TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS THURSDAY, AUG. 19, the 231st day of 2021. There are 134 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1934, a plebiscite in Germany approved the vesting of sole executive power in Adolf Hitler.
In 1807, Robert Fulton’s North River Steamboat arrived in Albany, two days after leaving New York.
In 1812, the USS Constitution defeated the British frigate HMS Guerriere off Nova Scotia during the War of 1812, earning the nickname “Old Ironsides.” In 1814, during the War of 1812, British forces landed at Benedict, Maryland, with the objective of capturing Washington, D.C.
In 1848, the New York Herald reported the discovery of gold in California.
In 1909, the first automobile races were run at the just-opened Indianapolis Motor Speedway; the winner of the first event was auto engineer Louis Schwitzer, who drove a Stoddard-Dayton touring car twice around the 2.5-mile track at an average speed of 57.4 mph.
In 1942, during World War II, about 6,000 Canadian and British soldiers launched a disastrous raid against the Germans at Dieppe, France, losing more than 50% of the soldiers as casualties.
In 1955, torrential rains caused by Hurricane Diane resulted in severe flooding in the northeastern U.S., claiming about 200 lives.
In 1960, a tribunal in Moscow convicted American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers of espionage. (Although sentenced to 10 years in prison, Powers was returned to the United States in 1962 as part of a prisoner exchange.)
In 1974, U.S. Ambassador Rodger P. Davies was fatally wounded by a bullet that penetrated the American embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus, during a protest by Greek Cypriots.
In 1980, 301 people aboard a Saudi Arabian L-1011 died as the jetliner made a fiery emergency return to the Riyadh airport.
In 1991, rioting erupted in the Brooklyn, New York, Crown Heights neighborhood after a Black 7-year-old, Gavin Cato, was struck and killed by a Jewish driver from the ultra-Orthodox Lubavitch community; three hours later, a mob of Black youths fatally stabbed Yankel Rosenbaum, a rabbinical student.
In 2010, the last American combat brigade exited Iraq, seven years and five months after the U.S.-led invasion began.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actor L.Q. Jones is 94. Actor Debra Paget is 88. USTA Eastern Tennis Hall-of-Famer Renee Richards is 87. Former MLB All-Star Bobby Richardson is 86. Actor Diana Muldaur is 83. Actor Jill St. John is 81. Singer Billy J. Kramer is 78. Country singer-songwriter Eddy Raven is 77. Rock singer Ian Gillan (Deep Purple) is 76. Former President Bill Clinton is 75. Actor Gerald McRaney is 74. Actor Jim Carter and pop singer-musician Elliot Lurie (Looking Glass) are 73. Rock musician John Deacon (Queen) and Bluegrass musician Marc Pruett (Balsam Range) are 70. Actor-director Jonathan Frakes is 69. Political consultant Mary Matalin is 68. Actor Peter Gallagher is 66. Actor Adam Arkin is 65. Singer-songwriter Gary Chapman and actor Martin Donovan are 64. Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Anthony Munoz is 63. R&B singer Ivan Neville is 62. Actor Eric Lutes is 59. Actor John Stamos is 58. Actors Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Dillon are 56. Country singer Lee Ann Womack is 55. TV reporter Tabitha Soren is 54. Country singer-songwriter Mark McGuinn is 53. Actor Matthew Perry and country singer Clay Walker are 52. Rapper Fat Joe is 51. Olympic gold medal tennis player Mary Joe Fernandez is 50. Actor Tracie Thoms is 46. Actor Callum Blue is 44. Country singer Rissi Palmer is 40. Actors Erika Christensen and Melissa Fumero are 39. Pop singer Missy Higgins, and actors Peter Mooney and Tammin Sursok are 38. Olympic silver medal snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis and actor J. Evan Bonifant are 36. Rapper Romeo is 32.