August 31
1886 - An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.3 devastated Charleston, South Carolina, killing at least 60 people, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
1887 - Thomas Edison received a patent for his "kinetoscope" and the age of moving pictures was born.
1888 - Mary Ann Nichols, considered to be the first victim of Jack the Ripper, was found murdered in London.
1962 - Trinidad and Tobago gained independence from Great Britain.
1980 - Poland's Solidarity labor movement had its beginnings when an agreement ending a 17-day strike was signed in Gdansk.
1992 - White separatist Randy Weaver surrendered to authorities in Naples, Idaho, ending an 11-day siege by federal agents that had claimed the lives of Weaver’s wife, son and a deputy U.S. marshal. (Weaver was acquitted of murder and all other charges in connection with the confrontation; he was convicted of failing to appear for trial on firearms charges and was sentenced to 18 months in prison but given credit for 14 months he’d already served.)
1994 - Russia officially ended its military presence in the former East Germany and the Baltic states.
1996 - Three adults and four children drowned when their vehicle rolled into John D. Long Lake in Union, South Carolina; they had gone to see a monument to the sons of Susan Smith, who had drowned the two boys in Oct. 1994.
1997 - Prince Charles brought Princess Diana home for the last time, escorting the body of his former wife to a Britain that was shocked, grief-stricken and angered by her death in a Paris traffic accident earlier that day.
2005 - New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin reported “a significant number of dead bodies in the water” following Hurricane Katrina; Nagin ordered virtually the entire police force to abandon search-and-rescue efforts and to instead stop increasingly hostile thieves.
2010 - President Barack Obama ended the U.S. combat mission in Iraq, declaring no victory after seven years of bloodshed and telling those divided over the war in his country and around the world: “It is time to turn the page.”
2012 - Armenia severed diplomatic relations with Hungary after the pardoning of Ramil Safarov. In 2004, Safarov was convicted of killing an Armenian soldier.
2016 - On Mexican soil for the first time as the Republican presidential nominee, a firm but measured Donald Trump defended the right of the United States to build a massive border wall along its southern flank, standing up for the centerpiece of his immigration plan during a joint press conference with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
2017 - The Trump administration ordered Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco and offices in Washington and New York, intensifying tensions between Washington and Moscow; Russia was given 48 hours to comply.
2019 - A gunman carried out a shooting rampage that stretched ten miles between the Texas communities of Midland and Odessa, leaving seven people dead before police killed the gunman outside a movie theater in Odessa.
2020 - At a rally in Pittsburgh, Democrat Joe Biden resoundingly condemned violent protesters and called for their prosecution; he accused President Donald Trump of causing the divisions that had ignited the violence. Trump reiterated that he blamed radical troublemakers who he said were stirred up and backed by Biden.
2021 - President Joe Biden said the U.S. airlift to extract more than 120,000 Americans, Afghans and allies from Afghanistan to end a 20-year war was an “extraordinary success,” even though more than 100 Americans and thousands of Afghans who wanted to leave were not yet out; he defended his decision to withdraw all U.S. troops, saying he was “not going to extend this forever war.”
2021 - The Texas Legislature passed a sweeping GOP rewrite of election laws after months of protests by Democrats; the measure would tighten already-strict voting rules, banning 24-hour polling locations and empowering partisan poll watchers.
Birthdays
21 - Yael Shelbia (model)
27 - Chloe Ferry (reality star)
29 - Lira Mercer (model)
34 - Ember Moon (professional wrestler)
39 - Larry Fitzgerald (football player)
43 - Mickie James (professional wrestler)
45 - Jeff Hardy (professional wrestler)
45 - Tamara (singer)
47 - Sara Ramirez (actress)
50 - Chris Tucker (actor)
51 - Padraig Harrington (golfer)
52 - Zack Ward (actor)
52 - Queen Rania of Jordan
52 - Deborah Gibson (singer)
63 - Tony DeFranco (singer)
67 - Edwin Moses (track and field athlete)
73 - Stephen Henderson (actor)
73 - Richard Gere (actor)
77 - Van Morrison (singer)
82 - Jack Thompson (actor)
==============================
Today in Sports History - August 31
1881 - The first U.S. tennis championships (for men only) began in Newport, Rhode Island.
1950 - Gil Hodges of the Brooklyn Dodgers hit four home runs in a single game off of four different pitchers.
1959 - Sandy Koufax set a National League record by striking out 18 batters in a single game.
1969 - Boxing legend Rocky Marciano died in a plane crash in Cockeye.
1987 - Curtis Strange sets golf's earning record for a single year at $697,385.
1990 - Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey Jr. become the first father and son to play on the same major league team (Seattle Mariners) as the pair hit back-to-back singles in the first inning and both scored.
1991 - University of Houston quarterback David Klinger sets an NCAA record with six touchdown passes in the second quarter as the Cougars routed Louisiana Tech 73-3.
1995 - #2 Nebraska opens the season with a 64-21 win over Oklahoma State.
1997 - The New York Yankees retire Don Mattingly's #23.
1997 - Eddie George rushes for 216 yards on 35 carries and scores a touchdown as the Oilers, playing their first NFL game in Tennessee, defeats the Oakland Raiders 24-21 in overtime at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis.
2002 - #9 Nebraska defeats Troy State 31-16.
2013 - #18 Nebraska opens the season with a 37-34 win over Wyoming.
2019 - #24 Nebraska opens the season with a 35-21 win over South Alabama.
2019 - The Minnesota Twins hit six home runs in a 10-7 loss to the Detroit Tigers to break the MLB single-season team record with 268 home runs on the year.
1886 - An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.3 devastated Charleston, South Carolina, killing at least 60 people, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
1887 - Thomas Edison received a patent for his "kinetoscope" and the age of moving pictures was born.
1888 - Mary Ann Nichols, considered to be the first victim of Jack the Ripper, was found murdered in London.
1962 - Trinidad and Tobago gained independence from Great Britain.
1980 - Poland's Solidarity labor movement had its beginnings when an agreement ending a 17-day strike was signed in Gdansk.
1992 - White separatist Randy Weaver surrendered to authorities in Naples, Idaho, ending an 11-day siege by federal agents that had claimed the lives of Weaver’s wife, son and a deputy U.S. marshal. (Weaver was acquitted of murder and all other charges in connection with the confrontation; he was convicted of failing to appear for trial on firearms charges and was sentenced to 18 months in prison but given credit for 14 months he’d already served.)
1994 - Russia officially ended its military presence in the former East Germany and the Baltic states.
1996 - Three adults and four children drowned when their vehicle rolled into John D. Long Lake in Union, South Carolina; they had gone to see a monument to the sons of Susan Smith, who had drowned the two boys in Oct. 1994.
1997 - Prince Charles brought Princess Diana home for the last time, escorting the body of his former wife to a Britain that was shocked, grief-stricken and angered by her death in a Paris traffic accident earlier that day.
2005 - New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin reported “a significant number of dead bodies in the water” following Hurricane Katrina; Nagin ordered virtually the entire police force to abandon search-and-rescue efforts and to instead stop increasingly hostile thieves.
2010 - President Barack Obama ended the U.S. combat mission in Iraq, declaring no victory after seven years of bloodshed and telling those divided over the war in his country and around the world: “It is time to turn the page.”
2012 - Armenia severed diplomatic relations with Hungary after the pardoning of Ramil Safarov. In 2004, Safarov was convicted of killing an Armenian soldier.
2016 - On Mexican soil for the first time as the Republican presidential nominee, a firm but measured Donald Trump defended the right of the United States to build a massive border wall along its southern flank, standing up for the centerpiece of his immigration plan during a joint press conference with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
2017 - The Trump administration ordered Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco and offices in Washington and New York, intensifying tensions between Washington and Moscow; Russia was given 48 hours to comply.
2019 - A gunman carried out a shooting rampage that stretched ten miles between the Texas communities of Midland and Odessa, leaving seven people dead before police killed the gunman outside a movie theater in Odessa.
2020 - At a rally in Pittsburgh, Democrat Joe Biden resoundingly condemned violent protesters and called for their prosecution; he accused President Donald Trump of causing the divisions that had ignited the violence. Trump reiterated that he blamed radical troublemakers who he said were stirred up and backed by Biden.
2021 - President Joe Biden said the U.S. airlift to extract more than 120,000 Americans, Afghans and allies from Afghanistan to end a 20-year war was an “extraordinary success,” even though more than 100 Americans and thousands of Afghans who wanted to leave were not yet out; he defended his decision to withdraw all U.S. troops, saying he was “not going to extend this forever war.”
2021 - The Texas Legislature passed a sweeping GOP rewrite of election laws after months of protests by Democrats; the measure would tighten already-strict voting rules, banning 24-hour polling locations and empowering partisan poll watchers.
Birthdays
21 - Yael Shelbia (model)
27 - Chloe Ferry (reality star)
29 - Lira Mercer (model)
34 - Ember Moon (professional wrestler)
39 - Larry Fitzgerald (football player)
43 - Mickie James (professional wrestler)
45 - Jeff Hardy (professional wrestler)
45 - Tamara (singer)
47 - Sara Ramirez (actress)
50 - Chris Tucker (actor)
51 - Padraig Harrington (golfer)
52 - Zack Ward (actor)
52 - Queen Rania of Jordan
52 - Deborah Gibson (singer)
63 - Tony DeFranco (singer)
67 - Edwin Moses (track and field athlete)
73 - Stephen Henderson (actor)
73 - Richard Gere (actor)
77 - Van Morrison (singer)
82 - Jack Thompson (actor)
==============================
Today in Sports History - August 31
1881 - The first U.S. tennis championships (for men only) began in Newport, Rhode Island.
1950 - Gil Hodges of the Brooklyn Dodgers hit four home runs in a single game off of four different pitchers.
1959 - Sandy Koufax set a National League record by striking out 18 batters in a single game.
1969 - Boxing legend Rocky Marciano died in a plane crash in Cockeye.
1987 - Curtis Strange sets golf's earning record for a single year at $697,385.
1990 - Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey Jr. become the first father and son to play on the same major league team (Seattle Mariners) as the pair hit back-to-back singles in the first inning and both scored.
1991 - University of Houston quarterback David Klinger sets an NCAA record with six touchdown passes in the second quarter as the Cougars routed Louisiana Tech 73-3.
1995 - #2 Nebraska opens the season with a 64-21 win over Oklahoma State.
1997 - The New York Yankees retire Don Mattingly's #23.
1997 - Eddie George rushes for 216 yards on 35 carries and scores a touchdown as the Oilers, playing their first NFL game in Tennessee, defeats the Oakland Raiders 24-21 in overtime at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis.
2002 - #9 Nebraska defeats Troy State 31-16.
2013 - #18 Nebraska opens the season with a 37-34 win over Wyoming.
2019 - #24 Nebraska opens the season with a 35-21 win over South Alabama.
2019 - The Minnesota Twins hit six home runs in a 10-7 loss to the Detroit Tigers to break the MLB single-season team record with 268 home runs on the year.
