TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2019

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY:

1907 - The rabbit-proof fence, the longest fence in the world, is completed.

1919 - Afghanistan gained independence from Britain.

1930 - The two halves of the Sydney Harbour Bridge are joined.

1934 - Adolf Hitler was approved for sole executive power in Germany as Fuehrer.

1942 - About 6000 Canadian and British soldiers launched a raid against the Germans at Dieppe, France. They suffered about 50 percent casualties.

1960 - Francis Gary Powers, an American U-2 pilot, was convicted of espionage in Moscow.

1960 - Two dogs were launched in a satellite into Earth’s orbit by the Soviet Union.

1991 - Soviet hard-liners announced that President Mikhail Gorbachev had been removed from power. Gorbachev returned to power two days later.

1998 - The first piece of the 351 foot bronze statue of Christopher Columbus arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

1999 - In Belgrade, thousands of Serbs attended a rally to demand the resignation of Yugoslavia’s President Slobodan Milosevic.

2004 - Google Inc. stock began selling on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The initial price was set at $85 and ended the day at $100.34 with more than 22 million shares traded.

2016 - A federal judge ordered Hillary Clinton to answer questions from the watchdog group Judicial Watch in writing about her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. Birthdays

Orville Wright 1871

Coco Chanel 1883

Gene Roddenberry 1921 Willie Shoemaker 1931

Ian Gillan (Deep Purple) 1945

Bill (William Jefferson) Clinton (U.S.) 1946 Jonathan Frakes 1952 Mary Matalin 1953 Peter Gallagher 1955 - Actor Adam Arkin 1956 - Actor Gary Chapman 1957 Martin Donovan 1957 Ron Darling 1960

Eric Lutes 1962

John Stamos 1963 - Actor