Today is Wednesday, August 7, the 220th day of the year 2024. There are 146 days left in the year.
Today in History:
On August 7, 1974, French tightrope walker Philippe Petit performed an unauthorized tightrope walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, more than 1,300 feet above the ground. The event was chronicled in the Academy Award-winning documentary film “Man on Wire.”
Also on this date:
In 1789, the United States War Department was created by Congress.
In 1942, American and Allied forces landed on Guadalcanal, marking the beginning of the first major Allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II.
In 1960, Ivory Coast gained independence from France.
In 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson broad powers to deal with reported North Vietnamese attacks on American forces.
In 1971, the Apollo 15 lunar mission ended successfully when its command module crashed into the Pacific Ocean.
In 1978, President Jimmy Carter declared the Love Canal environmental disaster in Niagara Falls, New York, a federal health emergency; it would later top the initial list of Superfund cleanup sites.
In 1989, a plane carrying U.S. Representative Mickey Leland, a Democrat from Texas, and 15 others disappeared over Ethiopia. (The plane’s wreckage was found six days later; there were no survivors.)
In 1990, President George H.W. Bush sent U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to protect the oil-rich desert kingdom from a possible invasion by Iraq.
In 1998, terrorist bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.
In 2007, San Francisco’s Barry Bonds hit his 756th home run, breaking Hank Aaron’s record, with one out in the fifth inning in a game against the Washington Nationals, who won 8-6.
In 2012, to avoid a possible death sentence, Jared Lee Loughner agreed to spend the rest of his life in prison, acknowledging involvement in a deadly shooting at a political rally in Arizona in 2011 that left six people dead and 13 injured, including U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords.
In 2015, Colorado movie theater shooting spree killer James Holmes was spared the death penalty in favor of life in prison after a Centennial jury failed to reach an agreement on whether he should be executed for his deadly attack at a crowded movie premiere that left 12 people dead.
Today’s birthdays:
- Singer Lana Cantrell is 81 years old.
- Former FBI Director Robert Mueller is 80 years old.
- Actor John Glover is 80 years old.
- Actor David Rasche is 80 years old.
- Former diplomat, talk show host and activist Alan Keyes is 74.
- Country singer Rodney Crowell is 74 years old.
- Actress Caroline Aaron is 72 years old.
- Comedian Alexei Sayle is 72 years old.
- Actor Wayne Knight is 69 years old.
- Rock singer Bruce Dickinson is 66 years old.
- Marathon runner Alberto Salazar is 66 years old.
- Actor David Duchovny is 64 years old.
- Actor Delane Matthews is 63 years old.
- Actor Harold Perrineau is 61 years old.
- Jazz musician Marcus Roberts is 61 years old.
- Country singer Raul Malo is 59 years old.
- Actor David Mann is 58 years old.
- Actress Charlotte Lewis is 57 years old.
- Actor Sydney Penny is 53 years old.
- Actor Greg Serano is 52 years old.
- Actor Michael Shannon is 50 years old.
- Actress Charlize Theron is 49 years old.
- Rock musician Barry Kerch is 48 years old.
- Actor Eric Johnson is 45 years old.
- Actor Randy Wayne is 43 years old.
- Actor-writer Brit Marling is 42 years old.
- NHL center Sidney Crosby is 37 years old.
- MLB All-Star Mike Trout is 33 years old.
- Actor Liam James is 28 years old.
Originally published:
