Today in History

Today is Wednesday, Aug. 16, the 228th day of 2023. There are 137 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Aug. 16, 1977, Elvis Presley died at his Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee, at age 42.

On this date:

In 1777, American forces won the Battle of Bennington in what was considered a turning point of the Revolutionary War.

In 1812, Detroit fell to British and Native American forces in the War of 1812.

In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln issued Proclamation 86, which prohibited the states of the Union from engaging in commercial trade with states that were in rebellion -- i.e., the Confederacy.

In 1948, baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York at age 53.

In 1962, the Beatles fired their original drummer, Pete Best, replacing him with Ringo Starr.

In 1978, James Earl Ray, convicted assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., told a Capitol Hill hearing he did not commit the crime, saying he'd been set up by a mysterious man called "Raoul."

In 1987, people worldwide began a two-day celebration of the "harmonic convergence," which heralded what believers called the start of a new, purer age of humankind.

In 2002, terrorist mastermind Abu Nidal reportedly was found shot to death in Baghdad, Iraq; he was 65.

In 2003, Idi Amin, the former dictator of Uganda, died in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia; he was believed to have been about 80.

In 2014, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, where police and protesters repeatedly clashed in the week since a Black 18-year-old, Michael Brown, was shot to death by a white police officer.

In 2020, California's Death Valley recorded a temperature of 130 degrees amid a blistering heat wave, the third-highest temperature ever measured.

Ten years ago: In a spacewalk lasting seven hours and 29 minutes, Russian cosmonauts rigged cable outside the International Space Station for a new lab that was due to arrive in a few months. A magnitude-6.5 earthquake struck near Seddon, New Zealand, bringing moderate damage to Wellington and the Marlborough region.

Five years ago: Aretha Franklin, the undisputed "Queen of Soul," died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 76. Newspapers across the country pushed back against President Donald Trump's attacks on "fake news" with a coordinated series of editorials in defense of a free press. The Pentagon said the Veterans Day military parade ordered up by President Trump wouldn't happen in 2018 and that officials were now looking at 2019; the announcement came hours after reports that the parade would have an estimated cost of $92 million, more than three times the price first suggested by the White House.

One year ago: President Joe Biden signs Democrats' landmark climate change and health care bill. It was the "final piece" of the president's pared-down domestic agenda as he aimed to boost his party's standing with voters ahead of midterm elections. Explosions and fires ripped through an ammunition depot in Russia-annexed Crimea in the second suspected Ukrainian attack on the peninsula in just over a week. Russia blamed the explosions on an "act of sabotage" without naming the perpetrators. Wolfgang Petersen, a German filmmaker whose WWII submarine epic "Das Boot" propelled him into a blockbuster Hollywood career, died at age 81.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Ann Blyth is 95. Actor Gary Clarke is 90. Actor Julie Newmar is 90. Actor-singer Ketty Lester is 89. Actor John Standing is 89. Actor Anita Gillette is 87. Movie director Bruce Beresford is 83. Actor Bob Balaban is 78. Ballerina Suzanne Farrell is 78. Actor Lesley Ann Warren is 77. Rock singer-musician Joey Spampinato is 75. Actor Marshall Manesh is 73. Actor Reginald VelJohnson is 71. Former TV host Kathie Lee Gifford is 70. R&B singer J.T. Taylor is 70. Movie director James Cameron is 69. Actor Jeff Perry is 68. Rock musician Tim Farriss (INXS) is 66. Actor Laura Innes is 66. Singer Madonna is 65. Actor Angela Bassett is 65. Actor Timothy Hutton is 63. Actor Steve Carell is 61. Former tennis player Jimmy Arias is 59. Actor-singer Donovan Leitch is 56. Actor Andy Milder is 55. Actor Seth Peterson is 53. Country singer Emily Strayer (The Chicks) is 51. Actor George Stults is 48. Singer Vanessa Carlton is 43. Actor Cam Gigandet is 41. Actor Agnes Bruckner is 38. Singer-musician Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes) is 38. Actor Cristin Milioti is 38. San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish is 37. Actor Shawn Pyfrom is 37. Country singer Ashton Shepherd is 37. Actor Okieriete Onaodowan is 36. Country singer Dan Smyers (Dan & Shay) is 36. NHL goalie Carey Price is 36. Actor Kevin G. Schmidt is 35. Actor Rumer Willis is 35. Actor Parker Young is 35. Rapper Young Thug is 32. Actor Cameron Monaghan is 30. U.S. Olympic swimming gold-medalist Caeleb Dressel is 27. Singer-pianist Greyson Chance is 26.