UPI Almanac for Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2019

Today is Wednesday, Aug. 14, the 226th day of 2019 with 139 to follow.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Neptune, Saturn and Uranus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include Pope Pius VII in 1742; American West figure Doc Holliday in 1851; writer Ernest Thayer in 1863; writer Russell Baker in 1925; baseball Hall of Fame member Earl Weaver in 1930; musician David Crosby in 1941 (age 78); comedian Steve Martin in 1945 (age 74); actor Susan Saint James in 1946 (age 73); author Danielle Steel in 1947 (age 72); "The Far Side" cartoonist Gary Larson in 1950 (age 69); composer James Horner in 1953; actor Jackee Harry in 1956 (age 63); actor Marcia Gay Harden in 1959 (age 60); basketball Hall of Fame member Earvin "Magic" Johnson in 1959 (age 60); stage soprano Sarah Brightman in 1960 (age 59); actor Susan Olsen in 1961 (age 58); actor Halle Berry in 1966 (age 53); actor Mila Kunis in 1983 (age 36); football player Tim Tebow, winner of the Heisman Trophy in 2007, in 1987 (age 32); actor Brianna Hildebrand in 1996 (age 23); actor Marsai Martin in 2004 (age 15).

On this date in history:

In 1784, Grigory Shelikhov, a Russian fur trader, founded the first permanent Russian settlement in Alaska on Kodiak Island.

In 1900, about 2,000 U.S. Marines joined with European forces to capture Beijing, ending the Boxer Rebellion against the Western presence in China.

In 1935, the U.S. Congress passed the Social Security Act and President Franklin D. Roosevelt immediately signed it into law.

In 1945, U.S. President Harry Truman announced that Japan had accepted terms for unconditional surrender. Japan formally surrendered Sept. 2, officially ending World War II.

In 1947, more than 400 million people living in Hindustan and Pakistan gained their independence from Britain.

In 1959, the satellite Explorer VI transmitted man's first satellite (orbital) view of Earth from space.

In 1966, the unmanned U.S. Orbiter 1 spacecraft began orbiting the moon.

In 1985, Michael Jackson paid $47 million at auction for the rights to 40,000 songs, including most of the Beatles classics.

In 1995, following a long legal battle, Shannon Faulkner was admitted to the cadet corps of the previously all-male Citadel. She resigned from the South Carolina military school four days later.

In 2003, a massive power failure spread through Ohio, Michigan, the northeastern United States and eastern Canada, leaving 50 million people in eight states and the province of Ontario without electricity for as long as two days.

In 2005, authorities said the crash of a Helios Airways plane in Greece with 121 people aboard could have been caused by a sudden drop in cabin pressure. There were no survivors.

In 2006, the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon ended in a truce, effective on this date, after 34 days of fighting.

In 2013, authorities said hundreds of people were killed and thousands injured in clashes between Egyptian security forces and demonstrators calling for the reinstatement of ousted President Mohamed Morsi.

In 2014, Major League Baseball owners chose MLB executive Rob Manfred to succeed longtime MLB Commissioner Bud Selig.

In 2015, after 54 years, the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba was re-opened amid a thawing in relations.

In 2017, about 500 people were confirmed dead with hundreds more missing after heavy rains produced a mudslide in Sierra Leone.

In 2018, the Morandi Bridge in northern Italy collapsed in heavy rain, killing 43 people.

A thought for the day: "Eventually it comes to you: the thing that makes you exceptional, if you are at all, is inevitably that which must also make you lonely." -- playwright Lorraine Hansberry