Today in History: Aug. 17

The balloon Double Eagle II crosses the French Coast near Le Havre, Aug. 17, 1978 near the end of its trans-Atlantic flight. Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman, all from Albuquerque, N.M. left from Presque Isle, Maine to complete the first successful crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by balloon. (AP Photo)
In 1978, the first successful trans-Atlantic balloon flight ended as Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman landed their Double Eagle II outside Paris.  (AP Photo)
This is an undated photograph of Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler's deputy, during World War II.  (AP Photo)
In 1987, Rudolf Hess, the last member of Adolf Hitler’s inner circle, died at Spandau Prison at age 93, an apparent suicide. (AP Photo)
Turkish soldiers participating in rescue operations, walk past devastated  buildings in downtown Sakarya, western Turkey, Wednesday Aug. 18, 1999 after Tuesday's 7.4 magnitude quake. With thousands of people reported missing along an 80-mile arc of destruction left by a devastating earthquake, disaster relief teams from around the world Wednesday joined overwhelmed Turkish rescue crews in the hunt for bodies and survivors. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
In 1999, more than 17,000 people were killed when a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Turkey.  (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
In 1915, a mob in Cobb County, Georgia, lynched Jewish businessman Leo Frank, 31, whose death sentence for the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan had been commuted to life imprisonment. (Frank, who’d maintained his innocence, was pardoned by the state of Georgia in 1986.) In this Monday, Aug. 3, 2015, photo, Mary Phagan Kean holds a portrait of her great-aunt Mary Phagan as she poses for a photo next to her grave, rear left, in Marietta, Ga. “She’s my family. She’s my history. History is what makes you who you are,” Phagan Kean said. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
In 1996, the Reform Party announced Ross Perot had been selected to be its first-ever presidential nominee, opting for the third-party’s founder over challenger Richard Lamm. In this Friday, Feb. 12, 2016 photo, Ross Perot speaks during the opening reception of the Perot Leadership Museum at the Palmer Memorial Library at Texarkana College in Texarkana, Texas. (Jerry Habraken/The Texarkana Gazette via AP)
The Gulfport, Miss. sign is displayed on Highway 90, the route follows along the Gulf of New Mexico for miles, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009. Hurricane Camille hit the Mississippi coast on Aug.17, 1969. (AP Photo/Judi Bottoni)
In 1969, Hurricane Camille slammed into the Mississippi coast as a Category 5 storm that was blamed for 256 U.S. deaths, three in Cuba. The Gulfport, Miss. sign is displayed on Highway 90, the route follows along the Gulf of New Mexico for miles, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009. Hurricane Camille hit the Mississippi coast on Aug.17, 1969. (AP Photo/Judi Bottoni)
CD disc isolated
In 1982, the first commercially produced compact discs, a recording of ABBA’s “The Visitors,” were pressed at a Philips factory near Hanover, West Germany. (Thinkstock)
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The balloon Double Eagle II crosses the French Coast near Le Havre, Aug. 17, 1978 near the end of its trans-Atlantic flight. Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman, all from Albuquerque, N.M. left from Presque Isle, Maine to complete the first successful crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by balloon. (AP Photo)
This is an undated photograph of Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler's deputy, during World War II.  (AP Photo)
Turkish soldiers participating in rescue operations, walk past devastated  buildings in downtown Sakarya, western Turkey, Wednesday Aug. 18, 1999 after Tuesday's 7.4 magnitude quake. With thousands of people reported missing along an 80-mile arc of destruction left by a devastating earthquake, disaster relief teams from around the world Wednesday joined overwhelmed Turkish rescue crews in the hunt for bodies and survivors. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
The Gulfport, Miss. sign is displayed on Highway 90, the route follows along the Gulf of New Mexico for miles, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009. Hurricane Camille hit the Mississippi coast on Aug.17, 1969. (AP Photo/Judi Bottoni)
CD disc isolated
The balloon Double Eagle II crosses the French Coast near Le Havre, Aug. 17, 1978 near the end of its trans-Atlantic flight. Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman, all from Albuquerque, N.M. left from Presque Isle, Maine to complete the first successful crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by balloon. (AP Photo)(ASSOCIATED PRESS/Anonymous)

Today is Saturday, Aug. 17, the 229th day of 2019. There are 136 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 17, 1987, Rudolf Hess, the last member of Adolf Hitler’s inner circle, died at Spandau Prison at age 93, an apparent suicide.

On this date:

In 1863, federal batteries and ships began bombarding Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor during the Civil War, but the Confederates managed to hold on despite several days of pounding.

In 1915, a mob in Cobb County, Georgia, lynched Jewish businessman Leo Frank, 31, whose death sentence for the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan had been commuted to life imprisonment. (Frank, who’d maintained his innocence, was pardoned by the state of Georgia in 1986.)

In 1943, the Allied conquest of Sicily during World War II was completed as U.S. and British forces entered Messina.

In 1969, Hurricane Camille slammed into the Mississippi coast as a Category 5 storm that was blamed for 256 U.S. deaths, three in Cuba.

In 1978, the first successful trans-Atlantic balloon flight ended as Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman landed their Double Eagle II outside Paris.

In 1982, the first commercially produced compact discs, a recording of ABBA’s “The Visitors,” were pressed at a Philips factory near Hanover, West Germany.

In 1985, more than 1,400 meatpackers walked off the job at the Geo. A. Hormel and Co.’s main plant in Austin, Minnesota, in a bitter strike that lasted just over a year.

In 1988, Pakistani President Mohammad Zia ul-Haq and U.S. Ambassador Arnold Raphel were killed in a mysterious plane crash.

In 1996, the Reform Party announced Ross Perot had been selected to be its first-ever presidential nominee, opting for the third-party’s founder over challenger Richard Lamm.

In 1998, President Bill Clinton gave grand jury testimony via closed-circuit television from the White House concerning his relationship with Monica Lewinsky; he then delivered a TV address in which he denied previously committing perjury, admitted his relationship with Lewinsky was “wrong,” and criticized Kenneth Starr’s investigation.

In 1999, more than 17,000 people were killed when a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Turkey.

In 2017, a van plowed through pedestrians along a packed promenade in the Spanish city of Barcelona, killing 13 people and injuring 120. (A 14th victim died later from injuries.) Another man was stabbed to death in a carjacking that night as the van driver made his getaway, and a woman died early the next day in a vehicle-and-knife attack in a nearby coastal town. (Six suspects in the attack were shot dead by police, two more died when a bomb workshop exploded.)

Ten years ago: President Barack Obama, addressing the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Phoenix, chastised the defense industry and Congress for wasting tax dollars “with doctrine and weapons better suited to fight the Soviets on the plains of Europe than insurgents in the rugged terrain of Afghanistan.” An accident at Russia’s largest hydroelectric plant killed 75 workers.

Five years ago: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder ordered a federal medical examiner to perform another autopsy on the remains of Michael Brown, a black Missouri teenager whose fatal shooting by a white police officer spurred a week of rancorous and sometimes violent protests in suburban St. Louis. Inbee Park of South Korea successfully defended her title in the LPGA Championship, beating Brittany Lincicome with a par on the first hole of a playoff to end the United States’ major streak at three.

One year ago: President Donald Trump said he had canceled plans for a Veterans Day military parade, citing what he called a “ridiculously high” price tag; he accused local politicians in Washington of price-gouging. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, in an interview with The New York Times, said he’d been overwhelmed by job stress. an admission that pushed down the stock value of the electric car company and brought pressure on its board to take action; shares in Tesla tumbled about 9 percent.

Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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