Today is Saturday, August 11, the 224th day of 2012. There are 142 days left in the year.
1772 ― Explosive eruption in Java, Indonesia, kills 3,000
1866 ― World's first roller rink opens (Newport, R.I.)
1877 ― Asaph Hall discovers Mars's moon, Deimos
1909 ― SOS first used by an American ship, Arapahoe, off Cape Hatteras, N.C.
1929 ― Babe Ruth becomes first to hit 500 homers
1945 ― Allies refuse Japan's surrender offer to retain Emperor Hirohito
1948 ― Summer Olympics opens in London
1954 ― Formal peace takes place, ending seven years of fighting in Indochina between French and Communist Vietminh
1956 ― Elvis Presley releases ``Don't Be Cruel"
1984 ― During a radio voice test U.S. President Reagan joked he ``signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes"