Today is Wednesday, Aug. 13, the 225th day of 2014. There are 140 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On August 13, 1934, the satirical comic strip "Li’l Abner," created by Al Capp, made its debut.
On this date:
In 1624, King Louis XIII of France appointed Cardinal Richelieu his first minister.
In 1792, French revolutionaries imprisoned the royal family.
In 1814, the Cape Colony in southern Africa was ceded by the Dutch to Britain. Swedish physicist Anders
Jonas Angstrom was born in Logdo.
In 1846, the American flag was raised for the first time in Los Angeles.
In 1910, Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, died in London at age 90.
In 1923, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was again elected Speaker of Turkey’s Grand Assembly.
In 1932, Adolf Hitler rejected the post of vice chancellor of Germany, saying he was prepared to hold out
"for all or nothing."
In 1946, author H.G. Wells, 79, died in London.
In 1961, East Germany sealed off the border between Berlin’s eastern and western sectors and began
building a wall that would stand for the next 28 years.
In 1979, Lou Brock of the St. Louis Cardinals became the 14th player in major league baseball history to
reach the 3,000th career hit plateau as his team defeated the Chicago Cubs, 3-2.
In 1981, in a ceremony at his California ranch, President Ronald Reagan signed a historic package of tax
and budget reductions.
In 1989, searchers in Ethiopia found the wreckage of a plane which had disappeared almost a week earlier
while carrying Rep. Mickey Leland, D-Texas, and 14 other people – there were no survivors.
Ten years ago: A stronger-than-expected Hurricane Charley roared ashore Florida’s Gulf Coast as a
dangerous Category 4 storm, resulting in at least 10 U.S. deaths. Hutu marauders raided a U.N. refugee
camp in western Burundi, shooting and hacking at least 150 Congolese Tutsis to death. The summer Olympic
games officially opened in Athens. TV chef Julia Child died in Montecito, California, two days short of
her 92nd birthday.
Five years ago: The Philadelphia Eagles signed Michael Vick to a one-year deal, prompting criticism from
animal rights activists over his role in a dogfighting ring. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suspended
Cleveland Browns receiver Donte Stallworth for the entire season after Stallworth served 24 days in jail
for DUI manslaughter in the death of 59-year-old Mario Reyes in Miami.
One year ago: Israel released 26 Palestinian inmates, many convicted in grisly killings, on the eve of
long-stalled peace talks, angering families of those killed by the prisoners.
