Today In History

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, addresses marchers during his "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Aug. 28, 1963. (AP Photo)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, addresses marchers during his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Aug. 28, 1963. (AP Photo)

Associated Press

On Aug. 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech during a civil rights rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

On this date in:
1609- English sea explorer Henry Hudson reached present-day Delaware Bay.
1828- Novelist Leo Tolstoy was born near Tula, Russia.
1922- The first radio commercial aired, on WEAF in New York City.
1955- Emmett Till, an African-American teenager from Chicago, was abducted from his uncle’s home in Money, Miss., by two white men after he was accused of whistling at a white woman. He was found murdered three days later.
1968- Police and anti-war demonstrators clashed in the streets of Chicago as the Democratic National Convention nominated Hubert H. Humphrey for president.
1981- John W. Hinckley Jr. pleaded innocent to charges of attempting to kill President Ronald Reagan.
1996- Democrats nominated President Bill Clinton for a second term at their national convention in Chicago.
1996- Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana were divorced after 15 years of marriage.
2005- New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered everyone in the city to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Katrina.
2008- Barack Obama accepted the Democratic presidential nomination with a speech at Invesco Field in Denver.
2009- Pop star Michael Jackson’s death was a homicide caused primarily by the powerful anesthetic propofol and another sedative, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office announced.

Today’s Birthdays:
Country singer LeAnn Rimes turns 33 years old today.
William Cohen, Former defense secretary, 75
Ken Jenkins, Actor (“Scrubs”), 75
Lou Piniella, Baseball manager, 72
David Soul, Actor (“Starsky and Hutch”), 72
Barbara Bach, Actress, 69
Wayne Osmond, Singer (The Osmonds), 64
Daniel Stern, Actor, 58
Scott Hamilton, Figure skater, 57
Jennifer Coolidge, Actress, 54
Shania Twain, Country singer, 50
Jack Black, Actor, 46
Jason Priestley, Actor (“Beverly Hills 90210), 46
J. August Richards, Actor (“Angel”), 42
Samuel Larsen, Actor, singer (“Glee”), 24
Quvenzhane Wallis, Actress (“Beasts of the Southern Wild”), 12
Rock singer Florence Welch (Florence and the Machine) turns 29 years old today.

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