This day in history

[August 16, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Tuesday, Aug. 16, the 228th day of 2011. There are 137 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Aug. 16, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln issued Proclamation 86, which prohibited the states of the Union from engaging in commercial trade with states that were in rebellion -- i.e., the Confederacy.

On this date:

In 1777, American forces won the Revolutionary War Battle of Bennington.

In 1812, Detroit fell to British and Indian forces in the War of 1812.

In 1858, a telegraphed message from Britain's Queen Victoria to President James Buchanan was transmitted over the recently laid trans-Atlantic cable.

In 1920, Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians was struck in the head by a pitch thrown by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees; Chapman died the following morning.

In 1948, baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York at age 53.

In 1954, Sports Illustrated was first published by Time Inc.

In 1956, Adlai E. Stevenson was nominated for president at the Democratic national convention in Chicago.

In 1977, Elvis Presley died at his Graceland estate in Memphis, Tenn., at age 42.

In 1987, 156 people were killed when Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed while trying to take off from Detroit.

In 1991, Pope John Paul II began the first-ever papal visit to Hungary.

Ten years ago: Paul Burrell, trusted butler of Princess Diana for many years, was charged with the theft of hundreds of royal family items, a charge he denied. (The case collapsed when Queen Elizabeth II told prosecutors that Burrell had told her he was holding some of Diana's things for safekeeping. )

Five years ago: John Mark Karr was arrested in Thailand as a suspect in the slaying of child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey. (Karr's confession that he had killed JonBenet was later discredited.) New York City officials released new tapes of hundreds of heart-wrenching phone calls from the World Trade Center on 9/11, along with other emergency transcripts. Alfredo Stroessner, the anti-communist general who'd ruled Paraguay for decades, died in Brasilia, Brazil, at age 93.

One year ago: A Boeing 737 jetliner filled with vacationers crashed in a thunderstorm and broke apart as it slid onto the runway on Colombia's San Andres Island; all but two of the 131 people on board survived. China eclipsed Japan as the world's second biggest economy after three decades of blistering growth. Bobby Thomson, whose 1951 "Shot Heard 'Round the World" clinched the National League pennant for the New York Giants, died in Savannah, Ga., at age 86.

Today's birthdays: Actress Ann Blyth is 83. Sportscaster Frank Gifford is 81. Singer Eydie Gorme is 80. Actor Gary Clarke is 78. Actress Julie Newmar is 78. Actor John Standing is 77. College Football Hall of Famer and NFL player Bill Glass is 76. Actress Anita Gillette is 75. Actress Carole Shelley is 72. Country singer Billy Joe Shaver is 72. Movie director Bruce Beresford is 71. Rhythm-and-blues singer Robert "Squirrel" Lester (The Chi-Lites) is 69. Actor Bob Balaban is 66. Ballerina Suzanne Farrell is 66. Actress Lesley Ann Warren is 65. Rock singer-musician Joey Spampinato (NRBQ) is 61. Actor Reginald VelJohnson is 59. TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford is 58. Rhythm-and-blues singer J.T. Taylor is 58. Movie director James Cameron is 57. Actor Jeff Perry is 56. Rock musician Tim Farriss (INXS) is 54. Actress Laura Innes is 54. Singer Madonna is 53. Actress Angela Bassett is 53. Actor Timothy Hutton is 51. Actor Steve Carell (kuh-REHL') is 49. Former tennis player Jimmy Arias is 47. Actor-singer Donovan Leitch is 44. Actor Andy Milder (TV: "Weeds") is 43. Actor Seth Peterson is 41. Country singer Emily Robison (The Dixie Chicks) is 39. Actor George Stults is 36. Singer Vanessa Carlton is 31. Actor Cam Gigandet is 29. Actress Agnes Bruckner is 26. Actor Shawn Pyfrom is 25. Country singer Ashton Shepherd is 25. Actor Kevin G. Schmidt is 23. Actress Rumer Willis is 23. Singer-pianist Greyson Chance is 14.

Thought for today: "Genius is the ability to act rightly without precedent -- the power to do the right thing the first time." -- Elbert Hubbard, American writer (1856-1915)

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.