Today in History: Saturday, August 02, 2014

AP Highlight in History:  On Aug. 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, seizing control of the oil-rich emirate.   AP Photo/Ron Edmonds
On this date in: 216 During the Second Punic War, Carthaginian forces led by Hannibal defeated the Roman army in the Battle of Cannae. 1776 Members of the Continental Congress began signing the Declaration of Independence. 1876 Frontiersman "Wild Bill" Hickok was shot and killed while playing poker at a saloon in Deadwood in present-day South Dakota. 1923 President Warren G. Harding died of a heart attack in San Francisco at age 57. AP Photo 1934 German President Paul von Hindenburg died, paving the way for Adolf Hitler's complete takeover. 1939 Albert Einstein signed a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt urging creation of an atomic weapons research program. 1943 PT-109, a Navy patrol torpedo boat commanded by Lt. John F. Kennedy, sank after being sheared in two by a Japanese destroyer off the Solomon Islands. Kennedy was credited with saving members of the crew. 1945 President Harry S. Truman, Soviet leader Josef Stalin and British Prime Minister Clement Attlee concluded the Potsdam conference. 1964 The Pentagon reported the first of two attacks on U.S. destroyers by North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. 1985 A Delta Air Lines jumbo jet crashed while attempting to land at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, killing 137 people. 2000 Republicans nominated Texas Gov. George W. Bush for president and Dick Cheney for vice president at the party's convention in Philadelphia. 2007 Mattel recalled nearly a million Chinese-made toys from its Fisher-Price division that were found to have excessive amounts of lead. 2011 The Senate passed, and President Barack Obama signed, legislation to avoid an unprecedented national default.		Video Highlights of This Day in History Today's Birthdays: Actress Mary-Louise Parker ("Weeds") turns 50 years old today. AP Photo/Dan Steinberg Name Profession Age Paul Laxalt Former U.S. senator, R-Nevada 92 Garth Hudson Rock musician (The Band) 77 Wes Craven Director 75 John Snow Former treasury secretary 75 Joanna Cassidy Actress 69 Butch Patrick Actor ("The Munsters") 61 Mojo Nixon Singer 57 Victoria Jackson Actress ("Saturday Night Live") 55 Apollonia Actress ("Purple Rain") 55 Cynthia Stevenson Actress 52 Tim Wakefield Baseball player 48 Kevin Smith Writer, director 44 Edward Furlong Actor 37 Hallie Eisenberg Actress 22 Actor Sam Worthington ("Avatar") turns 38 years old today. AP Photo/Dan Steinberg