WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2008

Today is Wednesday, August 13, the 226th day of 2008. There are 140 days left in the year.

1521 _ Spanish conquerors captured Mexico City from Aztecs

1868 _ Quakes kill 25,000 and causes $300 million damages (Peru and Ecuador)

1907 _ First taxicab (NYC)

1923 _ Mustapha Kemal elected president of Turkey

1928 _ Soviet Union Spartacan Games begins

1935 _ Transcontinental Roller Derby begins (Chicago Coliseum)

1945 _ 35 Jews sacrifice their lives to blow up Nazi rubber plant in Silesia

1953 _ President Eisenhower establishes Government Contract Compliance Committee

1960 _ Central African Republic and Chad proclaim independence from France

1961 _ Construction on Berlin Wall begins in East Germany (Dark day)