Today is Saturday, august 18, the 231st day of 2012. There are 135 days left in the year.

1587 ― First English child born in the New World (Virginia Dare)

1686 ― Cassini reports seeing a satellite orbiting Venus

1834 ― Mt. Vesuvius erupts

1868 ― Pierre Janssan discovers helium in solar spectrum during eclipse

1914 ― President Wilson issues ``Proclamation of Neutrality”

1958 ― ``Lolita,” by Vladimir Nabokov, published

1960 ― First photograph bounced off a satellite, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

1961 ― Construction on Berlin Wall completed

1982 ― Pete Rose sets record with his 13,941st plate appearance

1983 ― Samantha Druce, 12, is youngest woman to swim English Channel