TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT August 24, 1814

During the War of 1812, British forces invaded Washington, D.C., setting fire to the Capitol and the White House.

ON THIS DATE 1932

Amelia Earhart embarked on a 19-hour flight from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, making her the first woman to fly solo, non-stop, from coast to coast.

1949

The North Atlantic Treaty came into force.

1954

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Communist Control Act, outlawing the Communist Party in the United States.

2019

Police in Aurora, Colorado, responding to a report of a suspicious person, used a chokehold to subdue Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man; he suffered cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital and was later declared brain dead and taken off life support.