Today is Monday, August 31, the 243rd day of 2009. There are 122 days left in the year.
1535 _ Pope Paul II deposed and excommunicated King Henry VIII
1887 _ Thomas A. Edison patents Kinetoscope, (produces moving pictures)
1907 _ England, Russia and France form the Triple Entente
1919 _ Communist Labor Party of America formed in Chicago
1955 _ First sun-powered automobile demonstrated, Chicago, Ill.
1957 _ Malaya (Malaysia) gains independence from Britain (National Day)
1968 _ Private Eye magazine reports a John Lennon and Yoko Ono album will have a picture of them nude on the cover
1980 _ Poland's Solidarity labor union founded
1983 _ Edwin Moses of USA sets the 400-meter hurdle record (47.02) in Koblenz
1988 _ Five-day power blackout of downtown Seattle begins