Today in History: Saturday, August 16, 2014

AP Highlight in History:  On Aug. 16, 1977, singer Elvis Presley died at Graceland Mansion in Memphis, Tenn., at age 42. Hospital spokeswoman Vickie Shirey   AP Photo
On this date in: 1858 A telegraphed message from Britain's Queen Victoria to President James Buchanan was transmitted over the recently laid trans-Atlantic cable. 1888 T.E. Lawrence, the British soldier who gained fame as "Lawrence of Arabia," was born in Tremadoc, Wales. 1913 Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin was born in Brest-Litovsk in present-day Belarus. 1948 Baseball Hall of Famer Babe Ruth died at age 53. 1954 Sports Illustrated was first published by Time Inc. 1956 Adlai E. Stevenson was nominated for president at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. AP Photo 1960 Britain granted independence to Cyprus. 1987 Thousands of people worldwide began a two-day celebration of the "harmonic convergence," which believers called the start of a new, purer age of humankind. 1988 Vice President George H.W. Bush tapped Indiana Sen. Dan Quayle to be his running mate on the Republican ticket. 2000 Delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles nominated Vice President Al Gore for president. 2002 Terrorist mastermind Abu Nidal was found shot to death in Baghdad, Iraq. 2003 Idi Amin, the former dictator of Uganda, died in Saudi Arabia. 2007 Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen held for 3-1/2 years as an enemy combatant, was convicted in Miami of helping Islamic extremists and plotting overseas attacks. (He was sentenced to 17 years, four months in prison.) 2008 Michael Phelps won the 100-meter butterfly by a hundredth of a second for his seventh gold medal of the Beijing Olympics, tying Mark Spitz's 1972 record. 2008 Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and actress Portia de Rossi were married at their Beverly Hills, Calif., home. 2010 China eclipsed Japan as the world's second biggest economy after three decades of blistering growth.		Video Highlights of This Day in History Today's Birthdays: Actor Steve Carell ("The Office") turns 52 years old today. AP Photo/Charles Sykes Name Profession Age Shimon Peres Israeli politician 91 Ann Blyth Actress 86 Frank Gifford Football Hall of Famer 84 Tony Trabert Tennis Hall of Famer 84 Eydie Gorme Singer 83 Julie Newmar Actress ("Batman") 81 Bob Balaban Actor 69 Lesley Ann Warren Actress 68 Carol Moseley-Braun Former U.S. senator, D-Ill. 67 Kathie Lee Gifford TV host ("Today") 61 James Cameron Director ("Titanic") 60 Laura Innes Actress ("ER") 57 Angela Bassett Actress 56 Timothy Hutton Actor 54 Donovan Leitch Actor, singer 47 Andy Milder Actor ("Weeds") 46 Emily Robison Country singer, musician (The Dixie Chicks) 42 Vanessa Carlton Singer 34 Rumer Willis Actress 26 Singer Madonna turns 56 years old today. AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel