Today is Tuesday, Aug. 4, the 217th day of 2020. There are 149 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On August 4, 1944, 15-year-old diarist Anne Frank was arrested with her sister, parents and four others by the Gestapo after hiding for two years inside a building in Amsterdam. (Anne and her sister, Margot, died at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.)
On this date:
In 1914, Britain declared war on Germany for invading Belgium; the United States proclaimed its neutrality in
In 1936, Jesse Owens of the United States won the second of his four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics as he prevailed in the long jump over German Luz Long, who was the first to congratulate him.
In 1964, the bodies of missing civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney were found buried in an earthen dam in Mississippi.
In 1972, Arthur Bremer was convicted and sentenced in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, to 63 years in prison for his attempt on the life of Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace (the sentence was later reduced to 53 years; Bremer was released from prison in 2007).
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed a measure establishing the Department of Energy.
In 1987, the Federal Communications Commission voted 4-0 to abolish the Fairness Doctrine, which required radio and television stations to present balanced coverage of controversial issues.
In 1993, a federal judge sentenced Los Angeles police officers Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell to 2 1/2 years in prison for violating Rodney King’s civil rights.
In 2019, a masked gunman fired on revelers enjoying summer nightlife in a popular entertainment district of Dayton, Ohio, leaving nine people dead and 27 wounded; police said officers shot and killed the shooter within 30 seconds of the start of his rampage.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor-singer Tina Cole is 77. Actor-comedian Richard Belzer is 76. Football Hall of Famer John Riggins is 71. Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is 65. Actor-screenwriter Billy Bob Thornton is 65. Actor Kym Karath (Film: “The Sound of Music”) is 62. Hall of Fame track star Mary Decker Slaney is 62. Former President Barack Obama is 59. Producer Michael Gelman (TV: “Live with Kelly & Ryan”) is 59. Retired MLB All-Star pitcher Roger Clemens is 58. Actor Michael DeLuise is 51. Former race car driver Jeff Gordon is 49.
