On This Day in History - August 5th - Almanac

Today is Saturday, Aug. 5, the 217th day of 2017 with 148 to follow.

The moon is waxing. Morning star is Venus. Evening stars are Jupiter and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include French novelist Guy de Maupassant in 1850; film director John Huston in 1906; astronaut Neil Armstrong, first man to step on the moon, in 1930; hockey Hall of Fame member Herb Brooks in 1937; actor Loni Anderson in 1945 (age 71); actor Maureen McCormick in 1956 (age 61); Dead or Alive singer Pete Burns in 1959; basketball Hall of Fame member Patrick Ewing in 1962 (age 55); actor Jonathan Silverman in 1966 (age 50); rapper Adam Yauch (Beastie Boys) in 1964; actor DeRay Davis in 1968 (age 49); actor Jesse Williams in 1981 (age 36); Olympic runner Lolo Jones in 1982 (age 35); actor Olivia Holt in 1997 (age 20).

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 A wartime measure, it was rescinded in 1872.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.

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.

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.

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.

A thought for the day: "When you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others." -- Peace Pilgrim