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On This Day: Jewish prisoners freed in Warsaw Uprising

On August 5, 1944, Polish underground forces freed hundreds of Jewish prisoners from the Gęsiowka Nazi work camp in an attempt to retake Warsaw from the Germans, a battle known as the Warsaw Uprising.

By UPI Staff
Jewish prisoners of the Gęsiowka work camp in Warsaw and Polish insurgent fighters after the camp's liberation August 5, 1944, during the Warsaw Uprising. File Photo courtesy of Wikimedia
1 of 4 | Jewish prisoners of the Gęsiowka work camp in Warsaw and Polish insurgent fighters after the camp's liberation August 5, 1944, during the Warsaw Uprising. File Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

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

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

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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 A wartime measure, it was rescinded in 1872.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 1944, Polish underground forces freed hundreds of Jewish prisoners from the Gęsiowka Nazi work camp in an attempt to retake Warsaw from the Germans, a battle known as the Warsaw Uprising.

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. Clark, who hosted the show for decades, as well as New Year's Rockin' Eve, died April 2012.

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

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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.

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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 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.

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

In 2018, a 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia's Lombok Island. The temblor and its aftershocks killed more than 1,300 people.

File Photo by Adi Weda/EPA-EFE

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