Today In History
Today is Saturday, Aug. 27, the 240th day of 2016. There are 126 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
1883: The island volcano Krakatoa erupted with a series of cataclysmic explosions; the resulting tidal waves in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait claimed some 36,000 lives in Java and Sumatra.
ON THIS DATE
1776: The Battle of Long Island began during the Revolutionary War as British troops attacked American forces, who ended up being forced to retreat two days later.
1928: The Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed in Paris, outlawing war and providing for the peaceful settlement of disputes.
1939: The first turbojet-powered aircraft, the Heinkel He 178, went on its first full-fledged test flight over Germany.
1962: The United States launched the Mariner 2 space probe, which flew past Venus in December 1962.
1989: The first U.S. commercial satellite rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida — a Delta booster carrying a British communications satellite, the Marcopolo 1.
2008: Barack Obama was nominated for president by the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Author Lady Antonia Fraser is 84. Actor Tommy Sands is 79. Bluegrass singer-musician J.D. Crowe is 79. Actress Marianne Sagebrecht is 71. Country musician Jeff Cook is 67. Actor Paul Reubens is 64. Rock musician Alex Lifeson (Rush) is 63. Actor Peter Stormare is 63. Actress Diana Scarwid is 61. Rock musician Glen Matlock (The Sex Pistols) is 60. Golfer Bernhard Langer is 59. Country singer Jeffrey Steele is 55. Gospel singer Yolanda Adams is 55. Rap musician Bobo (Cypress Hill) is 48. Country singer Colt Ford is 47. Actress Chandra Wilson is 47. Rock musician Tony Kanal (No Doubt) is 46. Actress Sarah Chalke is 40. Actor RonReaco Lee is 40. Rapper Mase is 39. Actress-singer Demetria McKinney is 38. Actor Aaron Paul is 37. Rock musician Jon Siebels (Eve 6) is 37. Actor Shaun Weiss is 37. Actor Kyle Lowder is 36. Actor Patrick J. Adams is 35. Actress Karla Mosley is 35. Actress Amanda Fuller is 32. Singer Mario is 30. Actress Alexa PenaVega is 28. Actor Ellar Coltrane is 22. Actress Savannah Paige Rae is 13.