On This Day: Sierra Leone mudslide kills hundreds

Aug. 14 (UPI) -- 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.

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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.

File Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI

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 1,100 people were confirmed dead with hundreds more missing after heavy rains produced a mudslide in Sierra Leone.

In 2021, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, leaving more than 2,200 people dead and at least 12,000 injured.

File Photo by Ralph Tedy Erol/EPA-EFE