Today is Tuesday, August 31, the 243rd day of 2010. 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)
1971 ― Dave Scott becomes first person to drive a car on the Moon
1978 ― Symbionese Liberation Army founders William & Emily Harris plead guilty to 1974 kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst
1979 ― Comet Howard-Koomur-Michels collides with the Sun
1980 ― Poland's Solidarity labor union founded