This Day In History — We Lost “The Babe” and “The King”

August 16

1777
The Revolutionary War battle of Bennington, Vt., won by American forces.

1829
The original Siamese twins, Eng and Chang, arrived in Boston.

1948
Baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York City at age 53.

1960
Cyprus, the third-largest island in the Mediterranean, became an independent republic.

1962
Algeria was admitted to the Arab League.

1977
Elvis Presley died at Graceland, his Memphis, Tenn., home, from heart failure at age 42.

2003
Former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin died.

Birthdays

Menachem Begin

1913–92, Zionist leader and Israeli prime minister (1977–83), born in Russia.

George Meany

labor leader (1894)

Charles Bukowski

fiction writer (1920)

Frank Gifford

football player (1930)

Suzanne Farrell

ballet dancer (1945)

James Cameron

director (1954)

Madonna

pop singer and actress (1958)

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