Moments In Time 8/11/11

MOMENTS IN TIME

• On Aug. 23, 1814, during the war of 1812, first lady Dolley Madison abandoned the couple’s personal belongings to save the full-length portrait of former president George Washington from desecration by vengeful British soldiers. The next night, British troops burned the White House.

• On Aug. 24, 1875, Captain Matthew Webb of Great Britain becomes the first man to successfully swim the English Channel without assistance. Webb reached shore in 21 hours and 45 minutes. In 1883, Webb attempted to swim the Niagara River, and drowned in 10 minutes. His body was found four days later.

• On Aug. 28, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson is picketed by woman suffragists in front of the White House, who demand that he support an amendment to the Constitution that would guarantee women the right to vote. Wilson had a history of lukewarm support for women’s suffrage even, though he was a former teacher at a women’s college and the father of two daughters.

• On Aug. 26, 1939, television station W2XBS in New York City broadcasts a doubleheader between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds from Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. It was the first Major League Baseball game ever aired on television.

• On Aug. 25, 1944, after more than four years of Nazi occupation, Paris is liberated by the French 2nd Armored Division and the U.S. 4th Infantry Division. German General Dietrich von Choltitz defied an order by Adolf Hitler to blow up Paris’ landmarks and burn the city to the ground before its liberation.

• On Aug. 27, 1967, Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles, is found dead of an accidental drug overdose in his Sussex, England, home. The world might never have heard of the Beatles were it not for Epstein. Just a few months after being hired he got them their first recording contract with Parlophone Records.

• On Aug. 29, 1982, Swedish-born actress and three-time Academy Award winner Ingrid Bergman dies of cancer in London on her 67th birthday. Bergman was best known for her role as Ilsa Lund in “Casablanca.”

(c) 2011 King Features Synd., Inc.