Today is Friday, Aug. 11, the 223rd day of 2006 with 142 to
follow. The moon is waning. The morning stars are Saturn,
Mercury, Venus and Uranus. The evening stars are Neptune,
Mars, Jupiter and Pluto.
Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo include:
author Robert Ingersoll in 1833;
songwriter Carrie Jacobs Bond ("I Love You Truly") in 1862;
art collector Joseph Hirshhorn in 1899;
actor Lloyd Nolan in 1902;
author Alex Haley in 1921;
singer June Hutton in 1920;
TV host Mike Douglas in 1925 (age 81);
actress Arlene Dahl in 1923, (age 83).
columnist Marilyn vos Savant, listed in the Guinness Book
of Records as having the world's highest IQ, in 1946 (age 60);
pop singer Eric Carmen, formerly of the Raspberries,
in 1949 (age 57);
Apple computer co-founder Stephen Wozniak in 1950 (age 56);
and professional wrestler/actor Hulk Hogan, born Terry
Gene Bollea, in 1953 (age 53).
On this date in history:
In 1877, Thomas Edison described the fundamentals of the
phonograph to an assistant and instructed him to build the
first one.
Also in 1877, American astronomer Asaph Hall discovered the
two moons of Mars, which he named Phobos and Deimos.
In 1934, the first group of federal prisoners classified as
"most dangerous" arrived at Alcatraz Island, a 22-acre rocky
outcrop 1.5 miles offshore in San Francisco Bay.
In 1954, a formal announcement ended the 7-year war in
Indochina between France and forces of the communist Viet
Minh.
In 1965, riots began in the Watts section of Los Angeles.
In six days of violence, 34 people were killed.
In 1984, in an off-air radio voice check picked up by TV
cameras, U.S. President Ronald Reagan joked, "My fellow
Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed
legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin
bombing in five minutes." The Kremlin was not amused.
In 1991, a Lebanese terrorist group, the Revolutionary
Justice Organization, released U.S. hostage Edward Tracy,
held captive since October 1986.
In 1992, Texas businessman Ross Perot told a Senate
committee that North Vietnam plotted to kill him in the
1970s because of his work on behalf of POWs in Indochina.
Also in 1992, an electrical fire in the 62-story John
Han office tower forced more than 3,000 workers in
Boston's tallest building to flee down smoky, darkened
stairwells.
In 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton endorsed the
"Brady Bill" handgun control measure and signed an
executive order banning the import of semiautomatic
assault-style handguns.
Also in 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton named Army
Gen. John Shalikashvili to be the chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, succeeding the retiring Gen.
Colin Powell.
In 1994, major league baseball players went on strike
following the conclusion of the day's games.
In 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request
by The Citadel to overturn a federal appeals court
ruling that ordered the all-male South Carolina
military college to admit female students.
Also in 1995, U.S. President Bill Clinton vetoed a
bill passed by Congress that would have ended U.S.
participation in the arms embargo against the
Bosnian government.
In 1997, U.S. President Bill Clinton became the
first president to use the line-item veto, a power
granted by Congress the year before.
In 1998, two boys were found to be "delinquent," or
guilty, of murder in the fatal March shootings of
four students and a teacher at their middle school
in Jonesboro, Ark.
Also in 1998, British Petroleum announced it would
merge with Amoco Corp. in what would be the largest
takeover of an American company by a foreign company.
In 1999, U.S. President Bill Clinton offered to
commute the prison sentences of 16 Puerto Rican
terrorists if they agreed to renounce violence and
comply with other parole requirements.
Also in 1999, the Kansas State Board of Education
voted to drop the theory of evolution from the
public school curriculum.
In 2002, US Airways, the nation's sixth-largest
airline, filed for bankruptcy.
In 2003, as peacekeepers entered the capital to
try to stop fighting between government and rebel
troops, Liberian President Charles Taylor stepped
down and flew into exile in Nigeria, ending a
bloody chapter of African history. He vowed he
would return.
In 2004, fighting in the holy Iraqi city of Najaf
raged for the sixth straight day between forces
loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr and
U.S.-backed Iraqi troops.
In 2005, right-wing activists staged one of the
biggest demonstrations in Israel's history at Tel
Aviv. An estimated 350,000 people protested the
impending withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the
evacuation of four settlements in the northern
West Bank.
Also in 2005, Salva Kit Mayandit was sworn in as
Sudan vice president succeeding John Garang,
whose death in a helicopter crash touched off
violent rioting in which 130 people were killed.