This day in history

[August 30, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Tuesday, Aug. 30, the 242nd day of 2011. There are 123 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Aug. 30, 1861, Union Gen. John C. Fremont instituted martial law in Missouri and declared slaves there to be free. (However, Fremont's emancipation order was countermanded by President Abraham Lincoln).

On this date:

In 1797, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, creator of "Frankenstein," was born in London.

In 1862, Union forces were defeated by the Confederates at the Second Battle of Bull Run in Manassas, Va.

In 1905, Ty Cobb made his major-league debut as a player for the Detroit Tigers, hitting a double in his first at-bat in a game against the New York Highlanders. (The Tigers won, 5-3.)

In 1941, during World War II, German forces approaching Leningrad cut off the remaining rail line out of the city.

In 1963, the "Hot Line" communications link between Washington and Moscow went into operation.

In 1967, the Senate confirmed the appointment of Thurgood Marshall as the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1983, Guion S. Bluford Jr. became the first black American astronaut to travel in space as he blasted off aboard the Challenger.

In 1986, Soviet authorities arrested Nicholas Daniloff, a correspondent for U.S. News and World Report, as a spy a week after American officials arrested Gennadiy Zakharov, a Soviet employee of the United Nations, on espionage charges in New York. (Both men were later released.)

In 1991, Azerbaijan (ah-zur-by-JAHN') declared its independence, joining the stampede of republics seeking to secede from the Soviet Union.

In 1997, Americans received word of the car crash in Paris that claimed the lives of Princess Diana, Dodi Fayed and their driver, Henri Paul. (Because of the time difference, it was Aug. 31 where the crash occurred.)

Ten years ago: Nikolay Soltys (NIK'-oh-ly SOHL'-tihs) was captured hiding under a desk in his mother's back yard in Citrus Heights, Calif., after a 10-day nationwide manhunt for the Ukrainian immigrant accused of butchering six relatives. (Soltys ended up committing suicide in his jail cell.)

Five years ago: Hurricane John lashed tourist resorts with heavy winds and rain as the dangerous Category 4 storm marched up Mexico's Pacific coast. Actor Glenn Ford died in Beverly Hills, Calif., at age 90. Naguib Mahfouz, the first Arab writer to win the Nobel Prize in literature, died in Cairo, Egypt, at age 94.

One year ago: Vice President Joe Biden flew into Baghdad, where he sought to reassure Iraq that America was not abandoning it as the U.S. military stepped back. An enormous drill began preliminary work on carving a half-mile chimney through solid rock to free 33 men trapped in a Chilean mine. Texas-born fugitive Edgar Valdez Villarreal, a suspected drug lord known as "the Barbie," was arrested in Mexico State. Seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens pleaded not guilty in Washington to charges of lying to Congress about whether he'd used steroids or human growth hormone. (Clemens went on trial in July 2011; however, the case abruptly ended in a mistrial.)

Today's birthdays: Country singer Kitty Wells is 92. Opera singer Regina Resnik is 89. Actor Bill Daily is 84. Actress Elizabeth Ashley is 72. Actor Ben Jones is 70. Cartoonist R. Crumb is 68. Olympic gold medal skier Jean-Claude Killy is 68. Actress Peggy Lipton is 64. Comedian Lewis Black is 63. Actor Timothy Bottoms is 60. Actor David Paymer is 57. Jazz musician Gerald Albright is 54. Actor Michael Chiklis is 48. Music producer Robert Clivilles is 47. Actress Michael Michele is 45. Country musician Geoff Firebaugh is 43. Country singer Sherrie Austin is 40. Rock singer-musician Lars Frederiksen (Rancid) is 40. Actress Cameron Diaz is 39. Rock musician Leon Caffrey (Space) is 38. TV personality Lisa Ling is 38. Rock singer-musician Aaron Barrett (Reel Big Fish) is 37. Actor Michael Gladis is 34. Rock musician Matt Taul (Tantric; Days of the New) is 33. Tennis player Andy Roddick is 29. Rock musician Ryan Ross is 25. Actor Cameron Finley is 24.

Thought for today: "Greatness is not measured by what a man or woman accomplishes, but by the opposition he or she has overcome to reach his goals." -- Dorothy Height, American civil rights activist (1912-2010)

[Associated Press]

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