Today in History: Saturday, August 12, 2017

AP Highlight in History:  On Aug. 12, 1985, a crippled Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 on a domestic flight crashed into a mountain, killing 520 people in the world's worst single-aircraft accident.   AP Photo
On this date in: 1851 Isaac Singer was granted a patent on his sewing machine. 1880 Baseball Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson was born in Factoryville, Pa. 1898 The peace protocol ending the Spanish-American War was signed. 1898 Hawaii was formally annexed to the United States. 1944 Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., eldest son of Joseph and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, was killed when an explosives-laden Navy plane blew up over England during World War II. 1953 The Soviet Union conducted a secret test of its first hydrogen bomb. 1960 The first balloon satellite, Echo 1, was launched by the United States from Cape Canaveral, Fla. 1966 John Lennon apologized at a news conference in Chicago for saying "the Beatles are more popular than Jesus." AP Photo 1977 The space shuttle Enterprise passed its first solo flight test by taking off atop a Boeing 747, separating and then touching down in California's Mojave Desert. Astronaut Gordon Fullerton, pilot of the Enterprise 1981 IBM introduced its first personal computer, the model 5150. 1998 Swiss banks agreed to pay $1.25 billion as restitution to Holocaust survivors to settle claims for their assets. 2000 The Russian nuclear submarine Kursk and its 118-man crew were lost during naval exercises in the Barents Sea. 2004 New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey announced his resignation and proclaimed himself "a gay American." 2004 The California Supreme Court voided the nearly 4,000 same-sex marriages sanctioned in San Francisco earlier in the year. 2008 Russia halted its devastating five-day assault on Georgia that left homes in smoldering ruins and uprooted 100,000 people.		Video Highlights of This Day in History Today's Birthdays: Actress Rebecca Gayheart turns 45 years old today. AP Photo/Dan Steinberg Name Profession Age Dale Bumpers Former U.S. senator, D-Ark. 92 George Hamilton Actor 78 Dana Ivey Actress 76 Mark Knopfler Rock singer, musician (Dire Straits) 68 Kid Creole Singer 67 Pat Metheny Jazz guitarist 63 Bruce Greenwood Actor 61 Sir Mix-A-Lot Rapper 54 Peter Krause Actor ("Six Feet Under") 52 Michael Ian Black Actor, comedian ("Ed") 46 Yvette Nicole Brown Actress ("Community") 46 Pete Sampras Tennis player 46 Maggie Lawson Actress 37 Dominique Swain Actress 37 Actor Casey Affleck turns 42 years old today. AP Photo/Peter Kramer

Today in History: Friday, August 11, 2017

AP Highlight in History:  On Aug. 11, 1934, the first federal prisoners arrived at the island prison Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay.   AP Photo
On this date in: 1954 A formal peace took hold in Indochina, ending more than seven years of fighting between the French and the Communist Vietminh. 1965 Deadly rioting and looting broke out in the predominantly black Watts section of Los Angeles. AP Photo 1992 The Mall of America, the biggest shopping mall in the country, opened in Bloomington, Minn. 1998 British Petroleum purchased Amoco for $49 billion. 2000 Pat Buchanan won the Reform Party presidential nomination. 2002 US Airways filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. 2003 NATO took command of the 5,000-strong peacekeeping force in Afghanistan. 2003 Charles Taylor resigned as Liberia's president and went into exile in Nigeria. 2006 The Transportation Security Administration banned all liquids, gels and aerosols from passenger cabins on airliners one day after a thwarted terrorist attack. 2009 Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister of President John F. Kennedy and founder of the Special Olympics, died at age 88.		Video Highlights of This Day in History Today's Birthdays: Actress Viola Davis turns 52 years old today. AP Photo/Amy Sancetta Name Profession Age Eric Carmen Singer 68 Hulk Hogan Wrestler, actor 64 Joe Jackson Rock singer 63 Joe Rogan Actor, host ("Fear Factor") 50 Charlie Sexton Rock musician 49 Pablo Sandoval Baseball player 31 Alyson Stoner Actress 24 Actress Ashley Jensen ("Ugly Betty," "Extras") turns 49 years old today. AP Photo/Dan Steinberg

Today in History: Wednesday, August 09, 2017

AP Highlight in History:  On Aug. 9, 1945, the United States exploded a nuclear device over Nagasaki, Japan, instantly killing an estimated 39,000 people. The explosion came three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.   AP Photo
On this date in: 1854 Henry David Thoreau published "Walden," which described his experiences living near Walden Pond in Massachusetts. 1902 Britain's Edward VII was crowned king following the death of his mother, Queen Victoria. 1936 Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal at the Berlin Olympics as the United States took first place in the 400-meter relay. AP Photo 1969 Actress Sharon Tate and four other people were found murdered in Los Angeles; cult leader Charles Manson and a group of his followers were later convicted of the crime. 1974 Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as the 38th president of the United States following the resignation of Richard M. Nixon. Ford: "our long national nightmare is over" AP Photo/Chick Harrity 1985 A federal judge in Norfolk, Va., found retired Navy officer Arthur J. Walker guilty of seven counts of spying for the Soviet Union. 1995 Rock musician Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead died at age 53. 2001 President George W. Bush approved federal funding for existing lines of embryonic stem cells. 2002 Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit his 600th home run, becoming the fourth major leaguer to reach the mark. 2004 Terry Nichols was sentenced to 161 consecutive life sentences on state murder charges in the Oklahoma City bombing. 2010 Former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, 86, the longest serving Republican in the U.S. Senate, was killed in a plane crash in southwestern Alaska.		Video Highlights of This Day in History Today's Birthdays: Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders turns 50 years old today. AP Photo/David J. Phillip Name Profession Age Bob Cousy Basketball Hall of Famer 89 Rod Laver Tennis Hall of Famer 79 David Steinberg Comedian 75 Sam Elliott Actor 73 Melanie Griffith Actress 60 Amanda Bearse Actress ("Married...With Children") 59 Kurtis Blow Rapper 58 Brett Hull Hockey player 53 Hoda Kotb TV host ("Today") 53 Gillian Anderson Actress ("The X Files") 49 Eric Bana Actor 49 Juanes Rock singer 45 Liz Vassey Actress ("CSI") 45 Jessica Capshaw Actress 41 Jason Heyward Baseball player 28 Actress Anna Kendrick ("Up in the Air," "Twilight" movies) turns 32 years old today. AP Photo/Evan Agostini

Today in History: Monday, August 07, 2017

AP Highlight in History:  On Aug. 7, 1998, al Qaida set off bombs at the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 224 people - including 12 Americans - and injuring more than 5,500.   AP Photo/Khalil Senosi
On this date in: 1912 The Progressive Party nominated Theodore Roosevelt for president. 1942 U.S. forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II. 1964 Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson broad powers to deal with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces. 1971 Apollo 15 returned to Earth after a manned mission to the moon. 1974 French stuntman Philippe Petit walked a tightrope strung between the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center. AP Photo 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. 2000 Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore chose Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman as his running mate, making him the first Jewish candidate on a major party ticket. 2002 Major league baseball players and owners agreed on the sport's first tests for steroids. 2007 Barry Bonds became baseball's career home run leader when he hit No. 756 during a home game in San Francisco, passing Hank Aaron's mark. 2008 Georgia shelled the capital of breakaway republic South Ossetia. (Russia responded by occupying much of Georgia in a five-day war.) 2009 Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin accused President Barack Obama of proposing a "death panel" that would decide who receives treatment in his health care plan. 2010 Elena Kagan was sworn in as the 112th justice and fourth woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.		Video Highlights of This Day in History Today's Birthdays: Actor David Duchovny ("The X Files," "Californication") turns 57 years old today. AP Photo/Dan Steinberg Name Profession Age Garrison Keillor Writer, humorist ("A Prairie Home Companion") 75 B.J. Thomas Singer 75 John Glover Actor 73 Wayne Knight Actor ("Seinfeld") 62 Alberto Salazar Marathon runner 59 Harold Perrineau Actor ("Lost") 54 Abbie Cornish Actress 35 Sidney Crosby Hockey player 30 Mike Trout Baseball player 26 Actress Charlize Theron turns 42 years old today. AP Photo/Peter Kramer