Moments in time

The History Channel

• On Aug. 28, 1774, Elizabeth Ann Bayley is born in New York City. She went on to found the first Catholic school and the first female apostolic community in the United States. She also was the first American-born saint beatified by the Roman Catholic Church.

• On Sept. 1, 1850, circus entrepreneur P.T. Barnum brings to the United States Jenny Lind, the greatest opera performer in the world in the mid-19th century. Lind — “The Swedish Nightingale” — was a sensation. Her tour is believed to have netted Barnum close to a half-million dollars, an astonishing sum in 1850.

• On Aug. 27, 1883, the most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history occurs on Krakatau (also called Krakatoa), a small island located in Indonesia. Heard 3,000 miles away, the explosions threw 5 cubic miles of earth 50 miles into the air and created 120-foot tsunamis.

• On Aug. 29, 1942, the Red Cross reveals that Japan has refused free passage of ships carrying food, medicine and other necessities for American POWs held by Japan. Japan allowed just one-tenth of what POWs elsewhere received to reach prisoners in their territories.

• On Aug. 31, 1959, Brooklyn Dodgers left-hander Sandy Koufax strikes out 18 batters, setting a new National League record for most strikeouts in a single game. Koufax retired after the 1966 season at just 30 years old because of arthritis in his elbow. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972.

• On Aug. 30, 1967, Thurgood Marshall becomes the first black American to be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice. He would remain on the Supreme Court for 24 years before retiring for health reasons, leaving a legacy of upholding the rights of the individual.

• On Sept. 2, 1987, the trial of Mathias Rust, the 19-year-old German pilot who flew his Cessna plane into Red Square in May 1987, begins in Moscow. Rust had become an international celebrity after he flew completely undetected through Soviet airspace. At his trial, Rust claimed he was merely trying to promote world peace.

(c) 2012 King Features Synd., Inc.