TODAY IN HISTORY

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Today is Saturday, Aug. 1, the 214th day of 2020. There are 152 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 1, 1957, the United States and Canada announced they had agreed to create the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD).

On this date:

In 1714, Britain’s Queen Anne died at age 49; she was succeeded by George I.

In 1907, the U.S. Army Signal Corps established an aeronautical division, the forerunner of the U.S. Air Force.

In 1912, the U.S. Marine Corps’ first pilot, 1st Lt. Alfred A. Cunningham, went on his first solo flight as he took off in a Burgess/Curtis Hydroplane from Marblehead Harbor in Massachusetts.

In 1914, Germany declared war on Russia at the onset of World War I.

In 1936, the Olympics opened in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler.

In 1966, Charles Joseph Whitman, 25, went on an armed rampage at the University of Texas in Austin that killed 14 people, most of whom were shot by Whitman while he was perched in the clock tower of the main campus building. (Whitman, who had also slain his wife and mother hours earlier, was finally gunned down by police.)

In 1981, the rock music video channel MTV made its debut.

In 2001, Pro Bowl tackle Korey Stringer, 27, died of heat stroke, a day after collapsing at the Minnesota Vikings’ training camp on the hottest day of the year.

In 2007, the eight-lane Interstate 35W bridge, a major Minneapolis artery, collapsed into the Mississippi River during evening rush hour, killing 13 people.

In 2014, a medical examiner ruled that a New York City police officer’s chokehold caused the death of Eric Garner, whose videotaped arrest and final pleas of “I can’t breathe!” had sparked outrage.

Today’s Birthdays: Singer Ramblin’ Jack Elliott is 89. Former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, R-N.Y., is 83. Actor Giancarlo Giannini is 78. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams is 70. Blues singer-musician Robert Cray is 67. Singer Michael Penn is 62. Rock singer Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) is 61. Rock singer-musician Suzi Gardner (L7) is 60. Rapper Chuck D (Public Enemy) is 60. Actor Jesse Borrego is 58. Actor Demian Bichir is 57. Rapper Coolio is 57. Actress Jennifer Gareis is 50. Actor Charles Malik Whitfield is 48. Actress Tempestt Bledsoe is 47.

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