Highlights: In 1057, Macbeth, King of Scots, was killed in battle by Malcolm, the eldest son of King Duncan, whom Macbeth had slain. In 1483, the Sistine Chapel was consecrated by Pope Sixtus IV. In 1914, the Panama Canal opened to traffic. In 1945, in a radio address, Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced that his country had accepted terms of surrender for ending World War II. In 1947, India became independent after some 200 years of British rule.
Ten years ago: President George W. Bush, using Mount Rushmore as a dramatic backdrop, pressed Congress to give him a flexible, fast-moving homeland security department.
Five years ago: Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to felony charges for taking cash payoffs from gamblers and betting on games he’d officiated in a scandal that rocked the league. (Donaghy spent 13 months in federal prison.)
One year ago: A relentless barrage of bombings in Iraq killed 63 people, striking 17 cities from northern Sunni areas to the southern Shiite heartland.
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is 74.Britain’s Princess Anne is 62. Actress Debra Messing is 44. Actor Ben Affleck is 40. Actress Natasha Henstridge is 38. Rock singer Joe Jonas (The Jonas Brothers) is 23. Actress Jennifer Lawrence (“The Hunger Games") is 22.
It’s Wednesday, Aug. 15, the 228th day of 2012. There are 138 days left in the year.
• Some illegal immigrants will be able to start applying for permission to stay in the U.S. for at least two years and obtain a work permit.
• A Portland judge will hear arguments to stay a civil suit filed by the biological mother of Kyron Horman, missing since June 2010.
— From wire reports
