Local History

50 years ago: Army Warrant Officer David C. Stelljes of New ulm received the dsitinguished Flying Cross near Pleiku, Vietnam.

10 years ago: Jim Kuehn, a native of New Ulm, was promoted to vice president/controller at First PREMIER Bank in Sioux Falls, S. D.

5 years ago: Sleepy Eye wrapped up Region 2C amateur baseball play with a convincing 8-2 victory over Stark.

One year ago: Members of the Brown County Committee on Aging (BCCA) honored Bob Apitz for 41 years working with the county’s senior community.

And elsewhere…

Today is Saturday, Aug. 11, the 223rd day of 2018. There are 142 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight:

On August 11, 1965, rioting and looting that claimed 34 lives broke out in the predominantly black Watts section of Los Angeles.

On this date:

In 1909, the steamship SS Arapahoe became the first ship in North America to issue an S.O.S. distress signal, off North Carolina’s Cape Hatteras.

In 1949, President Harry S. Truman nominated General Omar N. Bradley to become the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In 1954, a formal peace took hold in Indochina, ending more than seven years of fighting between the French and Communist Viet Minh.

In 1956, abstract painter Jackson Pollock, 44, died in an automobile accident on Long Island, New York.

In 1964, the Beatles movie “A Hard Day’s Night” had its U.S. premiere in New York.

In 1984, at the Los Angeles Olympics, American runner Mary Decker fell after colliding with South African-born British competitor Zola Budd in the 3,000-meter final; Budd finished seventh.

In 1992, the Mall of America, the nation’s largest shopping-entertainment center, opened in Bloomington, Minnesota.

In 1997, President Bill Clinton made the first use of the historic line-item veto, rejecting three items in spending and tax bills. (However, the U.S. Supreme Court later struck down the veto as unconstitutional.)

In 2014, Academy Award-winning actor and comedian Robin Williams, 63, died in Tiburon, California, a suicide.

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush, back from his Asia tour, warned of a “dramatic and brutal escalation” of violence by Russia in the former Soviet republic of Georgia; he pressed Moscow to accept an immediate cease-fire and to pull back its troops.

Five years ago: Israel approved building 1,200 more settlement homes and agreed to release 26 long-held Palestinian security prisoners.

One year ago: A federal judge ordered Charlottesville, Virginia, to allow a weekend rally of white nationalists and other extremists to take place at its originally-planned location downtown. (Violence erupted at the rally, and a woman was killed when a man plowed his car into a group of counterprotesters.)

Today’s Birthdays: Actress Arlene Dahl is 93. Country singer John Conlee is 72. Singer Eric Carmen is 69. Computer scientist and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is 68. Wrestler-actor Hulk Hogan is 65. Singer Joe Jackson is 64. Actress Viola Davis is 53. Actress Embeth Davidtz is 53. Actor Duane Martin is 53. Actor-host Joe Rogan is 51. \Actress Anna Gunn is 50. Actress Ashley Jensen is 50. Actress Sophie Okonedo is 50. Rock guitarist Charlie Sexton is 50. Hip-hop artist Ali Shaheed Muhammad is 48. Actor Nigel Harman is 45. Actor Will Friedle is 42. Actor Rob Kerkovich is 39. Actress Merritt Wever is 38. Actor Chris Hemsworth is 35. Rock musician Heath Fogg (Alabama Shakes) is 34. Singer J-Boog is 33. Rapper Asher Roth is 33. Actress Alyson Stoner is 25.

Thought for Today: “Keep your dreams, for in them lies joy denied to men grown wise.” — Edgar A. Guest, American author, journalist and poet (1881-1959).