Today in history
On Aug. 28, 1963, as more than 200,000 people listened, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
In 1609, English sea explorer Henry Hudson and his ship, the Half Moon, reached present-day Delaware Bay.
In 1862, the Second Battle of Bull Run (also known as Second Manassas) began in Prince William County, Virginia, during the Civil War; the result was a Confederate victory.
In 1916, Italy declared war on Germany during World War I.
In 1922, the first-ever radio commercial aired on station WEAF in New York City; the 10-minute advertisement was for the Queensboro Realty Co., which had paid a fee of $100.
In 1941, Japan's ambassador to the U.S., Kichisaburo Nomura, presented a note to President Franklin D. Roosevelt from the Japanese prime minister, Prince Fumimaro Konoye, expressing a desire for improved relations; Roosevelt responded that he considered the note a step forward.
In 1945, the Allies began occupying Japan at the end of World War II.
In 1955, Emmett Till, a black teen-ager from Chicago, was abducted from his uncle's home in Money, Mississippi, by two white men after he had supposedly whistled at a white woman; he was found brutally slain three days later.
In 1968, police and anti-war demonstrators clashed in the streets of Chicago as the Democratic National Convention nominated Hubert H. Humphrey for president.
In 1972, Mark Spitz of the United States won the first two of his seven gold medals at the Munich Olympics, finishing first in the 200-meter butterfly and anchoring the 400-meter freestyle relay. The Soviet women gymnasts won the team allaround.
In 1988, 70 people were killed when three Italian stunt planes collided during an air show at the U.S. Air Base in Ramstein (RAHM'-shtyn), West Germany.
In 1990, an F5 tornado struck the Chicago area, killing 29 people.
In 1996, Democrats nominated President Bill Clinton for a second term at their national convention in Chicago. The troubled 15-year marriage of Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana officially ended with the issuing of a divorce decree.
Ten years ago: Prosecutors in Colorado abruptly dropped their case against John Mark Karr in the slaying of JonBenet Ramsey, saying DNA tests had failed to put him at the crime scene despite his insistence that he killed the 6-year-old beauty queen in 1996. President George W. Bush visited the Gulf Coast on the eve of the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Columbus, Georgia, beat Kawaguchi City, Japan, 2-1 to win the Little League World Series championship game.
Five years ago: A suicide bomber blew himself up inside Baghdad's largest Sunni mosque, killing 29 people during prayers. California returned the Little League World Series title to the United States with a 2-1 victory over Hamamatsu City, Japan. Katy Perry won three MTV Video Music Awards, including video of the year for the inspirational clip "Firework"; during the broadcast, Beyonce announced she was pregnant with her first child (Blue Ivy Carter was born in Jan. 2012).
One year ago: President Barack Obama compared tensions between the U.S. and Israel over the Iranian nuclear deal to a family feud, and said in a webcast with Jewish Americans that he expected quick improvements in ties between the longtime allies once the accord was implemented.
"One starts to get young at the age of 60 and then it is too late." — Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist (1881-1973).