Associated Press
Today in History: Thursday, August 06, 2015
On Aug. 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, that instantly killed an estimated 66,000 people in the first use of a nuclear weapon in warfare.
1825- Upper Peru became the autonomous republic of Bolivia.
1890- The electric chair was used for the first time, to execute a convicted murderer at Auburn State Prison in New York.
1890- Hall of fame pitcher Cy Young made his major league debut with the Cleveland Spiders of the National League.
1914- Austria-Hungary declared war against Russia, and Serbia declared war against Germany at the outbreak of World War I.
1962- Jamaica became an independent dominion within the Commonwealth of Nations.
1965- President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act.
1978- Pope Paul VI died at age 80.
2007- The Crandall Canyon Mine in central Utah collapsed, trapping six coal miners. (All six miners died, along with three rescuers.)
2008- The government declared that Army scientist Bruce Ivins was solely responsible for the anthrax attacks that killed five in 2001. (Ivins had committed suicide on July 29.)
2008- A U.S. military jury convicted Osama bin Laden’s former driver, Salim Hamdan, of supporting terrorism in the first war crimes trial at Guantanamo Bay.
2009- Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed as the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice by a Senate vote of 68-31.
2011- Insurgents shot down a U.S. military helicopter in Afghanistan, killing 30 Americans, most of them belonging to the elite Navy commando unit that had slain Osama bin Laden; seven Afghan commandos also died.
2011- Violence erupted in London amid anger over the fatal police shooting of a 29-year-old father of four; rioting and looting spread to other parts of the city and other English cities over the next several days, leaving five dead.
Today’s Birthdays:
Actress Vera Farmiga turns 42 years old today.
Catherine Hicks, Actress (“7th Heaven”), 64
Stepfanie Kramer, Actress, 59
Faith Prince, Actress, 58
David Robinson, Basketball Hall of Famer, 50
Geri Halliwell, Singer (Spice Girls), 43
Ever Carradine, Actress, 41
Soleil Moon Frye, Actress, 39
Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense”) turns 45 years old today.