Today's Highlight in History:
On August 26th, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson was nominated for a term of office in his own right at the Democratic national convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey¹.
On this date:
In 55 B.C., Roman forces under Julius Caesar invaded Britain.

In 1847, Liberia was proclaimed an independent republic.

In 1883, the island volcano Krakatoa began erupting with increasingly large explosions.

In 1920, the 19th amendment² to the US Constitution, guaranteeing American women the right to vote, was declared in effect.

In 1957, the Soviet³ Union announced it had successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile.

In 1961, the official International Hockey Hall of Fame opened in Toronto.

In 1972, the summer Olympics games opened in Munich, West Germany.

In 1974, Charles Lindbergh -- the first man to fly solo, non-stop across the Atlantic -- died at his home in Hawaii at age 72.

In 1978, Cardinal⁴ Albino Luciani of Venice was elected the 264th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church following the death of Paul the Sixth. The new pontiff took the name Pope John Paul the First.

In 1985, thirteen-year-old AIDS patient Ryan White began "attending" classes at Western Middle School in Kokomo, Indiana, via a telephone hook-up at his home -- school officials had barred Ryan from attending classes in person.

Ten years ago: Fifty-five Americans who had been evacuated⁵ from the US Embassy in Kuwait left Baghdad by car, headed for the Turkish border. The bodies of two slain⁶ college students were found in their off-campus apartment in Gainesville, Florida; three more bodies were discovered in the days that followed, setting off a wave of panic.

Five years ago: In his weekly radio address, President Clinton explained his decision to impose a two-year moratorium⁷ on mining claims on 4500 acres of federal land near the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park, saying the land was "more priceless than gold."

One year ago: Attorney General Janet Reno pledged that a new investigation⁸ of the 1993 Waco, Texas, siege would "get to the bottom" of how the FBI used potentially flammable tear gas grenades against her wishes and then took six years to admit it.