cityXtra Magazine

Today's Highlight in History:

Associated Press

 

On August 6, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war against Russia and Serbia declared war against Germany.

On this date:

In 1813, during the Venezuelan War of Independence, forces led by Simon Bolivar recaptured Caracas.

In 1825, Upper Peru became the autonomous republic of Bolivia.

In 1862, the Confederate ironclad CSS Arkansas was scuttled by its crew on the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to prevent capture by the Union.

In 1926, Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel, arriving in Kingsdown, England, from France in 14 1/2 hours.

In 1930, New York State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Force Crater went missing after leaving a Manhattan restaurant; his disappearance remains a mystery.

In 1945, during World War II, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, resulting in an estimated 140,000 deaths.

In 1956, the DuMont television network went off the air after a decade of operations.

In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov became the second man to orbit Earth as he flew aboard Vostok 2.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act.

In 1978, Pope Paul VI died at Castel Gandolfo at age 80.

In 1986, William J. Schroeder (SHRAY'-dur) died at at Humana Hospital-Audubon in Louisville, Kentucky, after living 620 days with the Jarvik 7 artificial heart.

In 1993, Louis Freeh won Senate confirmation to be FBI director.

Ten years ago: A court found two former top East German officials guilty of failing to stop the killing of people trying to escape across the Berlin Wall and sentenced them to probation. Funk legend Rick James, whose life and career were marred by cocaine addiction and a prison term for assault, died in Los Angeles at age 56.

Five years ago: Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed as the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice by a Senate vote of 68-31. John Hughes, 59, Hollywood's youth movie director of the 1980s and '90s, died in New York City. Sam, the 4-year-old koala who'd gained worldwide fame and sympathy when she was rescued during devastating wildfires in Australia, was euthanized after a veterinarian found the cysts that threatened her life were inoperable.

One year ago: President Barack Obama said during an appearance on NBC's "The Tonight Show" that he was "disappointed" that Russia had granted temporary asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, defying administration demands that the former government contractor be sent back to the U.S. to face espionage charges. U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan went on trial at Fort Hood, Texas, charged with killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in a 2009 attack. (Hasan, who admitted carrying out the attack, was convicted and sentenced to death.)