Today in History

Today is Saturday, Aug. 18, the 231st day of 2012. There are 135 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Aug. 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed the right of all American women to vote, was ratified as Tennessee became the 36th state to approve it.

On this date:

In 1587, Virginia Dare became the first child of English parents to be born on American soil, on what is now Roanoke Island in North Carolina. (However, the Roanoke colony ended up mysteriously disappearing.)

In 1838, the first marine expedition sponsored by the U.S. government set sail from Hampton Roads, Va.; the crews traveled the southern Pacific Ocean, gathering scientific information.

In 1846, U.S. forces led by General Stephen W. Kearny captured Santa Fe, N.M.

In 1862, Dakota Indians began an uprising in Minnesota (the revolt was crushed by U.S. forces some six weeks later).

In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King dedicated the Thousand Islands Bridge connecting the United States and Canada.

In 1958, the novel "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov was first published in New York by G.P. Putnam's Sons, almost three years after it was originally published in Paris.

In 1961, federal appeals court Judge Learned Hand, 89, died in New York.

In 1963, James Meredith became the first black student to graduate from the University of Mississippi.

In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in Bethel, N.Y., wound to a close after three nights with a mid-morning set by Jimi Hendrix.

In 1976, two U.S. Army officers were killed in Korea's demilitarized zone as a group of North Korean soldiers wielding axes and metal pikes attacked U.S. and South Korean soldiers.

In 1983, Hurricane Alicia slammed into the Texas coast, leaving 21 dead and causing more than a billion dollars' worth of damage.

In 1987, American journalist Charles Glass escaped his kidnappers in Beirut after 62 days in captivity. (Glass had been abducted June 17 with two Lebanese who were released after a week.)

Ten years ago: In a tearful farewell Mass in his beloved Krakow, Pope John Paul II told more than 2 million Poles that he would like to return one day -- but that "this is entirely in God's hands." Rich Beem beat Tiger Woods to capture the PGA Championship.

Five years ago: Alarmed tourists jammed Caribbean airports for flights out of Hurricane Dean's path as the monster storm began sweeping past the Dominican Republic and Haiti. NASA, meanwhile, ordered space shuttle Endeavour back to Earth a day early out of fear Dean might disrupt flight operations. A seven-alarm fire ripped through an abandoned skyscraper next to ground zero in Lower Manhattan, killing two firefighters who'd responded to the blaze. Michael K. Deaver, a close adviser to President Ronald Reagan, died in Bethesda, Md., at age 69.

One year ago: President Barack Obama and European leaders demanded that Syrian President Bashar Assad resign, saying his brutal suppression of his people made him unfit to lead. Vice President Joe Biden met with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping in Beijing. A storm swept through a popular open-air music festival in Hasselt, Belgium, killing five people.

Today's Birthdays: Former first lady Rosalynn Carter is 85. Academy Award-winning director Roman Polanski is 79. Attorney and author Vincent Bugliosi is 78. Olympic gold medal decathlete Rafer Johnson is 77. Actor-director Robert Redford is 76. Actor Christopher Jones is 71. Actor Henry G. Sanders is 70. Rhythm-and-blues singer Sarah Dash (LaBelle) is 69. Actor-comedian Martin Mull is 69. Rock musician Dennis Elliott is 62. Comedian Elayne Boosler is 60. Country singer Steve Wilkinson (The Wilkinsons) is 57. Actor Denis Leary is 55. Actress Madeleine Stowe is 54. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is 51. ABC News reporter Bob Woodruff is 51. The president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, is 50. Bluegrass musician Jimmy Mattingly is 50. Actor Adam Storke is 50. Actor Craig Bierko is 48. Rock singer-musician Zac Maloy (The Nixons) is 44. Rock singer and hip-hop artist Everlast is 43. Rapper Masta Killa (Wu-Tang Clan) is 43. Actor Christian Slater is 43. Actor Edward Norton is 43. Actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner is 42. Actress Kaitlin Olson is 37. Actor-writer-director Hadjii is 36. Rock musician Dirk Lance is 36. Actor-comedian Andy Samberg (TV: "Saturday Night Live") is 34. Actress Mika Boorem is 25. Actress Parker McKenna Posey is 17.

Thought for Today: "In the end it is worse to suppress dissent than to run the risk of heresy." -- Judge Learned Hand (1872-1961).

Copyright 2012, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.