World News
August 16, American music loses two legends: JS
Today is Friday, August 16, the 229th day of 2024. There are 137 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On August 16, 1977, Elvis Presley died at his Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 42; Forty-one years later, in 2018, singer Aretha Franklin, known as the “Queen of Soul,” died in Detroit at the age of 76.
Also on this date:
In 1777, American forces won the Battle of Bennington, which was considered a turning point in the Revolutionary War.
In 1812, Detroit fell to British and Indian troops during the War of 1812.
In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln issued Proclamation 86, which prohibited the states of the Union from engaging in commercial trade with states that were in rebellion – that is, the Confederacy.
In 1896, gold was discovered in Canada’s Yukon Territory, sparking the “Klondike Fever” that would draw tens of thousands to the region in search of fortune.
In 1948, baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York at the age of 53.
In 1954, the first issue of “Sports Illustrated” was released.
In 1962, the Beatles fired their original drummer, Pete Best, and replaced him with Ringo Starr.
In 1978, James Earl Ray, the convicted murderer of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., during a hearing on Capitol Hill, that he did not commit the crime, saying he was framed by a mysterious man named “Raoul.”
In 1987, people around the world began a two-day celebration of the “Harmonic Convergence,” marking what believers called the beginning of a new, purer age of humanity.
In 2014, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, where police and protesters have clashed repeatedly in the week since a black 18-year-old, Michael Brown , was shot. death by a white police officer.
In 2020, lightning caused the August Complex wildfire in California. Over the next three months, more than 1,000 square miles – larger than the size of Rhode Island – would go up in flames.
Today’s Birthdays:
- Actor Julie Newmar is 91.
- Film director Bruce Beresford is 84.
- Actor Bob Balaban is 79.
- Ballerina Suzanne Farrell is 79.
- Actor Lesley Ann Warren is 78.
- Actor Reginald VelJohnson is 72.
- Singer/author/TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford is 71.
- Singer JT Taylor (Kool and the Gang) is 71.
- Film director James Cameron is 70.
- Singer/actor Madonna is 66.
- Actor Angela Bassett is 66.
- Actor Timothy Hutton is 64.
- Actor Steve Carell (kuh-REHL’) is 62.
- Country musician Emily Strayer (The Chicks) is 52.
- Actor/filmmaker Taika Waititi is 49.
- Singer Vanessa Carlton is 44.
- Country singer Dan Smyers (Dan & Shay) is 37.
- Actor Rumer Willis is 36.
- American Olympic gold medal swimmer Caeleb Dressel is 28.
- Tennis player Jannik Sinner is 23.
Originally published:
