Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

August 28

2005
Hurricane Katrina: Katrina is upgraded to a Category 5 storm and New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin orders the first ever mandatory evacuation of the city.

1992
A St. Louis man recovers his '62 Corvette, which was stolen in 1971. The car, which he paid $1,300 for in 1969, is now worth $25,000.

1987
Halcion murders: Nila Wacaser kills her two sons; she claimed the sleeping drug Halcion made her do it. In 1992 she was convicted of first-degree murder and committed suicide.

1972
Mark Spitz wins the first two of his seven 1972 Olympic gold medals.

1972
First US Air Force ace in Vietnam: Capt. Richard Stephen Ritchie earns the distinction by downing his fifth enemy aircraft in North Vietnam.

1968
First major political party to propose a black presidential candidate: The Rev. Channing Emery Phillips is proposed for the position by the Democratic convention.

1963
Martin Luther King, Jr.: During his famous march on Washington, the civil-rights leader proclaims "I have a dream."

1938
Dummy Degree: Charlie McCarthy, Edgar Bergen's ventriloquist dummy, is awarded the degree of Master of Innuendo and Snappy Comeback by the School of Speech of Northwestern University, Illinois.

1922
First U.S. radio commercial: AT&T station WEAF of New York City broadcasts a 10-minute spot for an apartment complex.

1897
First horse to run a 2-minute mile: Star Pointer, a Tennessee-bred light-harness stallion, runs a mile in 1:59.25 minutes on a Maryland track.

1867
First U.S. territory outside of the continental U.S.: The Midway Islands in the Pacific ocean are annexed.

1850
Lohengrin: The first performance of Wagner's famous opera is given by Franz Liszt.

1830
First passenger trip on a US-built steam locomotive: Peter Cooper's Tom Thumb takes 26 passengers on a ride along the B&O Railroad.

1789
Enceladus discovered: Sir William Herschel discovers one of Saturn's moons.

1565
Oldest European settlement still in existence in America: Spanish settlers arrive at St. Augustine, Florida establishing a settlement there the following month.

1960
Emma Samms, English actress. TV: General Hospital (Holly) and Dynasty (Fallon).

1958
Scott Hamilton, American figure skater, world champion (1981-84), and 1984 Olympic gold medal winner.

1957
Daniel Stern, American actor. Film: Home Alone (the frizzy-haired burglar). TV: The Wonder Years (the grown-up voice of Kevin).

1951
Wayne Osmond, American singer. Music: One Bad Apple (1971, #1) and Go Away Little Girl (1971, #1).

1943
David Soul (David Solberg), American actor. TV: Starsky and Hutch (Starsky).

1930
Ben Gazzara, American actor. TV: Run for Your Life (terminally-ill Paul Bryan).

1925
Donald O'Connor, American Emmy-winning actor, dancer. Film: Singin' in the Rain (1952) and numerous Francis the Talking Mule films.

1924
Peggy Ryan (Margaret O'Rene Ryan), American actress, singer dancer, often teamed with Donald O'Connor. TV: Hawaii Five-O (McGarrett's secretary).

1921     d. 1991
Nancy Kulp, American actress. TV: The Beverly Hillbillies (Jane Hathaway).

1905     d. 1980
Sam Levene, American actor, originated the Broadway roles of crap game operator Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls and Al Lewis of The Sunshine Boys.

1897     d. 1978
Charles Boyer, French-born American actor. Film: Algiers (1938, in which he made the famous invitation to Hedy Lamarr: "Come with me to the Casbah"). He also co-founded Four-Star Television (1951).

1828     d. 1910
Count Leo Tolstoy, Russian novelist, religious prophet. Writings: War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877).

1774     d. 1821
Elizabeth Ann Seton, first American-born Roman Catholic saint (canonized 1975). She founded the U.S. branch of the Sisters of Charity (1809).

1989     b. 1910
Joseph W. Alsop, American syndicated political columnist, co-wrote the columns Capitol Parade (1937-40) and Matter of Fact (1945-58).

1987     b. 1906
John Huston, American Oscar-winning, director, writer, The Maltese Falcon (1941) and African Queen (1952).

1985     b. 1896
Ruth Gordon (Ruth Jones), American Oscar-Emmy-winning actress. Film: Harold and Maude (1971, Maude) and Rosemary's Baby (1968, Oscar).

1951     b. 1918
Robert Walker, American actor. Film: Bataan (1943), The Clock (1945), and played the psychopathic killer in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (1951).

1943     b. 1894
Boris III, King of Bulgaria (1918-43). In 1935 he established a virtual dictatorship.

1903     b. 1822
Frederick Law Olmsted, American landscape architect. He designed New York's Central Park and the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

1798     b. 1742
James Wilson, Scottish-born American patriot, signer of the Declaration of Independence, member of the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention of 1787, and associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

1481     b. 1432
Alfonso V, King of Portugal (1438-81).

876     b. circa 804
Louis II, King of Germany (843-876), founder of the German kingdom.

430     b. 354
Saint Augustine, North African Christian philosopher, bishop of Hippo (396-430).

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