August eleventh

Today's Highlight in History:
On August eleventh, 1909, the S-O-S distress signal was first used by an American ship, the "Arapahoe," off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

On this date:
In 1860, the nation's first successful silver mill began operation near Virginia City, Nevada.

In 1934, the first federal prisoners arrived at the island prison Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay.

In 1942, during World War Two, Vichy government official Pierre Laval publicly declared that "the hour of liberation for France is the hour when Germany wins the war."

In 1954, a formal peace took hold in Indochina, ending more than seven years of fighting between the French and Communist Vietminh.

In 1956, abstract artist Jackson Pollock died in an automobile accident in East Hampton, New York.

In 1962, the Soviet Union launched cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev on a 94-hour flight.

In 1965, rioting and looting that claimed 34 lives broke out in the predominantly black Watts section of Los Angeles.

In 1984, President Reagan joked during a voice test for a paid political radio address that he had "signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."

In 1993, President Clinton named Army General John Shalikashvili to be the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, succeeding General Colin Powell.

In 1997, President Clinton made the first use of the historic line-item veto approved by Congress, rejecting three items in spending and tax bills.

Ten years ago: Egyptian and Moroccan troops arrived in Saudi Arabia to join US forces in helping to protect the desert kingdom from possible Iraqi attack.

Five years ago: President Clinton banned all US nuclear tests, calling his decision "the right step as we continue pulling back from the nuclear precipice."

One year ago: White supremacist Buford O. Furrow, wanted in the wounding of five people at a Los Angeles Jewish community center and the shooting death of a mail carrier the day before, turned himself in to the FBI in Las Vegas, and waived extradition to Los Angeles. A tornado tore across Salt Lake City, killing one person.

"Conceit is God's gift to little men."

-- Bruce Barton, American advertising executive (1886-1967).