TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT August 26, 1957

The Soviet Union announced it had successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile.

ALSO ON THIS DATE 1883

The island volcano Krakatoa began cataclysmic eruptions, leading to a massive explosion the following day.

1910

Thomas Edison demonstrated for reporters an improved version of his Kinetophone, a device for showing a movie with synchronized sound.

1920

The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing American women’s right to vote, was certified in effect by Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby.

1944

French Gen. Charles de Gaulle braved the threat of German snipers as he led a victory march in Paris, which had just been liberated by the Allies from Nazi occupation.

1958

Alaskans went to the polls to overwhelmingly vote in favor of statehood.

1964

President Lyndon B. Johnson was nominated for a term of office in his own right at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

1968

The Democratic National Convention opened in Chicago; the four-day event that resulted in the nomination of Hubert H. Humphrey for president was marked by a bloody police crackdown on antiwar protesters in the streets.