HISTORY FOR AUGUST 16

Today is Saturday, Aug. 16, the 229th day of 2008 with 137 to follow.

The moon is full. The morning star is Uranus. The evening stars are Neptune, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn.

This Day in History, August 16
On August 16th, 1896, gold was discovered in the Klondike.

Other Notable Events, August 16
In 1812, British forces foiled plans for a U.S. invasion of Canada by capturing the city of Detroit.

In 1896, the North Country gold rush began with the discovery of gold in the Klondike region of Canada's Yukon Territory.

In 1939, New York's famous vaudeville house, the Hippodrome, closed after 34 years.

In 1948, baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York of cancer at age 53.

In 1977, Elvis Presley, the king of rock 'n' roll, died of heart failure at his home in Memphis at age 42.

In 1987, a Northwest Airlines jet bound for Phoenix crashed on takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, killing 156 people. A 4-year-old girl was the sole survivor.

In 1990, U.S. naval forces were ordered to prevent ships from reaching or leaving the ports of Iraq and Iraqi-occupied Kuwait.

In 2004, as many as seven helicopters were pressed into service to rescue hundreds of flood victims stranded on roof and car tops near Cornwall, England. Rescue workers called the situation "horrendous."

In 2005, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit northern Japan triggering a tsunami alert along the Pacific coast.

In 2006, authorities in Bangkok, Thailand, arrested American John Mark Karr for the widely publicized 1996 slaying of JonBenet Ramsey, a 6-year-old beauty queen from Boulder, Colo. Karr publicly confessed but said it was an accident. He was later cleared of any involvement.

Also in 2006, flooding in Ethiopia, which already had killed hundreds and stranded thousands, spread across the country as more rivers burst through their banks.

In 2007, Jose Padilla, accused of plotting to explode a dirty bomb in the United States, was convicted by a federal jury of conspiracy to commit terror and giving material support to al-Qaida.

Notable Birthdays for August 16
Those born on this date include:
- The French physicist Gabriel Lippman, inventor of color photography, in 1845
- Amos Alonzo Stagg, basketball, football hall of fame coach in 1862
- Labor leader George Meany in 1894
- Former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1913
- Actor Fess Parker in 1924 (age 84)
- Actor Ann Blyth in 1928 (age 80)
- Actor Robert Culp in 1930 (age 78)
- Football star and sports commentator Frank Gifford in 1930 (age 78)
- TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford (wife of Frank Gifford) in 1953 (age 55)
- Singer Eydie Gorme in 1931 (age 76)
- Actress Julie Newmar in 1933 (age 75)
- Actress Lesley Ann Warren in 1946 (age 62)
- Actor Reginald VelJohnson in 1952 (age 56)
- Director James Cameron ( Titanic ) in 1954 (age 54)
- Actor Jeff Perry in 1955 (age 53)
- Actress Angela Bassett in 1958 (age 50)
- Singer Madonna in 1958 (age 50)
- Actress Laura Innes in 1959 (age 49)
- Actor Timothy Hutton in 1960 (age 48)


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