Today is Thursday, Aug. 24, the 236th day of 2017. There are 129 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On August 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew smashed into Florida, causing $30 billion in damage; 43 U.S. deaths were blamed on the storm.
On this date:
In A.D. 79, long-dormant Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in volcanic ash; an estimated 20,000 people died.
In 1572, the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre of French Protestants at the hands of Catholics began in Paris.
In 1814, during the War of 1812, British forces invaded Washington, D.C., setting fire to the Capitol (which was still under construction) and the White House, as well as other public buildings.
In 1912, Congress passed a measure creating the Alaska Territory. Congress approved legislation establishing Parcel Post delivery by the U.S. Post Office Department, slated to begin on January 1, 1913.
In 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.
In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty came into force.
In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Communist Control Act, outlawing the Communist Party in the United States.
In 1967, a group of demonstrators led by Abbie Hoffman caused a disruption at the New York Stock Exchange by tossing dollar bills onto the trading floor. American industrialist Henry J. Kaiser, 85, died in Honolulu.
In 1970, an explosives-laden van left by anti-war extremists blew up outside the University of Wisconsin’s Sterling Hall in Madison, killing 33-year-old researcher Robert Fassnacht.
In 1981, Mark David Chapman was sentenced in New York to 20 years to life in prison for murdering John Lennon. (Chapman remains imprisoned.)
In 1989, Baseball Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti (juh-MAH’-tee) banned Pete Rose from the game for betting on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds.
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union declared that Pluto was no longer a full-fledged planet, demoting it to the status of a “dwarf planet.”
Ten years ago: A judge in Inverness, Florida, sentenced John Evander Couey to death for kidnapping 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, raping her and burying her alive. (Couey died of natural causes in 2009.) James Ford Seale, a reputed Ku Klux Klansman, was sentenced to three life terms for his role in the 1964 abduction and murder of two black teenagers in southwestern Mississippi. (Seale died in 2011.) Major wildfires broke out in Greece, burning half a million acres and claiming 65 lives in 11 days.
Five years ago: A suit-clad gunman opened fire outside New York’s Empire State Building, killing a former co-worker before being gunned down by police. A Norwegian court found Anders Behring Breivik guilty of terrorism and premeditated murder for twin attacks on July 22, 2011 that killed 77 people; he received a 21-year prison sentence that can be extended as long as he is considered dangerous to society. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency wiped out 14 years of Lance Armstrong’s cycling career — including his record seven Tour de France titles — and barred him for life from the sport after concluding he’d used banned substances.
One year ago: A 6.2 magnitude earthquake reduced three central Italian towns to rubble and killed nearly 300 people. Astronaut Jeffrey Williams, commander of the International Space Station, marked a U.S. recording-breaking 521st day in orbit, a number accumulated over four flights (upon his return to earth 13 days later, Williams had logged a grand total of 534 days in space).
Today’s Birthdays: Composer-musician Mason Williams is 79. Rhythm-and-blues singer Marshall Thompson (The Chi-Lites) is 75. Rock musician Ken Hensley is 72. Actress Anne Archer is 70. Actor Joe Regalbuto is 68. Actor Kevin Dunn is 62. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is 62. Actor-writer Stephen Fry is 60. Actor Steve Guttenberg is 59. Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. is 57. Actor Jared Harris is 56. Talk show host Craig Kilborn is 55. CBS News correspondent Major Garrett is 55. Rock singer John Bush is 54. Actress Marlee Matlin is 52. Basketball Hall of Famer Reggie Miller is 52. Broadcast journalist David Gregory is 47. Country singer Kristyn Osborn (SHeDaisy) is 47. Movie director Ava DuVernay is 45. Actor-comedian Dave Chappelle is 44. Actor James D’Arcy is 44. Actor Carmine Giovinazzo is 44. Actor Alex O’Loughlin is 41. Actress Beth Riesgraf is 39. Actor Chad Michael Murray is 36. Christian rock musician Jeffrey Gilbert (Kutless) is 34. Singer Mika is 34. Actor Blake Berris is 33.
Actor Rupert Grint (“Harry Potter” films) is 29.
Thought for Today: “Life begins when a person first realizes how soon it will end.” — Marcelene Cox, American writer.
