Today in History

Today is Wednesday, Aug. 22, the 235th day of 2012. There are 131 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Aug. 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln publicly responded to Horace Greeley's "Prayer of Twenty Millions," which had urged Lincoln to take more drastic steps in abolishing slavery; Lincoln replied that his priority was saving the Union, but also repeated his "personal wish that all men everywhere could be free."

On this date:

In 1485, England's King Richard III was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field, effectively ending the War of the Roses.

In 1787, inventor John Fitch demonstrated his steamboat on the Delaware River to delegates from the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

In 1846, Gen. Stephen W. Kearny proclaimed all of New Mexico a territory of the United States.

In 1851, the schooner America outraced more than a dozen British vessels off the English coast to win a trophy that came to be known as the America's Cup.

In 1862, French composer Claude Debussy was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

In 1922, Irish revolutionary Michael Collins was shot to death, apparently by Irish Republican Army members opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty that Collins had co-signed.

In 1932, the British Broadcasting Corp. conducted its first experimental television broadcast, using a 30-line mechanical system.

In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon were nominated for second terms in office by the Republican national convention in San Francisco.

In 1962, French President Charles de Gaulle survived an attempt on his life in suburban Paris.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon was nominated for a second term of office by the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach. A hostage drama began at a Chase Manhattan Bank in Brooklyn, N.Y., as John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile seized seven employees during a botched robbery; the episode, which ended with Wojtowicz's arrest and Naturile's killing by the FBI, inspired the movie "Dog Day Afternoon."

In 1989, Black Panthers co-founder Huey P. Newton was shot to death in Oakland, Calif. (Gunman Tyrone Robinson was later sentenced to 32 years to life in prison.)

In 1992, on the second day of the Ruby Ridge siege in Idaho, an FBI sharpshooter killed Vicki Weaver, the wife of white separatist Randy Weaver (the sharpshooter later said he was targeting the couple's friend Kevin Harris, and didn't see Vicki Weaver).

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush proposed to end the government's "hands-off" policy in national forests and ease logging restrictions in fire-prone areas. A small plane carrying 18 people, including tourists from Germany, the United States and Britain, crashed in Nepal, killing all aboard.

Five years ago: President George W. Bush, addressing the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Kansas City, Mo., offered a fresh endorsement of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, calling him "a good guy, good man with a difficult job." A U.S. helicopter crashed in Iraq, killing 14 soldiers. Hurricane Dean slammed into Mexico for the second time in as many days. The Texas Rangers became the first team in 110 years to score 30 runs in a game, setting an American League record in a 30-3 rout of the Baltimore Orioles in the first game of a doubleheader. Poet and short story writer Grace Paley died in Thetford Hill, Vt., at age 84.

One year ago: Hurricane Irene cut a destructive path through the Caribbean, raking Puerto Rico with strong winds and rain and then spinning just north of the Dominican Republic. Nick Ashford, one-half of the legendary Motown songwriting duo Ashford & Simpson, died in New York at age 70.

Today's Birthdays: Heart surgeon Dr. Denton Cooley is 92. Retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf is 78. Broadcast journalist Morton Dean is 77. Author Annie Proulx is 77. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Carl Yastrzemski is 73. Actress Valerie Harper is 73. Football coach Bill Parcells is 71. CBS newsman Steve Kroft is 67. Actress Cindy Williams is 65. Pop musician David Marks is 64. International Swimming Hall of Famer Diana Nyad is 63. Baseball Hall of Famer Paul Molitor is 56. Country singer Holly Dunn is 55. Rock musician Vernon Reid is 54. Country singer Ricky Lynn Gregg is 53. Country singer Collin Raye is 52. Actress Regina Taylor is 52. Rock singer Roland Orzabal (Tears For Fears) is 51. Rock musician Debbi Peterson (The Bangles) is 51. Rock musician Gary Lee Conner (Screaming Trees) is 50. Singer Tori Amos is 49. Country singer Mila Mason is 49. Rhythm-and-blues musician James DeBarge is 49. International Tennis Hall of Famer Mats Wilander is 48. Rapper GZA/The Genius is 46. Actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is 45. Actor Ty Burrell is 45. Actor Rick Yune is 41. Rock musician Paul Doucette (Matchbox Twenty) is 40. Rap-reggae singer Beenie Man is 39. Singer Howie Dorough (Backstreet Boys) is 39. Comedian-actress Kristen Wiig is 39. Actress Jenna Leigh Green is 38. Rock musician Bo Koster is 38. Rock musician Dean Back (Theory of a Deadman) is 37. Rock musician Jeff Stinco (Simple Plan) is 34. Actor Brandon Adams is 33. Actress Aya Sumika is 32.

Thought for Today: "Charming people live up to the very edge of their charm, and behave as outrageously as the world lets them." -- Logan Pearsall Smith, Anglo-American essayist (1865-1946).

Copyright 2012, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.