Today in History: August 7, allies land at Guadalcanal

Aug 6, 2022, 9:00 AM | Updated: 9:01 pm

Today in History

Today is Sunday, Aug. 7, the 219th day of 2022. There are 146 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Aug. 7, 1942, U.S. and other allied forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II. (Japanese forces abandoned the island the following February.)

On this date:

In 1789, the U.S. Department of War was established by Congress.

In 1882, the famous feud between the Hatfields of West Virginia and the McCoys of Kentucky erupted into full-scale violence.

In 1963, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy gave birth to a boy, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, who died two days later of respiratory distress syndrome.

In 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson broad powers in dealing with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.

In 1971, the Apollo 15 moon mission ended successfully as its command module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

In 1989, a plane carrying U.S. Rep. Mickey Leland, D-Texas, and 14 others disappeared over Ethiopia. (The wreckage of the plane was found six days later; there were no survivors.)

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush ordered U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard the oil-rich desert kingdom against a possible invasion by Iraq.

In 1998, terrorist bombs at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.

In 2005, ABC News anchorman Peter Jennings died in New York at age 67.

In 2007, San Francisco’s Barry Bonds hit home run No. 756 to break Hank Aaron’s storied record with one out in the fifth inning of a game against the Washington Nationals, who won, 8-6.

In 2010, Elena Kagan was sworn in as the 112th justice and fourth woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 2015, Colorado theater shooter James Holmes was spared the death penalty in favor of life in prison after a jury in Centennial failed to agree on whether he should be executed for his murderous attack on a packed movie premiere that left 12 people dead.

Ten years ago: Jared Lee Loughner agreed to spend the rest of his life in prison, accepting that he went on a deadly shooting rampage at an Arizona political gathering in 2011 that left six people dead and 13 injured, including U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords. Aly Raisman became the first U.S. woman gymnast to win Olympic gold on floor, and picked up a bronze on balance beam on the final day of the gymnastics competition at the London Games.

Five years ago: Chicago filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s policy of withholding public safety grants from sanctuary cities, which chose to limit cooperation with government enforcement of immigration laws. (A federal appeals court later ruled that the federal government cannot set new conditions to awarding those grants.) Medical examiners said the remains of a man who’d been killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11 had been identified, nearly 16 years after the attacks.

One year ago: Fueled by strong winds and bone-dry vegetation, the Dixie Fire in northern California grew to become the largest single wildfire in state history. In her final Olympic race, American sprinter Allyson Felix won her 11th medal, a gold medal as part of the 4×400 relay team in Tokyo; no track athlete in U.S. history had ever won more. Kevin Durant scored 29 points as the U.S. held off France to win the men’s basketball gold medal. Former child actor Jane Withers, who was once Shirley Temple’s nemesis on screen and later appeared in commercials as “Josephine the Plumber,” died at 95. Markie Post, who played the public defender in the 1980s sitcom “Night Court,” died of cancer at 70.

Today’s Birthdays: Singer Lana Cantrell is 79. Former FBI Director Robert Mueller is 78. Actor John Glover is 78. Actor David Rasche is 78. Former diplomat, talk show host and activist Alan Keyes is 72. Country singer Rodney Crowell is 72. Actor Caroline Aaron is 70. Comedian Alexei Sayle is 70. Actor Wayne Knight is 67. Rock singer Bruce Dickinson is 64. Marathon runner Alberto Salazar is 64. Actor David Duchovny is 62. Country musician Michael Mahler (Wild Horses) is 61. Actor Delane Matthews is 61. Actor Harold Perrineau is 59. Jazz musician Marcus Roberts is 59. Country singer Raul Malo is 57. Actor David Mann is 56. Actor Charlotte Lewis is 55. Actor Sydney Penny is 51. Actor Greg Serano is 50. Actor Michael Shannon is 48. Actor Charlize Theron (shar-LEES’ THEHR’-en) is 47. Rock musician Barry Kerch is 46. Actor Eric Johnson is 43. Actor Randy Wayne is 41. Actor-writer Brit Marling is 40. NHL center Sidney Crosby is 35. MLB All-Star Mike Trout is 31. Actor Liam James is 26.