World News
August 5: Nelson Mandela is arrested
Today is Monday, August 5, the 218th day of 2024. There are 148 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On August 5, 1962, South African anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela was arrested on charges of leaving the country without a passport and inciting workers to strike; it was the start of 27 years in prison.
Also on this date:
In 1861, Abraham Lincoln signed the Revenue Act of 1861, which imposed the first income tax on Americans (a 3% flat tax on those earning more than $800 per year) to help finance the Union’s efforts in the Civil War.
In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Adm. David G. Farragut leads his fleet to victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay, Alabama.
In 1884, the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal was laid on Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor.
In 1914, what is believed to be the first electric traffic light system was installed in Cleveland, Ohio, at the intersection of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue.
In 1936, Jesse Owens of the United States won the 200-meter sprint at the Berlin Olympics, earning the third of his four gold medals.
In 1953, Operation Big Switch began when the remaining prisoners captured during the Korean War were exchanged at Panmunjom.
In 1957, the music and dance show “American Bandstand,” hosted by Dick Clark, made its national network debut and began a 30-year run on ABC-TV.
In 1962, Marilyn Monroe, 36, was found dead in her Los Angeles home; her death was ruled a probable suicide from “acute barbiturate poisoning.”
In 1964, US Navy pilot Everett Alvarez Jr. the first American aviator shot down and captured by North Vietnam; he was held captive until February 1973.
In 1974, the White House released transcripts of subpoenaed tape recordings showing that President Richard Nixon and his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, had discussed a plan to use the CIA to thwart the FBI’s Watergate investigation in June 1972; The revelation of the tape led to Nixon’s resignation.
In 2010, thirty-three workers were trapped in a copper mine in northern Chile after a tunnel collapsed (all were rescued after being buried for 69 days).
In 2011, the sun-powered robotic explorer Juno rocketed toward Jupiter on a five-year quest for the secret recipe for making planets. (Juno reached Jupiter on July 4, 2016.)
Today’s Birthdays:
- Country songwriter Bobby Braddock is 84.
- Actor Loni Anderson is 79.
- Actor Erika Slezak is 78.
- Rock singer Rick Derringer is 77.
- Actor Holly Palance is 74.
- Pop singer Samantha Sang is 73.
- Rock musician Eddie Ojeda (Twisted Sister) is 69.
- Actor-singer Maureen McCormick is 68.
- Rock musician Pat Smear is 65.
- Author David Baldacci is 64.
- Actor Janet McTeer is 63.
- Basketball Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing is 62.
- Actor Mark Strong is 61.
- Director-screenwriter James Gunn is 58.
- Actor Jonathan Silverman is 58.
- Actor Jesse Williams is 44.
- Actor Brendon Ryan Barrett is 38.
- Actor Meegan Warner is 33.
- Actor/singer Olivia Holt is 27.
- Actor Albert Tsai is 20.
- Actor Devin Trey Campbell is 16.
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