71. Political consultant Mary Matalin is 66. Actor Peter Gallagher is 64. Actor Adam Arkin is 63. Rhythm-and-blues singer Ivan Neville is 60. Actor John Stamos is 56. Actress Kyra Sedgwick is 54. Actor Kevin Dillon is 54. Country singer Lee Ann Womack is 53. Actor Matthew Perry is 50. Actress Country singer Rissi Palmer is 38. Actor Peter Mooney is 36. Rapper Romeo is 30. Actor Ethan Cutkosky is 20.
Thought for Today: “Cheer up! The worst is yet to come!” — Philander Chase Johnson, American author (1866-1939).