Today In History

  • Thursday, August 2, 2012 3:19pm
  • Life

Today is Sunday, Aug. 5, the 218th day of 2012. There are 148 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight

On Aug. 5, 1962, actress Marilyn Monroe, 36, was found dead in her Los Angeles home; her death was ruled a probable suicide from “acute barbiturate poisoning.”

On this date

In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Adm. David G. Farragut led his fleet to victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay, Ala.

In 1921, a baseball game was broadcast for the first time as KDKA radio announcer Harold Arlin described the action between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies from Forbes Field. (The Pirates won, 8-5.)

In 1962, South African anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela was arrested on charges of leaving the country without a passport and inciting workers to strike; it was the beginning of 27 years of imprisonment.

In 1981, the federal government began firing air traffic controllers who had gone out on strike.

Today’s birthdays

Former astronaut Neil A. Armstrong is 82. Actor John Saxon is 76. College Football Hall of Famer and former NFL player Roman Gabriel is 72. Actress Loni Anderson is 67. Actress-singer Maureen McCormick is 56. Rock musician Pat Smear is 53. Actress Tawney Kitaen is 51. Actress Janet McTeer is 51. Country musician and Mountlake Terrace native Mark O’Connor is 51. Basketball Hall-of-Famer Patrick Ewing is 50. Former Seattle Mariner John Olerud is 44.

Thought for Today

“For life: It is rather a determination not to be overwhelmed. For work: The truth can only be recalled, never invented.” — Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962).

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