MONDAY IN HISTORY

Today is Monday, Aug. 1, the 214th day of 2016. There are 152 days left in the year.

Highlight in History:

On Aug. 1, 1966, Charles Joseph Whitman, 25, an engineering student at the University of Texas in Austin, went on an armed rampage that killed 14 people, most of whom were shot by Whitman while he was perched in the clock tower of the main campus building.

On this date:

In 1714, Britain’s Queen Anne died at age 49; she was succeeded by George I.

In 1876, Colorado was admitted as the 38th state.

In 1907, the U.S. Army Signal Corps established an aeronautical division, the forerunner of the U.S. Air Force.

In1936, the Olympics opened in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler.

In 1944, an uprising broke out in Warsaw, Poland, against Nazi occupation; the revolt lasted two months before collapsing.

In 1946, President Harry S. Truman signed measures establishing the Fulbright Program and the Atomic Energy Commission.

In 1957, the United States and Canada agreed to create the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD).

In1975, a 35-nation-summit in Finland concluded with the signing of a declaration known as the Helsinki Accords dealing with European security, human rights and East-West contacts.

Ten years ago: Mel Gibson issued a statement in which he denied being a bigot.

Five years ago: The U.S. House of Representatives passed, 269-161, emergency legislation to avert the nation’s first-ever financial default.

One year ago: Japan’s Imperial Household Agency released a digital version of Emperor Hirohito’s radio address on Aug. 15, 1945, announcing his country’s surrender in World War II; the digital recording offered clearer audio, although Hirohito spoke in an arcane form of Japanese that many of his countrymen would have found difficult to comprehend.

Today’s Birthdays: Singer Ramblin’ Jack Elliott is 85. Former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, R-N.Y., is 79. Actor Giancarlo Giannini is 74. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams is 66. Rapper Chuck D is 56. Rapper Coolio is 53. Rock singer Adam Duritz is 52. Country singer George Ducas is 50. Actress Jennifer Gareis is 46. Actor Jason Momoa is 37. Actress Ella Wahlestedt is 18.

Thought for Today: “The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him.” — Stanislaw J. Lec, Polish writer (1909-1966).