August 15
Today's:

1057 - Macbeth, the King of Scotland, was killed by the son of King Duncan.

1848 - The dental chair was patented by M. Waldo Hanchett.

1877 - Thomas Edison wrote to the president of the Telegraph Company in Pittsburgh, PA. The letter stated that the word, "hello" would be a more appropriate greeting than "ahoy" when answering the telephone.

1911 - The product Crisco was introduced by Procter & Gamble Company.

1914 - The Panama Canal was officially opened to commercial traffic as an American ship sailed from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

1918 - Diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Russia were severed.

1935 - Will Rogers and Wiley Post were killed in an airplane crash in near Point Barrow, AK.

1939 - "The Wizard of Oz" premiered in Hollywood, CA. Judy Garland became famous for the movie's song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

1943 - Because of his special talent to use food scraps in both unusual and appetizing recipes, the U.S. War Department awarded Sgt. Edward Dzuba the Legion of Merit.

1944 - The Allied forces of World War II landed in southern France.

1945 - The Allies proclaimed V-J Day a day after Japan agreed to surrender unconditionally.

1947 - India became independent from Britain and was divided into the countries of India and Pakistan. India had been under British about 200 years.

1948 - The Republic of Korea was proclaimed.

1948 - CBS-TV inaugurated the first nightly news broadcast with anchorman Douglas Edwards.

1949 - In San Francisco, a stunt leap off the Golden Gate Bridge was performed for the first time.

1961 - East German workers began construction of the Berlin Wall.

1970 - Mrs. Pat Palinkas became the first woman to ‘play’ in a pro football game when she held the ball for the Orlando, FL, Panthers.

1971 - U.S. President Nixon announced a 90-day freeze on wages, rents and prices.

1983 - Six-month-old Lisa Harap of Queens Village, NY became the youngest identifiable living person to appear on a cover of "TIME" magazine.

1986 - The U.S. Senate approved a package of economic sanctions against South Africa. The ban included the importing of steel, uranium, textiles, coal, and produce from South Africa.

1992 - Vietnam blamed Hollywood for creating the "myth" concerning the issue of U.S. servicemen still being held prisoner in Indochina.

1994 - The U.S. Social Security Administration became an independent government agency. It had been a part of the Department of Health and Human Services agency.

1997 - The U.S. Justice Department decided not to prosecute FBI officials in connection with the deadly 1992 Ruby Ridge siege in Idaho. The investigation dealt with an alleged cover-up.

2000 - A group of 100 people from North Korea arrived in South Korea for temporary reunions with relatives they had not seen for half a century. Also, a group of 100 South Koreans visited the North.

2001 - Astronomers announced the discovery of the first solar system outside our own. They had discovered two planets orbiting a star in the Big Dipper.

Today's: