This day in history

[August 19, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Thursday, Aug. 19, the 231st day of 2010. There are 134 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Aug. 19, 1960, a tribunal in Moscow convicted American U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers of espionage, two days after his 31st birthday. (Although sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, Powers was returned to the United States in 1962 as part of a prisoner exchange.)

On this date:

In 1812, the USS Constitution defeated the British frigate Guerriere off Nova Scotia during the War of 1812.

In 1909, the first automobile races were run at the just-opened Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

In 1918, "Yip! Yip! Yaphank," a musical revue by Irving Berlin featuring Army recruits from Camp Upton in Yaphank, N.Y., opened on Broadway.

In 1934, a plebiscite in Germany approved the vesting of sole executive power in Adolf Hitler.

In 1942, during World War II, about 6,000 Canadian and British soldiers launched a disastrous raid against the Germans at Dieppe, France, suffering more than 50-percent casualties.

In 1955, severe flooding in the northeastern U.S. claimed some 200 lives.

In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford won the Republican presidential nomination at the party's convention in Kansas City.

In 1980, 301 people aboard a Saudi Arabian L-1011 died as the jetliner made a fiery emergency return to the Riyadh airport.

In 1990, Leonard Bernstein (BURN'-styn) conducted what turned out to be the last concert of his career at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass. with the Boston Symphony Orchestra; the program ended with Beethoven's Symphony No. 7

.

In 1991, Soviet hard-liners announced to a shocked world that President Mikhail S. Gorbachev had been removed from power. (The coup attempt collapsed two days later.)

Ten years ago: Norwegian divers with video equipment went down to the sunken Russian submarine Kursk in a final attempt to find survivors trapped for a week, even though Russian officials said all 118 seamen aboard were probably dead.

Five years ago: A Texas jury found pharmaceutical giant Merck and Co. liable for the death of a man who'd taken the once-popular painkiller Vioxx, awarding his widow $253.4 million in damages. (Texas caps on punitive damages reduced that figure to about $26 million; a Texas court overturned the verdict in May 2008.) Attackers firing Katyusha rockets narrowly missed a U.S. amphibious assault ship docked at the Red Sea resort of Aqaba, but killed a Jordanian soldier. Britain's former Northern Ireland chief, Mo Mowlam, died in Canterbury, England; she was 55.

One year ago: Suicide bombers struck Iraq's finance and foreign ministries, killing more than 100 people. Four members of an elite Army special operations unit were killed when their helicopter crashed on a Colorado mountain during a training mission. Don Hewitt, the TV news pioneer who created CBS' "60 Minutes," died at his Long Island, N.Y. home at age 86.

Today's birthdays: Actor L.Q. Jones is 83. Actress Debra Paget is 77. Eastern Tennis Hall of Famer Renee Richards is 76. Baseball All-Star Bobby Richardson is 75. Actress Diana Muldaur is 72. Rock musician Ginger Baker (Cream, Blind Faith) is 71. Singer Johnny Nash is 70. Actress Jill St. John is 70. Actor and former U.S. senator Fred Thompson is 68. Singer Billy J. Kramer is 67. Country singer-songwriter Eddy Raven is 66. Rock singer Ian Gillan (Deep Purple) is 65. Former President Bill Clinton is 64. Tipper Gore, wife of former Vice President Al Gore, is 62. Actor Gerald McRaney is 62. Rock musician John Deacon (Queen) is 59. Actor-director Jonathan Frakes is 58. Political consultant Mary Matalin is 57. Actor Peter Gallagher is 55. Actor Adam Arkin is 54. Singer-songwriter Gary Chapman is 53. Actor Martin Donovan is 53. Football Hall-of-Famer Anthony Munoz is 52. Rhythm-and-blues singer Ivan Neville is 51. Actor Eric Lutes is 48. Actor John Stamos is 47. Actress Kyra Sedgwick is 45. Actor Kevin Dillon is 45. Country singer Lee Ann Womack is 44. TV reporter Tabitha Soren is 43. Country singer-songwriter Mark McGuinn is 42. Rapper Nate Dogg is 41. Actor Matthew Perry is 41. Country singer Clay Walker is 41. Rapper Fat Joe is 40. Olympic gold medal tennis player Mary Joe Fernandez is 39. Actress Tracie Thoms is 35. Country singer Rissi (REE'-see) Palmer is 29. Actress Erika Christensen is 28. Pop singer Missy Higgins is 27. Country singer Karli Osborn is 26. Olympic silver medal snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis is 25. Actor J. Evan Bonifant is 25. Rapper Romeo is 21.

Thought for today: "A mere madness, to live like a wretch and die rich." -- Robert Burton, English author (1577-1640)

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.