Today is Saturday, August 31, the 244th day of the year 2024. There are 122 days left in the year.
Today in History:
On 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed when the car she was travelling in crashed on the Pont de l’Alma in Paris; her partner Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul (who was found to have been drunk at the time of the accident) also died.
Also on this date:
In 1881, the first American tennis championships (for men only) began in Newport, Rhode Island.
In 1886, an earthquake measuring an estimated magnitude of 7.3 devastated Charleston, South Carolina, killing at least 60 people.
In 1962, the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago became independent from British colonial rule.
In 1980, the Polish workers’ movement Solidarity was born with an agreement signed in Gdansk (guh-DANSK’) which ended a 17-day strike.
In 1992, white separatist Randy Weaver surrendered to authorities in Naples, Idaho, ending an 11-day siege by federal agents that left Weaver’s wife, son and a deputy U.S. marshal dead.
In 1994, Russia officially ended its military presence in the former East Germany and the Baltic states after half a century.
In 2006, Edvard Munch’s painting “The Scream” was recovered by Norwegian authorities after being stolen nine days earlier.
In 2010, President Barack Obama announced the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq, declaring that no victory had been won after seven years of slaughter and telling those divided over the war at home and around the world: “It is time to turn the page.”
In 2019, a gunman went on a shooting spree that spanned ten miles between the Texas communities of Midland and Odessa, leaving seven people dead before police shot and killed the gunman outside a movie theater in Odessa.
Today’s birthdays:
- World Golf Hall of Famer Isao Aoki is 82.
- Violinist Itzhak Perlman is 79 years old.
- Singer Van Morrison is 79 years old.
- Rock musician Rudolf Schenker (The Scorpions) is 76 years old.
- Actor Richard Gere is 75 years old.
- Actor Stephen McKinley Henderson is 75 years old.
- Lawyer and author Marcia Clark is 71 years old.
- Olympic hurdles gold medalist Edwin Moses is 69 years old.
- Rock singer Glenn Tilbrook (Squeeze) is 67 years old.
- Rock musician Gina Schock (The Go-Go’s) is 67 years old.
- Singer-songwriter Deborah Gibson is 54 years old.
- Queen Rania of Jordan is 54 years old.
- Golfer Padraig (PAH’-drig) Harrington is 53 years old.
- Actor Chris Tucker is 53 years old.
- Actress Sara Ramirez is 49 years old.
- Former NFL wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald is 41 years old.
- NBA All-Star Jalen Brunson is 28 years old.
