Today's Highlight in History:
On August 1, 1913, the Joyce Kilmer poem "Trees" was first published in "Poetry: A Magazine of Verse."
On this date:
In 1714, Britain's Queen Anne died at age 49; she was succeeded by George I.
In 1876, Colorado was admitted as the 38th state.
In 1907, the U.S. Army Signal Corps established an aeronautical division, the forerunner of the U.S. Air Force.
In 1933, the National Recovery Administration's "Blue Eagle" symbol began to appear in store windows and on packages to show support for the National Industrial Recovery Act.
In 1936, the Olympics opened in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler.
In 1943, rioting broke out in New York City's Harlem neighborhood after a false rumor spread that a police officer had shot and killed a black U.S. Army soldier who in fact had only been wounded; six people were killed in the violence.
In 1944, an uprising broke out in Warsaw, Poland, against Nazi occupation; the revolt lasted two months before collapsing.
In 1957, the United States and Canada agreed to create the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD).
In 1966, Charles Joseph Whitman, 25, went on a shooting rampage at the University of Texas in Austin, killing 14 people. Whitman, who had also murdered his wife and mother hours earlier, was gunned down by police.
In 1973, the movie "American Graffiti," directed by George Lucas, first opened.
In 1988, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh began broadcasting his nationally syndicated radio program.
In 2007, the eight-lane Interstate 35W bridge, a major Minneapolis artery, collapsed into the Mississippi River during evening rush hour, killing 13 people.
Ten years ago: A suicide bomber rammed a truck filled with explosives into a military hospital near Chechnya, killing 50 people, including Russian troops wounded in Chechnya.
Five years ago: Some 30 mountaineers began a disastrous attempt to scale K2 in Pakistan; 11 of them died in a series of accidents, including icefalls. Crowds of Chinese watched a total solar eclipse along the country's ancient Silk Road, one week before the start of the Summer Games in Beijing.
One year ago: President Barack Obama made his rival's personal millions a front-and-center issue in the race for the White House, telling a swing-state audience in Ohio that Mitt Romney "is asking you to pay more so that people like him can get a big tax cut." Four teams from China, South Korea and Indonesia were kicked out of the women's badminton doubles at the London Olympics for trying to lose on purpose. Host country Britain picked up its first two gold medals when Helen Glover and Heather Stanning won the final of the women's pair at the rowing regatta and cyclist Bradley Wiggins took the time trial.
Today's Birthdays: Actor-director Geoffrey Holder is 83. Singer Ramblin' Jack Elliott is 82. Former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, R-N.Y., is 76. Actor Giancarlo Giannini is 71. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams is 63. Blues singer-musician Robert Cray is 60. Singer Michael Penn is 55. Rock singer Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) is 54. Rock singer-musician Suzi Gardner (L7) is 53. Rapper Chuck D (Public Enemy) is 53. Actor Jesse Borrego is 51. Actor Demian Bichir is 50. Rapper Coolio is 50. Actor John Carroll Lynch is 50. Rock singer Adam Duritz (Counting Crows) is 49. Movie director Sam Mendes is 48. Country singer George Ducas is 47. Country musician Charlie Kelley is 45. Actress Jennifer Gareis is 43. Actor Charles Malik Whitfield is 41. Actress Tempestt Bledsoe is 40. Actor Jason Momoa is 34. Singer Ashley Parker Angel is 32. Actress Taylor Fry is 32. Actor Elijah Kelley is 27. Actor James Francis Kelly is 24.
Thought for Today: "Pride, like humility, is destroyed by one's insistence that he possesses it." — Kenneth Bancroft Clark, American educator and psychologist (1914-2005).
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