{"id":21454,"date":"2015-08-20T09:00:32","date_gmt":"2015-08-20T14:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=21454"},"modified":"2015-08-20T08:27:21","modified_gmt":"2015-08-20T13:27:21","slug":"today-in-history-51","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=21454","title":{"rendered":"Today In History"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>
A Czechoslovakian student defiantly waves his nation’s flag while standing on a Soviet tank during a Soviet-led invasion and occupation of Prague on Aug. 22, 1968. Smoke rises in the background. (AP Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Associated Press<\/p>\n

On Aug. 20, 1968, the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the “Prague Spring” liberalization drive of Alexander Dubcek’s regime.<\/p>\n

Also on this date:<\/p>\n

1833- Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States, was born in North Bend, Ohio.
\n1914- German forces occupied Brussels, Belgium, during World War I.
\n1918- Britain opened an offensive on the Western front during World War I.
\n1940- British Prime Minister Winston Churchill paid tribute to the Royal Air Force, saying, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
\n1953- The Soviet Union publicly acknowledged it had tested a hydrogen bomb.
\n1955- Hundreds of people were killed in anti-French rioting in Morocco and Algeria.
\n1964- President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a nearly $1 billion anti-poverty measure.
\n1977- The United States launched Voyager 2, an unmanned spacecraft carrying a 12-inch copper phonograph record containing greetings in dozens of languages, samples of music and sounds of nature.
\n1992- The Republican National Convention in Houston nominated President George H.W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle for a second term.
\n1998- Retaliating for deadly embassy bombings in East Africa, the United States launched cruise missile strikes against al-Qaida training camps in Afghanistan and what was described as a chemical plant in Sudan.
\n2006- Former Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal, who took the iconic Iwo Jima flag-raising picture during World War II, died at age 94.
\n2009- Voting in Afghanistan’s presidential election was marred by rampant ballot-box stuffing. (Hamid Karzai was declared the winner in November.)
\n2009- The only man convicted of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 returned home to Libya after his release from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds.<\/p>\n

Today’s Birthdays:
\nTV weatherman Al Roker (“Today”) turns 61 years old today.
\nGeorge Mitchell, Former Senate majority leader, 82
\nConnie Chung, Broadcast journalist, 69
\nJimmy Pankow, Rock musician (Chicago), 68
\nRobert Plant, Rock singer (Led Zeppelin), 67
\nJohn Hiatt, Rock singer, songwriter, 63
\nJoan Allen, Actress, 59
\nDavid O. Russell, Director, 57
\nJames Marsters, Actor (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel”), 53
\nKRS-One, Rapper, 50
\nBilly Gardell, Actor (“Mike and Molly”), 46
\nFred Durst, Rock singer (Limp Bizkit), 45
\nTodd Helton, Baseball player, 42
\nActress-singer Demi Lovato turns 23 years old today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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