Today is Wednesday, August 29, the 242nd day of 2012. There are 124 days left in the year.
5502 B.C. ― Origin of Alexandrian Era
1854 ― Self-governing windmill patented (Daniel Halladay)
1896 ― Chop suey invented in NYC by chef of visiting Chinese ambassador
1909 ― A.H. Latham of France sets world airplane altitude record of 155 meters
1944 ― 15,000 American troops liberating Paris march down Champs Elysees
1950 ― International Olympic Committee votes admission to West Germany and Japan in 1952
1953 ― USSR explodes its first hydrogen bomb
1957 ― Congress passes Civil Rights Act of 1957
1966 ― Beatles last public concert (Candlestick Park, San Francisco)
1990 ― Saddam Hussein declares America can't beat Iraq