Today in history

On Aug. 26, 1968, the Democratic National Convention opened in Chicago; the four-day event was marked by a bloody police crackdown on anti-war protesters in the streets and a tumultuous nominating process that resulted in the choice of Hubert H. Humphrey for president.

In 1789, France's National Assembly adopted its Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

In 1883, the island volcano Krakatoa began cataclysmic eruptions, leading to a massive explosion the following day.

In 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.

In 1939, the first televised major league baseball games were shown on experimental station W2XBS: a double-header between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. (The Reds won the first game, 5-2, the Dodgers the second, 6-1.)

In 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.

In 1958, Alaskans went to the polls to overwhelmingly vote in favor of statehood.

In 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.

In 1972, the summer Olympics games opened in Munich, West Germany.

In 1978, Cardinal Albino Luciani (al-BEE'-noh loo-CHYAH'-nee) of Venice was elected pope following the death of Paul VI; the new pontiff took the name Pope John Paul I. (However, he died just over a month later.)

In 1986, in the so-called "preppie murder case," 18-yearold Jennifer Levin was found strangled in New York's Central Park; Robert Chambers later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and served 15 years in prison.

In 1996, Democrats opened their 42nd national convention in Chicago.

In 2009, authorities in California solved the 18-year disappearance of Jaycee Lee Dugard after she appeared at a parole office with her children and the Antioch couple who'd kidnapped her when she was 11.

“When the political columnists say ‘Every thinking man’ they mean themselves, and when candidates appeal to ‘Every intelligent voter’ they mean everybody who is going to vote for them.” — Franklin P. Adams, American journalist-humorist (1881-1960).