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Today in History

Today in History: Saturday, August 15, 2009

AP Highlight in History:
Aug. 15, 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened in upstate New York.

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Max Yasgur addresses the crowd at his farm

AP Photo

On this date in:

1057

Macbeth, the King of Scotland, was slain by the son of King Duncan.

1769

Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the island of Corsica.

1935

Humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post were killed when their airplane crashed near Point Barrow, Alaska.
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AP Photo

1939

"The Wizard of Oz" premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

1944

Allied forces landed in southern France during World War II.

1945

The Allies proclaimed V-J Day, one day after Japan agreed to surrender unconditionally.

1947

India became independent after some 200 years of British rule.

1948

The Republic of Korea (South Korea) was proclaimed.

1971

President Richard M. Nixon announced a 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents.

1998

A car bomb in Omagh, Northern Ireland, killed 29 people and injured 370. It was the single deadliest act of violence in 30 years of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

AP Photo/Paul McErlane

2000

One hundred people from North Korea arrived in South Korea for temporary reunions with relatives they had not seen for half a century; 100 South Koreans visited the North.

2001

Astronomers announced the discovery of the first solar system outside our own - two planets orbiting a star in the Big Dipper.

2006

Israel began withdrawing its forces from southern Lebanon.

2007

A magnitude-8 earthquake in Peru's southern desert killed at least 540 people.

2008

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili grudgingly signed a U.S.-backed truce with Russia, even as he denounced the Russians as invading barbarians and accused the West of all but encouraging them to overrun his country.

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Highlights of This Day in History

Today's Birthdays:

Actress Debra Messing ("Will and Grace") turns 41 years old today.

AP Photo/Peter Kramer

Name

Profession

Age

Rose Marie

Actress ("The Dick Van Dyke Show")

Phyllis Schlafly

Conservative activist

Mike Connors

Actor ("Mannix")

Lori Nelson

Actress

Vernon Jordan

Civil rights activist

Jim Dale

Actor, singer

Pat Priest

Actress ("The Munsters")

Stephen Breyer

Supreme Court Justice

Pete York

Rock musician (The Spencer Davis Group)

Linda Ellerbee

Author, journalist

Jimmy Webb

Songwriter

Tom Johnston

Rock musician, singer (The Doobie Brothers)

Princess Anne

Member of the British royal family

Tess Harper

Actress

Larry Mathews

Actor ("The Dick Van Dyke Show")

Zeljko Ivanek

Actor

Rondell Sheridan

Actor

Matt Johnson

Rock singer, musician

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Director ("Babel")

Debi Mazar

Actress ("Entourage," "L.A. Law")

Angela Rae

Country singer (Wild Horses)

Peter Hermann

Actor

Anthony Anderson

Actor ("Law & Order")

Ben Affleck

Actor

Mikey Graham

Singer (Boyzone)

Natasha Henstridge

Actress

Nicole Paggi

Actress

Belinda

Singer

Rock singer Joe Jonas (The Jonas Brothers) turns 20 years old today.

AP Photo/Charles Sykes

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