TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Monday, Aug. 31, the 244th day of 2020. There are 122 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On August 31, 1997, Prince Charles brought Princess Diana home for the last time, escorting the body of his former wife to a Britain that was shocked, grief-stricken and angered by her death in a Paris traffic accident earlier that day.
On this date:
■ In 1888, Mary Ann Nichols, believed to be the first victim of “Jack the Ripper,” was found slain in London’s East End.
■ In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an act prohibiting the export of U.S. arms to belligerents.
■ In 1972, at the Munich Summer Olympics, American swimmer Mark Spitz won his fourth and fifth gold medals in the 100-meter butterfly and 800-meter freestyle relay;
■ In 1980, Poland’s Solidarity labor movement was born with an agreement signed in Gdansk that ended a 17-dayold strike.
■ In 1989, Britain’s Princess Anne and her husband, Capt. Mark Phillips, announced they were separating after 15 years of marriage.
■ In 1992, white separatist Randy Weaver surrendered to authorities in Naples, Idaho, ending an 11-day siege by federal agents that had claimed the lives of Weaver’s wife, son and a deputy U.S. marshal. (Weaver was acquitted of murder and all other charges in connection with the confrontation; he was convicted of failing to appear for trial on firearms charges and was sentenced to 18 months in prison but given credit for 14 months
he’d already served.)
■ In 1994, the Irish Republican Army declared a cease-fire. Russia officially ended its military presence in the former East Germany and the Baltics after half a century.
Ten years ago: President Barack Obama ended the U.S. combat mission in Iraq, declaring no victory after seven years of bloodshed and telling those divided over the war in his country and around the world: “It is time to turn the page.”
Five years ago: The State Department released roughly 7,000 pages of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s emails, including about 150 emails that were censored because they contained information deemed classified.
One year ago: A gunman carried out a shooting rampage that stretched ten miles between the Texas communities of Midland and Odessa, leaving seven people dead before police killed the gunman outside a movie theater in Odessa.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Warren Berlinger is 83. Rock musician Jerry Allison (Buddy Holly and the Crickets) is 81. Actor Jack Thompson is 80. Violinist Itzhak Perlman is
75. Singer Van Morrison is
75. Actor Richard Gere is 71. Olympic gold medal track and field athlete Edwin Moses is
65. Rock musician Gina Schock (The Go-Go’s) is 63. Rhythmand-blues musician Larry Waddell (Mint Condition) is 57. Actor Jaime P. Gomez is 55. Actor Zack Ward is 50. Actor Sara Ramirez is 45. Rhythmand-blues singer Tamara (Trina & Tamara) is 43.