Today is Saturday, Aug. 6, the 219th day of 2016. There are 147 days left in the year.
On this date:
In 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war against Russia and Serbia declared war against Germany.
In 1926, Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel, arriving in Kingsdown, England, from France in 14 1/2 hours. Warner Bros. premiered its Vitaphone sound-on-disc movie system in New York with a showing of “Don Juan” featuring synchronized music and sound effects.
In 1930, New York State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Force Crater went missing after leaving a Manhattan restaurant; his disappearance remains a mystery.
In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act.
In 1991, the World Wide Web made its public debut as a means of accessing web pages over the Internet. TV newsman Harry Reasoner died in Norwalk, Connecticut, at age 68.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less