Today in History

Today is Friday, August 28, the 240th day of 2015. There are 125 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On August 28, 1955, Emmett Till, a black teen-ager from Chicago, was abducted from his uncle's home in Money, Mississippi, by two white men after he had supposedly whistled at a white woman; he was found brutally slain three days later.

On this date:

In 1609, English sea explorer Henry Hudson and his ship, the Half Moon, reached present-day Delaware Bay.

In 1862, the Second Battle of Bull Run (also known as Second Manassas) began in Prince William County, Virginia, during the Civil War; the result was a Confederate victory.

In 1922, the first-ever radio commercial aired on station WEAF in New York City; the 10-minute advertisement was for the Queensboro Realty Co., which had paid a fee of $100.

In 1944, during World War II, German forces in Toulon and Marseille, France, surrendered to Allied troops.

In 1945, the Allies began occupying Japan at the end of World War II.

In 1963, more than 200,000 people listened as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

In 1964, two days of race-related rioting erupted in North Philadelphia over a false rumor that white police officers had beaten to death a pregnant black woman.

In 1968, police and anti-war demonstrators clashed in the streets of Chicago as the Democratic National Convention nominated Hubert H. Humphrey for president.

In 1972, Mark Spitz of the United States won the first two of his seven gold medals at the Munich Olympics, finishing first in the 200-meter butterfly and anchoring the 400-meter freestyle relay. The Soviet women gymnasts won the team all-around.

In 1988, 70 people were killed when three Italian stunt planes collided during an air show at the U.S. Air Base in Ramstein, West Germany.

In 1990, an F5 tornado struck the Chicago area, killing 29 people.

In 1995, a mortar shell tore through a crowded market in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, killing some three dozen people and triggering NATO airstrikes against the Bosnian Serbs.

Ten years ago: New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered everyone in the city to evacuate after Hurricane Katrina grew to a monster storm. Iraqi negotiators finished a new constitution but without the endorsement of Sunni Arabs. West Oahu of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, won the Little League World Series title with a 7-6 win over the defending champions from Willemstad, Curacao.

Five years ago: Conservative commentator Glenn Beck and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin headlined a "Restoring Honor" rally attended by tens of thousands in Washington. U.S. and Afghan forces repelled attackers wearing American uniforms and suicide vests in a pair of simultaneous assaults before dawn on NATO bases near the Pakistan border. A gunman in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, shot and killed the mother of his two children, the woman's boyfriend and three other people before fleeing with the children to Rancho Cucamonga, California, where he killed himself (the children were unharmed).

One year ago: Comedian Joan Rivers was rushed to New York's Mount Sinai Hospital after she suffered cardiac arrest at a doctor's office where she'd gone for a routine outpatient procedure (Rivers died a week later at age 81). Acknowledging he "didn't get it right" with a two-game suspension for Ravens running back Ray Rice, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced tougher penalties for players accused of domestic violence, including six weeks for a first offense and at least a year for a second. Glenn Cornick, 67, the original bass player in the rock band Jethro Tull, died in Hilo, Hawaii.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Sonny Shroyer is 80. Actor Ken Jenkins is 75. Former Defense Secretary William S. Cohen is 75. Actor David Soul is 72. Former pop singer-musician Honey Lantree (The Honeycombs) is 72. Former MLB manager and player Lou Piniella is 72. Actress Barbara Bach is 69. Actress Debra Mooney is 68. Singer Wayne Osmond (The Osmonds) is 64. Actor Daniel Stern is 58. Olympic gold medal figure skater Scott Hamilton is 57. Actor John Allen Nelson is 56. Actress Emma Samms is 55. Actress Jennifer Coolidge is 54. Movie director David Fincher is 53. Actress Amanda Tapping is 50. Country singer Shania Twain is 50. Actor Billy Boyd is 47. Actor Jack Black is 46. Actor Jason Priestley is 46. Olympic gold medal swimmer Janet Evans is 44. Actor J. August Richards is 42. Rock singer-musician Max Collins (Eve 6) is 37. Actress Carly Pope is 35. Country singer Jake Owen is 34. Country singer LeAnn Rimes is 33. Actor Michael Galeota is 31. Actress Sarah Roemer is 31. Actor Armie Hammer is 29. Rock singer Florence Welch (Florence and the Machine) is 29. Country-pop singer Cassadee Pope (TV: "The Voice") is 26. Actress Katie Findlay is 25. Actor/singer Samuel Larsen is 24. Actor Kyle Massey is 24. Actress Quvenzhane Wallis is 12. Reality TV star Alana Thompson, AKA "Honey Boo Boo," is 10.

Thought for Today: "The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference." -- Elie Wiesel, Romanian-born journalist-author.

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