Today is Wednesday, August 7, the 220th day of the 12 months 2024. There are 146 days left within the 12 months.

Today in history:

On August 7, 1974, French tightrope walker Philippe Petit performed an unauthorized tightrope walk between the 2 towers of the World Trade Center in New York, over 400 meters above the bottom. The event was documented within the Oscar-winning documentary “Man on Wire.”

Also on this date:

In 1789, Congress established the U.S. War Department.

In 1960, Ivory Coast gained independence from France.

In 1964, Congress passed the Tonkin Resolution, which gave President Lyndon B. Johnson broad powers to cope with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.

In 1971, the Apollo 15 moon mission ended successfully when the command module splashed down within the Pacific Ocean.

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter declared the Love Canal disaster in Niagara Falls, New York, a federal public health emergency; it later topped the list of Superfund-funded cleanup areas.

In 1989, a plane carrying Texas U.S. Representative Mickey Leland and 15 others disappeared over Ethiopia. (The plane's wreckage was found six days later; there have been no survivors.)

In 1990, President George HW Bush ordered U.S. troops and fighter jets to Saudi Arabia to guard the oil-rich desert kingdom from a possible invasion by Iraq.

In 1998, bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.

In 2007, San Francisco's Barry Bonds hit his 756th home run, breaking Hank Aaron's famous record with only one out within the fifth inning of a game against the Washington Nationals, who won 8-6.

In 2012, to avoid a possible death penalty, Jared Lee Loughner agreed to spend the remainder of his life in prison. He admitted to happening a rampage at a political rally in Arizona in 2011, killing six people and injuring 13, including U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords.

In 2015, movie show bomber James Holmes was spared the death penalty in Colorado and as a substitute received a life sentence after a jury in Centennial couldn’t agree on whether he ought to be executed for his murderous attack on a packed movie premiere that left 12 people dead.

Today's birthdays:

• Singer Lana Cantrell is 81.
• Former FBI Director Robert Mueller is 80.
• Actor John Glover is 80.
• Actor David Rasche is 80.
• Former diplomat, talk show host and activist Alan Keyes is 74.
• Country singer Rodney Crowell is 74.
• Actress Caroline Aaron is 72.
• Comedian Alexei Sayle is 72.
• Actor Wayne Knight is 69.
• Rock singer Bruce Dickinson is 66.
• Marathon runner Alberto Salazar is 66.
• Actor David Duchovny is 64.
• Actor Delane Matthews is 63.
• Actor Harold Perrineau is 61.
• Jazz musician Marcus Roberts is 61.
• Country singer Raul Malo is 59.
• Actor David Mann is 58.
• Actress Charlotte Lewis is 57.
• Actor Sydney Penny is 53.
• Actor Greg Serano is 52.
• Actor Michael Shannon is 50.
• Actress Charlize Theron is 49.
• Rock musician Barry Kerch is 48.
• Actor Eric Johnson is 45.
• Actor Randy Wayne is 43.
• Actress and writer Brit Marling is 42.
• NHL center Sidney Crosby is 37.
• MLB All-Star Mike Trout is 33.
• Actor Liam James is 28.

Originally published: August 7, 2024 at 1:00 am