On This Day: Gunman opens fire on Sikh temple, killing 6

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1833, Chicago, with a population of about 200, was incorporated as a village.

In 1858, after several unsuccessful attempts, the first telegraph line across the Atlantic Ocean was completed.

In 1861, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln approved the first federal income tax. A wartime measure, it was rescinded in 1872.

In 1949, an estimated 6,000 people were killed and about 20,000 injured in an earthquake that destroyed dozens of towns in Ecuador.

In 1957, Dick Clark's American Bandstand began airing nationally.

In 1962, Marilyn Monroe died of an overdose of barbiturates. She was 35.

UPI File Photo

In 1974, U.S. President Richard Nixon admitted ordering the Watergate investigation halted six days after the break-in. Nixon said he expected to be impeached.

In 1981, by executive order, U.S. President Ronald Reagan fired 11,359 air-traffic controllers on strike over failed negotiations to raise their pay and shorten their workweek.

In 1991, Iraq said it misled U.N. inspectors about secret biological weapons and also admitted extracting plutonium from fuel at a nuclear plant.

In 2003, U.S. Episcopal officials approved election of the church's first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

In 2007, U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law a bill to allow government eavesdropping of telephone conversations and email of U.S. citizens without a warrant if there's "reasonable belief" that one party isn't in the United States.

In 2009, former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., was convicted on 11 counts of conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud, money laundering and racketeering for allegedly helping U.S. firms arrange business deals in Africa. He began serving a 13-year federal prison sentence in 2012.

In 2010, the U.S. Senate cleared the way for Solicitor General Elena Kagan to become the newest member of the Supreme Court when it voted 63-37 to confirm her nomination by President Barack Obama. She was sworn in two days later to succeed the retiring John Stevens.

File Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI

In 2012, a gunman police described as a white supremacist shot six people to death, wounded four others, then killed himself at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis. The victims were one woman and five men, and ranged in age from 39 to 84. Police treated the shooting as a domestic terrorism incident.

In 2014, an Afghan soldier emerged from a hiding place at a training camp in Afghanistan and opened fire on American and European military officers, killing U.S. Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene and wounding more than a dozen other service members.

In 2015, an inspection conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency unintentionally released 1 million gallons of wastewater from an abandoned mine into southwest Colorado's Animas River, prompting warnings for farmers and recreational users to steer clear of the waterway.

In 2016, the Summer Olympics opening ceremony kicks off in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.