Today in 1936, the Olympic games opened in Berlin with Adolf Hitler presiding over the opening ceremony.
Today in 1944, Anne Frank made her last diary entry – she was arrested three days later.
Today in 1957, the United States and Canada reached an agreement to create the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD)…it officially came into being the following May.
Today in 1966, 25-year-old Charles Joseph Whitman shot and killed 15 people at the University of Texas before he was gunned down by police.
Today in 1976, the Montreal Summer Olympics ended. In the medal round up, the Soviets took 49 medals, East Germany was second with 40 and the U.S. was third with 34.
Today in 1981, MTV premiered at 12:01am ET/PT.
Today in 1985, Russian KGB officer Vitaly Yurchenko "defected" to the US in Rome, naming Americans Ronald Pelton and Edward Lee Howard as KGB agents. He later slipped from the Americans and returned to the Soviets. Yurchenko later claimed he had been kidnapped and drugged by the Americans – and it’s possible that his defection was staged to fool the CIA with wrong leads, and to protect Aldrich Ames, an American who worked for the CIA and was then one of the USSR's most important moles within the CIA.
Today in 1999, a heat wave that had gripped the nation for two weeks finally broke; authorities attributed nearly 500 deaths to the heat and humidity.
Today in 2001, it was revealed that Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore had a Ten Commandments monument installed in the judiciary building the night before – without his eight associate justices being aware. He DID, however, allow a Christian television ministry to film it. Ultimately, the act lead to a lawsuit to have it removed…and his own removal from office.
Today in 2007, the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge spanning the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapsed during the evening rush hour.
Today in 2012, eight Women’s badminton doubles players were disqualified from the 2012 summer Olympics for “not using one’s best efforts to win a match.” Basically, they were busted for fixing the matches.
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