TODAY IN HISTORY

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Today is Saturday, Aug. 27, the 239th day of 2022. There are 126 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Aug. 27, 1883, the island volcano Krakatoa erupted with a series of cataclysmic explosions; the resulting tidal waves in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait claimed some 36,000 lives in Java and Sumatra.

On this date:

In 1776, the Battle of Long Island began during the Revolutionary War as British troops attacked American forces who ended up being forced to retreat two days later.

In 1894, Congress passed the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act, which contained a provision for a graduated income tax that was later struck down by the Supreme Court.

In 1949, a violent white mob prevented an outdoor concert headlined by Paul Robeson from taking place near Peekskill, New York. (The concert was held eight days later.)

In 1967, Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles, was found dead in his London flat from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills; he was 32.

In 1979, British war hero Lord Louis Mountbatten and three other people, including his 14-year-old grandson Nicholas, were killed off the coast of Ireland in a boat explosion claimed by the Irish Republican Army.

In 2001, Israeli helicopters fired a pair of rockets through office windows and killed senior PLO leader Mustafa Zibri.

In 2004, President George W. Bush signed executive orders designed to strengthen the CIA director’s power over the nation’s intelligence agencies and create a national counterterrorism center.

In 2005, coastal residents jammed freeways and gas stations as they rushed to get out of the way of Hurricane Katrina, which was headed toward New Orleans.

In 2008, Barack Obama was nominated for president by the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Tommy Sands is 85. Actor Tuesday Weld is 79. Country musician Jeff Cook (Alabama) is 73. Actor Paul Reubens is 70. Rock musician Alex Lifeson (Rush) is 69. Golfer Bernhard Langer is 65. Gospel singer Yolanda Adams is 61. Actor Amanda Fuller is 38. U.S. Olympic and WNBA basketball star Breanna Stewart is 28.

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