Today is Thursday, Aug. 12, the 224th day of 2021. There are 141 days left in the year.
Today in history
On Aug. 12, 1985, the world’s worst single-aircraft disaster occurred as a crippled Japan Airlines Boeing 747 on a domestic flight crashed into a mountain, killing 520 people. (Four people survived.)
Also on this date:
In 1867, President Andrew Johnson sparked a move to impeach him as he defied Congress by suspending Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, with whom he had clashed over Reconstruction policies. (Johnson was acquitted by the Senate.)
In 1902, International Harvester Co. was formed by a merger of McCormick Harvesting Machine Co., Deering Harvester Co. and several other manufacturers.
In 1909, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home to the Indianapolis 500, first opened.
In 1953, the Soviet Union conducted a secret test of its first hydrogen bomb.
In 1960, the first balloon communications satellite — the Echo 1 — was launched by the United States from Cape Canaveral.
In 1964, author Ian Fleming, 56, the creator of James Bond, died in Canterbury, Kent, England.
Fum fact
In late 2020, scientists found a detached reef near the Great Barrier Reef that’s more than 1,600 feet tall (taller than the Empire State building). It is the first such reef to be discovered in more than 120 years.
Record setters
The most eyebrow waxes performed in 8 hours by a team is 435 and was achieved May 20, 2017, by Benefit Cosmetics at their Myer City store in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Guinness World Records
Trending words
“Nimrod:” noun; (NIM-rahd). Definition: Hunter, idiot or jerk.
— Merriam-Webster
Today’s birthdays
Actor George Hamilton is 82. Actor Dana Ivey is 80. Actor Jennifer Warren is 80. Rock singer-musician Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) is 72. Actor Jim Beaver is 71. Singer Kid Creole is 71. Jazz musician Pat Metheny is 67. Actor Sam J. Jones is 67. Actor Bruce Greenwood is 65. Country singer Danny Shirley is 65. Pop musician Roy Hay (Culture Club) is 60. Rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot is 58. Actor Peter Krause is 56. Actor Brent Sexton is 54. International Tennis Hall of Famer Pete Sampras is 50. Actor-comedian Michael Ian Black is 50. Actor Yvette Nicole Brown is 50. Actor Rebecca Gayheart is 50. Actor Casey Affleck is 46. Rock musician Bill Uechi is 46. Actor Maggie Lawson is 41. Actor Dominique Swain is 41. Actor Leah Pipes is 33. Actor Lakeith Stanfield is 30. NBA All-Star Khris Middleton is 30. Actor Cara Delevingne is 29. Actor Imani Hakim is 28.
The Edge is compiled by Dallas Marshall. She can be contacted at dmarshall@lmtribune.com.
