MOMENTS IN TIME

The History Channel

• On Aug. 16, 1896, George Carmack spots nuggets of gold in a creek bed near the Klondike River in Canada’s Yukon Territory. His lucky discovery sparks the last great gold rush in the American West. Over the next two years, as many as 50,000 would-be miners arrived in the region.

• On Aug. 17, 1915, Charles F. Kettering is issued a patent for his “engine-starting device” — the first electric ignition for automobiles. In the early years, drivers used hand cranks to start the internal combustion process that powered car engines.

• On Aug. 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs into law the Social Security Act. Although it was initially created to combat unemployment during the Great Depression, Social Security now functions primarily as a safety net for retirees and the disabled.

• On Aug. 18, 1940, Walter Percy Chrysler, the founder of the American automotive corporation that bears his name, dies in New York. Aside from automobiles, Chrysler was known for financing the 77-story Art Deco Chrysler Building skyscraper in midtown Manhattan. When completed in 1930, it was the tallest building in the world and the first manmade structure to top 1,000 feet.

• On Aug. 19, 1953, the Iranian military, with the assistance of the United States government, overthrows the government of Premier Mohammed Mosaddeq and reinstates the Shah of Iran. As thanks for the help, the Shah signed over 40 percent of Iran’s oil fields to U.S. companies. However, the Shah was toppled from power in 1979.

• On Aug. 13, 1961, East German soldiers begin building a wall between Soviet-controlled East Berlin and the democratic western section of the city. Berlin residents found themselves cut off from friends or family until the wall was dismantled in 1989.

• On Aug. 15, 1983, Hurricane Alicia forms south of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. Three days later, the Texas Gulf Coast is slammed by the storm, causing 21 deaths. The $2 billion in damages recorded was a record for hurricane damage in Texas at the time.

(c) 2012 King Features Synd., Inc.