TUESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2008

Today is Tuesday, August 12, the 225th day of 2008. There are 141 days left in the year

1851 _ Isaac Singer granted patent for his sewing machine

1877 _ Thomas Edison invents the Edisonphone, a sound recording device

1879 _ First National Archery Association tournament (Chicago)

1898 _ Hawaii formally annexed to U.S.

1915 _ ``Of Human Bondage," by William Somerset Maugham, published

1953 _ Soviet Union conducts secret test of its first hydrogen bomb

1955 _ Pres Eisenhower raises minimum wage from $0.75 to $1 an hour

1972 _ Last American combat ground troops leave Vietnam

1985 _ Japanese Boeing 747 crashes, 520 die (worst in-flight toll)

1990 _ Iraq President Saddam Hussein says he is ready to resolve the Gulf crisis if Israel withdraws from occupied territories