Today in History

Today is Sunday, August 23, the 235th day of 2015. There are 130 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On August 23, 1775, Britain's King George III proclaimed the American colonies to be in a state of "open and avowed rebellion."

On this date:

In 1305, Scottish rebel leader Sir William Wallace was executed by the English for treason.

In 1858, "Ten Nights in a Bar-room," a play by Timothy Shay Arthur about the perils of alcohol, opened in New York.

In 1913, Copenhagen's Little Mermaid statue, inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen story, was unveiled in the harbor of the Danish capital.

In 1914, Japan declared war against Germany in World War I.

In 1926, silent film star Rudolph Valentino died in New York at age 31.

In 1927, amid protests, Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed in Boston for the murders of two men during a 1920 robbery.

In 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to a non-aggression treaty, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, in Moscow.

In 1944, Romanian Prime Minister Ion Antonescu was dismissed by King Michael, paving the way for Romania to abandon the Axis in favor of the Allies.

In 1960, Broadway librettist Oscar Hammerstein II, 65, died in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

In 1973, a bank robbery-turned-hostage-taking began in Stockholm, Sweden; the four hostages ended up empathizing with their captors, a psychological condition now referred to as "Stockholm Syndrome."

In 1982, Lebanon's parliament elected Christian militia leader Bashir Gemayel president. (However, Gemayel was assassinated some three weeks later.)

In 1989, in a case that inflamed racial tensions in New York, Yusuf Hawkins, a 16-year-old black youth, was shot dead after he and his friends were confronted by a group of white youths in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn. (Gunman Joey Fama was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison; he will be eligible for parole in 2022.)

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush said he understood the anguish of war protester Cindy Sheehan, but said fulfilling demands like hers to withdraw from Iraq would weaken the United States. Israeli forces evicted militant holdouts from two Jewish settlements, completing a historic withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank. A Peruvian airliner crash-landed in the Amazon jungle, killing 40 of the 98 people aboard. Actor Brock Peters died in Los Angeles at age 78.

Five years ago: A dismissed policeman armed with an automatic rifle seized a bus in the Philippine capital with 25 people on board, mostly Hong Kong tourists; the gunman released nine of the hostages and demanded his job back to free the rest. The hijacking lasted 11 hours before the gunman opened fire on his hostages; a Manila SWAT team then killed the hostage-taker, but not before eight tourists also died. A jury in Goldsboro, North Carolina, convicted former Marine Cesar Laurean of first-degree murder in the death of a pregnant colleague, Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach. (Laurean was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.) Tiger Woods and his wife, Elin Nordegren, officially divorced.

One year ago: Israel bombed an apartment tower in downtown Gaza City, collapsing the 12-story building in an unprecedented strike. Hundreds of Russian aid trucks returned home from eastern Ukraine, a day after a bitterly disputed crossing.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Vera Miles is 85. Actress Barbara Eden is 84. Political satirist Mark Russell is 83. Pro Football Hall of Famer Sonny Jurgensen is 81. Actor Richard Sanders is 75. Ballet dancer Patricia McBride is 73. Former Surgeon General Antonia Novello is 71. Pro Football Hall of Famer Rayfield Wright is 70. Country singer Rex Allen Jr. is 68. Actor David Robb (TV: "Downton Abbey") is 68. Singer Linda Thompson is 68. Actress Shelley Long is 66. Actor-singer Rick Springfield is 66. Country singer-musician Woody Paul (Riders in the Sky) is 66. Queen Noor of Jordan is 64. Actor-producer Mark Hudson is 64. Actor Skipp Sudduth is 59. Retired MLB All-Star pitcher Mike Boddicker is 58. Rock musician Dean DeLeo (Army of Anyone; Stone Temple Pilots) is 54. Tejano singer Emilio Navaira is 53. Country musician Ira Dean (Trick Pony) is 46. Actor Jay Mohr is 45. Actor Ray Park is 41. Actor Scott Caan is 39. Country singer Shelly Fairchild is 38. Figure skater Nicole Bobek is 38. Rock singer Julian Casablancas (The Strokes) is 37. NBA player Kobe Bryant is 37. Actress Joanne Froggatt is 35. Actress Annie Ilonzeh is 32. Dance musician Sky Blu is 29. Actress Kimberly Matula is 27. NBA player Jeremy Lin is 27

Thought for Today: "All life is a concatenation of ephemeralities." -- Alfred E. Kahn, American economist (1917-2010).

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