Associated Press
On Aug. 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, on a voyage that would take him to the present-day Americas.
On this date in:
1778- The opera house La Scala opened in Milan, Italy, with a performance of Antonio Salieri’s “Europa riconosciuta.”
1914- At the outbreak of World War I, British Foreign Secretary Edward Grey remarked: “The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.”
1914- Germany declared war on France.
1923- Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th president of the United States, one day after President Warren G. Harding died of a heart attack.
1943- Gen. George S. Patton slapped a private at an army hospital in Sicily, accusing him of cowardice.
1948- Whittaker Chambers, a former Communist, publicly accused former State Department official Alger Hiss of having been part of a Communist underground, a charge Hiss denied.
1949- The National Basketball Association was formed.
1981- U.S. air traffic controllers went on strike, despite a warning from President Ronald Reagan that they would be fired.
1987- The Iran-Contra congressional hearings ended with none of the 29 witnesses tying President Ronald Reagan directly to the diversion of arms-sales profits to Nicaraguan rebels.
1994- Stephen G. Breyer was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice.
2011- Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak denied all charges against him as he went on trial for alleged corruption and complicity in the deaths of protesters who’d helped drive him from power.
Today’s Birthdays:
Singer Tony Bennett turns 89 years old today.
Marv Levy, Hall of Fame football coach, 90
Martha Stewart, Lifestyle guru, 74
John Landis, Director, 65
Marcel Dionne, Hockey Hall of Famer, 64
Jay North, Actor (“Dennis the Menace”), 64
Randy Scruggs, Country musician, 62
John C. McGinley, Actor (“Scrubs”), 56
James Hetfield, Rock musician (Metallica), 52
Isaiah Washington, Actor, 52
Tom Brady, Football player, 38
Evangeline Lilly, Actress (“Lost”), 36
Mamie Gummer, Actress, 32
Whitney Duncan, Country singer (“Nashville Star”), 31
Actor Martin Sheen (“The West Wing”) turns 75 years old today.