Today in History

Today is Thursday, Aug. 22, the 234th day of 2013. There are 131 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On August 22, 1485, England's King Richard III was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field, effectively ending the War of the Roses.

On this date:

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, President Abraham Lincoln responded to Horace Greeley's call for more drastic steps to abolish slavery; Lincoln replied that his priority was saving the Union, but he also repeated his personal wish "that all men everywhere could be free."

In 1910, Japan annexed Korea, which remained under Japanese control until the end of World War II.

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 1968, Pope Paul VI arrived in Bogota, Colombia, for the start of the first papal visit to South America.

In 1972, a hostage drama began at a Chase Manhattan Bank branch in Brooklyn, N.Y., as John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile seized seven employees during a botched robbery; the siege, which ended with Wojtowicz's arrest and Naturile's killing by the FBI, inspired the 1975 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.

Ten years ago: Alabama's chief justice, Roy Moore, was suspended for his refusal to obey a federal court order to remove his Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of his courthouse. Texas Gov. Rick Perry pardoned 35 people arrested in the 1999 Tulia drug busts and convicted on the testimony of a lone undercover agent. (The agent, Tom Coleman, was later found guilty of aggravated perjury and sentenced to 10 years' probation.) In Brazil, a rocket exploded on its launch pad during tests just days before liftoff, killing 21 workers.

Five years ago: Russia said it had pulled back forces from Georgia in accordance with an EU-brokered cease-fire agreement. Usain Bolt helped Jamaica win the 400-meter relay final in 37.10 seconds for his third gold medal and third world record of the Beijing Olympics. Bryan Clay won the decathlon. Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers beat Brazil in the men's beach volleyball championship game.

One year ago: Ousted Penn State president Graham Spanier and his lawyers attacked a university-backed report on the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal, calling it a "blundering and indefensible indictment." (Spanier was subsequently charged with covering up a complaint about Sandusky; he denies the allegation.) Nina Bawden, 87, a British author who wrote children's classics, including the World War II story "Carrie's War," died in London.

Today's Birthdays: Heart surgeon Dr. Denton Cooley is 93. Broadcast journalist Morton Dean is 78. Author Annie Proulx is 78. Baseball Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski is 74. Actress Valerie Harper is 74. Football coach Bill Parcells is 72. Writer-producer David Chase (TV: "The Sopranos") is 68. CBS newsman Steve Kroft is 68. Actress Cindy Williams is 66. Pop musician David Marks is 65. International Swimming Hall of Famer Diana Nyad is 64. Baseball Hall of Famer Paul Molitor is 57. Country singer Holly Dunn is 56. Rock musician Vernon Reid is 55. Country singer Ricky Lynn Gregg is 54. Country singer Collin Raye is 53. Actress Regina Taylor is 53. Rock singer Roland Orzabal (Tears For Fears) is 52. Rock musician Debbi Peterson (The Bangles) is 52. Rock musician Gary Lee Conner (Screaming Trees) is 51. Singer Tori Amos is 50. Country singer Mila Mason is 50. Rhythm-and-blues musician James DeBarge is 50. International Tennis Hall of Famer Mats Wilander is 49. Rapper GZA/The Genius is 47. Actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is 46. Actor Ty Burrell is 46. Celebrity chef Giada DeLaurentiis is 43. Actress Melinda Page Hamilton (TV: "Devious Maids") is 42. Actor Rick Yune is 42. Rock musician Paul Doucette (Matchbox Twenty) is 41. Rap-reggae singer Beenie Man is 40. Singer Howie Dorough (Backstreet Boys) is 40. Comedian-actress Kristen Wiig is 40. Actress Jenna Leigh Green is 39. Rock musician Bo Koster is 39. Rock musician Dean Back (Theory of a Deadman) is 38. Rock musician Jeff Stinco (Simple Plan) is 35. Actor Brandon Adams is 34. Actress Aya Sumika is 33.

Thought for Today: "Works of art make rules; rules do not make works of art." -- Claude Debussy, French composer (born this date in 1862, died 1918).

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