Editorials

Today’s Highlight in History: 

Aug. 15, 1945, was proclaimed “V-J Day” by the Allies, a day after Japan agreed to surrender unconditionally. 

On this date: 

In 1769, Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the island of Corsica. 

In 1944, during World War II, Allied forces landed in southern France. 

In 1947, India became independent after some 200 years of British rule. 

In 1948, the Republic of Korea was proclaimed. 

In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened in upstate New York. 

In 1971, President Nixon announced a 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents. 

In 1998, 29 people were killed by a car bomb in Omagh, Northern Ireland; a splinter group calling itself the Real IRA claimed responsibility. 

Ten years ago: While Republicans were gathering in Houston for their national convention, President Bush was spending a weekend at Camp David, his renomination secure. 

Five years ago: The government expanded its recall of ground beef sold under the Hudson brand name to 1.2 million pounds because of new evidence of possible contamination by E. coli bacteria. The Justice Department decided against prosecuting senior FBI officials in connection with an alleged cover-up that followed the deadly 1992 Ruby Ridge siege in Idaho. 

One year ago: A Texas appeals court halted the execution of Napoleon Beazley just hours before he was scheduled to die for a murder he had committed as a teenager. He was executed in May. The Air Force gave the go-ahead to build its new F-22 fighter, but said it would build fewer planes for more money than it had once planned. Astronomers announced the discovery of the first solar system outside our own. 

Today’s Birthdays: Cooking expert Julia Child is 90. Attorney and civil rights activist Vernon Jordan is 67. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is 64. Musician Pete York (Spencer Davis Group) is 60. Author-journalist Linda Ellerbee is 58. Princess Anne is 52. Actor Ben Affleck is 30.