This day in history

[August 22, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Monday, Aug. 22nd, the 234th day of 2011. There are 131 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Aug. 22, 1851, the schooner America outraced more than a dozen British vessels off the English coast to win a trophy that came to be known as the America's Cup.

On this date:

In 1485, England's King Richard III was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field, effectively ending the War of the Roses.

In 1787, inventor John Fitch demonstrated his steamboat on the Delaware River to delegates from the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

In 1846, Gen. Stephen W. Kearny proclaimed all of New Mexico a territory of the United States.

In 1922, Irish revolutionary Michael Collins was shot to death, apparently by Irish Republican Army members opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty that Collins had co-signed.

In 1932, the British Broadcasting Corp. conducted its first experimental television broadcast using a 30-line mechanical system.

In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon were nominated for second terms in office by the Republican national convention in San Francisco.

In 1968, Pope Paul VI arrived in Bogota, Colombia, for the start of the first papal visit to South America.

In 1978, President Jomo Kenyatta, a leading figure in Kenya's struggle for independence, died; Vice President Daniel arap Moi was sworn in as acting president.

In 1986, Kerr-McGee Corp. agreed to pay the estate of the late Karen Silkwood $1.38 million, settling a 10-year-old nuclear contamination lawsuit.

In 1989, Black Panthers co-founder Huey P. Newton was shot to death in Oakland, Calif. (Gunman Tyrone Robinson was later sentenced to 32 years to life in prison.)

Ten years ago: Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., announced he would not seek re-election the following year. Space shuttle Discovery glided to a landing, bringing home three spacefarers who had spent nearly six months aboard the international space station.

Five years ago: A Russian Pulkovo Airlines jet carrying 170 people crashed in eastern Ukraine, killing all aboard. Paramount Pictures severed its ties to actor Tom Cruise after 14 years, citing what it called unacceptable conduct.

One year ago: Chilean President Sebastian Pinera confirmed that all the miners trapped deep underground for 17 days were still alive after a probe came back with a handwritten note, "All 33 of us are fine in the shelter." (The miners were rescued in October.) A proposed mosque near ground zero drew hundreds of fever-pitch demonstrators, with opponents carrying signs associating Islam with blood and supporters shouting, "Say no to racist fear!" Arjun Atwal captured the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C., by one stroke to become India's first PGA Tour winner.

Today's birthdays: Author Ray Bradbury is 91. Heart surgeon Dr. Denton Cooley is 91. Retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf is 77. Broadcast journalist Morton Dean is 76. Author Annie Proulx (proo) is 76. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Carl Yastrzemski is 72. Actress Valerie Harper is 72. Football coach Bill Parcells is 70. CBS newsman Steve Kroft is 66. Actress Cindy Williams is 64. Musician David Marks is 63. International Swimming Hall of Famer Diana Nyad is 62. Baseball Hall of Famer Paul Molitor is 55. Country singer Holly Dunn is 54. Rock musician Vernon Reid is 53. Country singer Ricky Lynn Gregg is 52. Country singer Collin Raye is 51. Actress Regina Taylor is 51. Rock singer Roland Orzabal (Tears For Fears) is 50. Rock musician Debbi Peterson (The Bangles) is 50. Rock musician Gary Lee Conner (Screaming Trees) is 49. Singer Tori Amos is 48. Country singer Mila Mason is 48. Rhythm-and-blues musician James DeBarge is 48. International Tennis Hall of Famer Mats Wilander is 47. Rapper GZA (JIHZ'-ah)/The Genius is 45. Actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (ah-day-WAH'-lay ah-kih-NOY'-yay ah-BAH'-jay) is 44. Actor Ty Burrell is 44. Actor Rick Yune is 40. Rock musician Paul Doucette (Matchbox Twenty) is 39. Rap-reggae singer Beenie Man is 38. Singer Howie Dorough (Backstreet Boys) is 38. Comedian-actress Kristen Wiig is 38. Actress Jenna Leigh Green is 37. Rock musician Bo Koster is 37. Rock musician Dean Back (Theory of a Deadman) is 36. Rock musician Jeff Stinco (Simple Plan) is 33. Actor Brandon Adams is 32. Actress Aya Sumika is 31.

Thought for today: "There are mighty few people who think what they think they think." -- Robert Henri, American artist (1865-1929)

[Associated Press]

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