Today in History

Today is Monday, August 25, the 237th day of 2014. There are 128 days left in the year.

Today’s highlights:

On August 25, 1944, during World War II, Paris was liberated by Allied forces after four years of Nazi occupation.

Romania declared war on former ally Germany.

On this date:

In 1718, hundreds of French colonists arrived in Louisiana, with some settling in present-day New Orleans.

In 1825, Uruguay declared independence from Brazil.

In 1916, the National Park Service was established within the Department of the Interior.

In 1921, the United States signed a peace treaty with Germany.

In 1943, U.S.-led Allied troops liberated New Georgia in the Solomon Islands from Japanese forces during World War II.

In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a measure providing pensions for former U.S. presidents and their widows.

In 1960, opening ceremonies were held for the Summer Olympics in Rome.

In 1967, George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party, was shot to death in the parking lot of a shopping center in Arlington, Virginia; former party member John Patler was later convicted of the killing.

In 1980, the Broadway musical “42nd Street” opened. (Producer David Merrick stunned the cast and audience during the curtain call by announcing that the show’s director, Gower Champion, had died earlier that day.)

In 1981, the U.S. spacecraft Voyager 2 came within 63,000 miles of Saturn’s cloud cover, sending back pictures of and data about the ringed planet.

In 1984, author Truman Capote was found dead in a Los Angeles mansion; he was 59.

In 1989, Voyager 2 made its closest approach to Neptune, its final planetary target.

Ten years ago: An Army investigation found that 27 people attached to an intelligence unit at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad either approved or participated in the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. David Hicks, an Australian cowboy who’d converted to Islam and allegedly fought for the Taliban in Afghanistan, went before a U.S. military commission at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and pleaded not guilty to war crimes charges. (Hicks pleaded guilty in March 2007 to providing material support for terrorism, a deal which got him out of the U.S. base in Cuba, and he was freed by the end of that year.)

Five years ago: Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the liberal lion of the U.S. Senate, died at age 77 in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, after a battle with a brain tumor. President Barack Obama announced he wanted to keep Ben Bernanke on as Fed chairman. South Korea’s first rocket, the Naro-1, blasted off into space but ended up falling back to Earth. A judge in Los Angeles sentenced Chris Brown to five years’ probation and six months’ community labor for beating his girlfriend Rihanna.

One year ago: Syria agreed to a U.N. investigation into an alleged chemical weapons attack outside Damascus — a deal a senior White House official dismissed as “too late to be credible,” saying the United States had “very little doubt” President Bashar Assad’s forces used such weapons. Tokyo beat Chula Vista, California, 6-4 to win the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Sixteen-year-old New Zealander Lydia Ko succeeded in defending her title at the Canadian Women’s Open with a five-stroke victory over Karine Icher.

Today’s Birthdays: Game show host Monty Hall is 93. Actor Sean Connery is 84. Actor Page Johnson is 84. TV personality Regis Philbin is 83. Actor Tom Skerritt is 81. Jazz musician Wayne Shorter is 81. Movie director Hugh Hudson is 78. Author Frederick Forsyth is 76. Actor David Canary is 76. Movie director John Badham is 75. Filmmaker Marshall Brickman is 75. Rhythm-and-blues singer Walter Williams (The O’Jays) is 72. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal is 72. Actor Anthony Heald is 70. Rock musician Danny Smythe is 66. Rock singer-actor Gene Simmons is 65. Actor John Savage is 65. Country singer-musician Henry Paul (Outlaws; Blackhawk) is 65. Rock singer Rob Halford is 63. Rock musician Geoff Downes (Asia) is 62. Rock singer Elvis Costello is 60. Movie director Tim Burton is 56. Actor Christian LeBlanc is 56. Actress Ashley Crow is 54. Actress Ally Walker is 53. Country singer Billy Ray Cyrus is 53. Actress Joanne Whalley is 53. Rock musician Vivian Campbell (Def Leppard) is 52. Actor Blair Underwood is 50. Actor Robert Maschio is 48. Rap DJ Terminator X (Public Enemy) is 48. Alternative country singer Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) is 47. Actor David Alan Basche (BAYSH) is 46. Television chef Rachael Ray is 46. Actor Cameron Mathison is 45. Country singer Jo Dee Messina is 44. Model Claudia Schiffer is 44. Country singer Brice Long is 43. Actor Eric Millegan is 40. Actor Jonathan Togo is 37. Actor Kel Mitchell is 36. Actress Rachel Bilson is 33. Actress Blake Lively is 27. Actor Josh Flitter is 20.

Thought for Today: “Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” — Truman Capote (1924-1984).