Gilmer Free Press

Today: 08.01.yyyy

Today is Saturday, August 1, the 213th day of 2009. There are 152 days left in the year.

Thought for Today: “Pride, like humility, is destroyed by one’s insistence that he possesses it.“ — Kenneth Bancroft Clark, American educator and psychologist (1914-2005).

Today’s Highlight in History:
On Aug. 1, 1944, an uprising broke out in Warsaw, Poland, against Nazi occupation; the revolt lasted two months before collapsing.

In 1714, Britain’s Queen Anne died at age 49; she was succeeded by George I.

In 1876, Colorado was admitted as the 38th state.

In 1894, the First Sino-Japanese War erupted, the result of a dispute over control of Korea; Japan’s army routed the Chinese.

In 1907, the U.S. Army Signal Corps established an aeronautical division, the forerunner of the U.S. Air Force.

In 1933, the National Recovery Administration’s “Blue Eagle” symbol began to appear in store windows and on packages to show support for the National Industrial Recovery Act.

In 1936, the Olympic games opened in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler.

In 1946, President Harry S. Truman signed the Fulbright Program into law, establishing the scholarships named for Sen. William J. Fulbright. America’s Atomic Energy Commission was established.

In 1966, Charles Joseph Whitman, 25, went on a shooting rampage at the University of Texas in Austin, killing 14 people. Whitman, who had also murdered his wife and mother hours earlier, was gunned down by police.

In 1981, the rock music video channel MTV made its debut.

In 2007, the eight-lane Interstate 35W bridge, a major Minneapolis artery, collapsed into the Mississippi River during evening rush hour, killing 13 people.

Ten years ago: A heat wave that had gripped the nation since mid-July finally broke; authorities attributed nearly 200 deaths to the heat and humidity.

Five years ago: The federal government warned of possible al-Qaida terrorist attacks against specific financial institutions in New York City, Washington and Newark, N.J. A supermarket fire on the outskirts of Asuncion, Paraguay, killed more than 400 people. World Trade Organization members meeting in Geneva approved a plan to end export subsidies on farm products and cut import duties across the world. Karen Stupples won the Women’s British Open. Alexandra Scott, a young cancer patient who’d started a lemonade stand to raise money for cancer research, sparking a nationwide fundraising campaign, died at her home in Wynnewood, Pa., at age eight.

One year ago: Some 30 mountaineers began a disastrous attempt to scale K2 in Pakistan; 11 of them died in a series of accidents, including icefalls. Crowds of Chinese watched a total solar eclipse along the country’s ancient Silk Road, one week before the start of the Summer Games in Beijing.

Today’s Birthdays:
Actor-director Geoffrey Holder is 79
Singer Ramblin’ Jack Elliott is 78
Cartoonist Tom Wilson (retired creator of “Ziggy”) is 78
Former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (R-N.Y.) is 72
Actor Giancarlo Giannini is 67
Basketball Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams is 59
Blues singer-musician Robert Cray is 56
Singer Michael Penn is 51
Rock singer Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) is 50
Rock singer-musician Suzi Gardner (L7) is 49
Rapper Chuck D (Public Enemy) is 49
Actor Jesse Borrego is 47
Rapper Coolio is 46
Actor John Carroll Lynch is 46
Rock singer Adam Duritz (Counting Crows) is 45
Movie director Sam Mendes is 44
Country singer George Ducas is 43
Country musician Charlie Kelley is 41
Actress Tempestt Bledsoe is 36
Football player Edgerrin James is 31
Actor Jason Momoa is 30
Singer Ashley Parker Angel is 28
Actress Taylor Fry is 28
Actor James Francis Kelly is 20