August 28th

Today's Highlight in History:
On August 28th, 1963, 200-thousand people participated in a peaceful civil rights rally in Washington DC, where Dr. Martin Luther King Junior delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

On this date:
In 1609, Henry Hudson discovered Delaware Bay.

In 1749, German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in Frankfurt.

In 1916, Italy's declaration of war against Germany took effect during World War One.

In 1922, the first-ever radio commercial aired on station WEAF in New York City (the ten-minute advertisement was for the Queensboro Realty Company, which had paid a fee of $100).

In 1947, legendary bullfighter Manolete was mortally wounded by a bull during a fight in Linares, Spain; he died the following day at age 30.

In 1955, Emmett Till, a black teen-ager from Chicago, was abducted from his uncle's home in Money, Mississippi, by two white men after he had supposedly whistled at a white woman; he was found brutally murdered three days later.

In 1968, police and anti-war demonstrators clashed in the streets of Chicago as the Democratic national convention nominated Hubert H. Humphrey for president.

In 1973, more than 520 people died as an earthquake shook central Mexico.

In 1981, John W. Hinckley Junior pleaded innocent to charges of attempting to kill President Reagan (he was later acquitted by reason of insanity).

In 1996, the troubled 15-year marriage of Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana officially ended with the issuing of a divorce decree.

Ten years ago: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, saying he sympathized with his foreign captives, pledged to free detained women and children.

Five years ago: Chase Manhattan and Chemical Banking announced a $10 billion deal to create the biggest bank in the nation. A mortar shell tore through a crowded market in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, killing 38 people and triggering NATO airstrikes against the Bosnian Serbs. California Governor Pete Wilson formally entered the GOP presidential race.

One year ago: Three crewmen aboard the "Mir" space station returned safely to Earth after bidding farewell to the 13-year-old Russian orbiter. (The Russian government had planned to abandon Mir this year because of a shortage of funds, but has since extended its mission.)

"Whom the gods would make bigots, they first deprive of humor."

-- The Rev. James M. Gillis, Roman Catholic author, editor and broadcaster (1876-1957).