Today in History

Today is Tuesday, Aug. 7, the 219th day of 2018. There are 146 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On August 7, 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson broad powers in dealing with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.

On this date:

In 1782, Gen. George Washington created the Order of the Purple Heart, a decoration to recognize merit in enlisted men and noncommissioned officers.

In 1789, the U.S. Department of War was established by Congress.

In 1882, the famous feud between the Hatfields of West Virginia and the McCoys of Kentucky erupted into full-scale violence.

In 1942, U.S. and other allied forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II. (Japanese forces abandoned the island the following February.)

In 1959, the United States launched the Explorer 6 satellite, which sent back images of Earth.

In 1989, a plane carrying U.S. Rep. Mickey Leland, D-Texas, and 14 others disappeared over Ethiopia. (The wreckage of the plane was found six days later; there were no survivors.)

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush ordered U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard the oil-rich desert kingdom against a possible invasion by Iraq.

In 1998, terrorist bombs at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.

In 2000, Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore selected Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman as his running mate; Lieberman became the first Jew on a major party's presidential ticket.

In 2007, San Francisco's Barry Bonds hit home run No. 756 to break Hank Aaron's storied record with one out in the fifth inning of a game against the Washington Nationals, who won, 8-6.

In 2010, Elena Kagan was sworn in as the 112th justice and fourth woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush, speaking in Bangkok, Thailand, praised the spread of freedom in Asia while sharply criticizing oppression and human rights abuses in China, Myanmar and North Korea; the president then traveled to Beijing to attend the opening of the Olympic games.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama's five-year effort to reboot U.S.-Russian relations crashed as the White House abruptly canceled his planned face-to-face summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin. The Major League Baseball Players Association formally appealed Alex Rodriguez's drug probe suspension, sending the case to an independent arbitrator. (The suspension was withheld.)

One year ago: Chicago filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's policy of withholding public safety grants from sanctuary cities, which chose to limit cooperation with government enforcement of immigration laws. (A federal appeals court later ruled that the federal government cannot set new conditions to awarding those grants.) Medical examiners said the remains of a man who'd been killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11 had been identified, nearly 16 years after the attacks. An indictment against Damaso Lopez Nunez, a leader of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, was unsealed by federal prosecutors in Virginia on the same day his son pleaded not guilty to drug charges in federal court in San Diego. (Lopez, who had been in custody in Mexico, was later extradited to the United States, where he was considered a potential key witness against Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.)

Today's Birthdays: Magician, author and lecturer James Randi is 90. Former MLB pitcher Don Larsen is 89. Actress Verna Bloom is 80. Humorist Garrison Keillor is 76. Singer B.J. Thomas is 76. Singer Lana Cantrell is 75. Former FBI Director Robert Mueller is 74. Actor John Glover is 74. Actor David Rasche is 74. Former diplomat, talk show host and activist Alan Keyes is 68. Country singer Rodney Crowell is 68. Actress Caroline Aaron is 66. Comedian Alexei Sayle is 66. Actor Wayne Knight is 63. Rock singer Bruce Dickinson is 60. Marathon runner Alberto Salazar is 60. Actor David Duchovny is 58. Country musician Michael Mahler (Wild Horses) is 57. Actress Delane Matthews is 57. Actor Harold Perrineau is 55. Jazz musician Marcus Roberts is 55. Country singer Raul Malo is 53. Actor David Mann is 52. Actress Charlotte Lewis is 51. Actress Sydney Penny is 47. Actor Greg Serano is 46. Actor Michael Shannon is 44. Actress Charlize Theron is 43. Rock musician Barry Kerch (Shinedown) is 42. Actor Eric Johnson is 39. Actor Randy Wayne is 37. Actor-writer Brit Marling is 36. Actor Liam James is 22.

Thought for Today: "You must learn day by day, year by year, to broaden your horizon. The more things you love, the more you are interested in, the more you enjoy, the more you are indignant about -- the more you have left when anything happens." -- Ethel Barrymore, American actress (1879-1959).