Today is Saturday, Aug. 10, the 223rd day of 2024. There are 143 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On Aug. 10, 2020, a powerful derecho struck several Midwest U.S. states, causing four fatalities and an estimated $11 billion in damage, making it the costliest thunderstorm in modern U.S. history.
Also on this date:
In 1792, during the French Revolution, mobs in Paris attacked the Tuileries (TWEE’-luh-reez) Palace, where King Louis XVI resided. (The king was later arrested, put on trial for treason, and executed.)
In 1821, Missouri became the 24th state admitted to the Union.
In 1945, a day after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Imperial Japan conveyed its willingness to surrender provided the status of Emperor Hirohito remained unchanged. (The Allies responded the next day, saying they would determine the Emperor’s future status.)
In 1969, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were murdered in their Los Angeles home by members of Charles Manson’s cult, one day after actor Sharon Tate and four other people were slain.
In 1977, postal employee David Berkowitz was arrested in Yonkers, New York, accused of being “Son of Sam,” the gunman who killed six people and wounded seven others in the New York City area.
In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed a measure providing $20,000 payments to still-living Japanese-Americans who were interned by their government during World War II.
In 1993, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was sworn in as the second female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 2006, British authorities announced they had thwarted a terrorist plot to simultaneously blow up 10 aircraft heading to the U.S. using liquid explosives made to look like soft drinks.
In 2018, Richard Russell, a 29-year-old airline ground agent, stole a commercial plane from Sea-Tac International Airport near Seattle; he flew for 75 minutes, performing dangerous stunts while being chased by military jets before crashing into a remote island in Puget Sound, killing himself.
In 2019, Jeffrey Epstein, accused of orchestrating a sex-trafficking ring and sexually abusing dozens of underage girls, was found unresponsive in his cell at a New York City jail; he was later pronounced dead at a hospital. (The city’s medical examiner ruled the death a suicide by hanging.)
Today’s Birthdays:
- Actor James Reynolds is 78.
- Rock singer-musician Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) is 77.
- Country musician Gene Johnson (Diamond Rio) is 75.
- Singer Patti Austin is 74.
- Actor Daniel Hugh Kelly is 72.
- Folk singer-songwriter Sam Baker is 70.
- Actor Rosanna Arquette is 65.
- Actor Antonio Banderas is 64.
- Rock musician Jon Farriss (INXS) is 63.
- Singer Julia Fordham is 62.
- Journalist-blogger Andrew Sullivan is 61.
- Actor Chris Caldovino is 61.
- Singer Neneh Cherry is 60.
- Singer Aaron Hall is 60.
- Former boxer Riddick Bowe is 57.
- Actor Sean Blakemore is 57.
- R&B singer Lorraine Pearson (Five Star) is 57.
- Singer-producer Michael Bivins is 56.
- Actor-writer Justin Theroux is 53.
- Actor Angie Harmon is 52.
- Country singer Jennifer Hanson is 51.
- Actor-turned-lawyer Craig Kirkwood is 50.
- Actor JoAnna Garcia Swisher is 45.
- Singer Cary Ann Hearst (Shovels & Rope) is 45.
- Actor Aaron Staton is 44.
- Actor Ryan Eggold is 40.
- Actor Charley Koontz is 38.
- Actor Lucas Till is 34.
- Reality TV star Kylie Jenner is 27.
- Actor Jeremy Maguire is 13.