Today is Sunday, Aug. 2, the 214th day of 2009. There are 151 days left in the year.

Todays Highlight in History

One hundred years ago, on Aug. 2, 1909, the original Lincoln penny (with two ears of wheat on the reverse side) first went into circulation, replacing the Indian Head cent.

On this date

In 1776, members of the Continental Congress began attaching their signatures to the Declaration of Independence.

In 1873, inventor Andrew S. Hallidie successfully tested a cable car he had designed for the city of San Francisco.

In 1876, frontiersman Wild Bill Hickok was shot and killed while playing poker at a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, by Jack McCall, who was later hanged.

In 1923, the 29th president of the United States, Warren G. Harding, died in San Francisco; Vice President Calvin Coolidge became president.

In 1927, four years after becoming president, Calvin Coolidge issued a written statement to reporters: I do not choose to run for President in nineteen twenty-eight.

In 1934, German President Paul von Hindenburg died, paving the way for Adolf Hitlers complete takeover.

In 1939, Albert Einstein signed a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt urging creation of an atomic weapons research program. President Roosevelt signed the Hatch Act, which prohibited civil service employees from taking an active part in political campaigns.

In 1943, during World War II, Navy boat PT-109, commanded by Lt. John F. Kennedy, sank after being rammed by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri off the Solomon Islands.

In 1964, the destroyer USS Maddox suffered light damage from North Vietnamese patrol torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin.

In 1985, 135 people were killed when a Delta Air Lines jetliner crashed while attempting to land at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

Ten years ago

Launching another salvo in a war of nerves with rival Taiwan, China announced it had test-fired a new long-range missile. A train collision in India claimed nearly 300 lives.

Five years ago

President George W. Bush urged creation of a national intelligence director to coordinate the war on terrorism but without the sweeping powers for hiring, firing and spending recommended by the 9/11 Commission. Turkish truckers stopped hauling goods for U.S. forces in Iraq after the shooting of a Turkish hostage was shown on the Internet. Police in Salt Lake City arrested Mark Hacking, whose wife, Lori, had disappeared. (Hacking later pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.)

One year ago

Police in southern Afghanistan reported a bus carrying a wedding party had struck a mine, killing 10 people, including the bride and groom; meanwhile, two French humanitarian aid workers kidnapped on July 18 were released.

Todays Birthdays

Former Sen. Paul Laxalt, R-Nev., is 87. Actor Peter OToole is 77. Country singer Hank Cochran is 74. Rock musician Garth Hudson (The Band) is 72. Movie director Wes Craven is 70. Singer Kathy Lennon (The Lennon Sisters) is 66. Actor Max Wright is 66. Actress Joanna Cassidy is 64. Actress Kathryn Harrold is 59. Singer Andrew Gold is 58. Actor Butch Patrick (The Munsters) is 56. Singer Mojo Nixon is 52. Actress Victoria Jackson is 50. Actress Apollonia is 50. Actress Cynthia Stevenson is 47. Actress Mary-Louise Parker is 45. Baseball pitcher Tim Wakefield is 43. Rock musician John Stanier is 41. Writer-actor-director Kevin Smith is 39. Actor Sam Worthington is 33. Figure skater Michael Weiss is 33. Actor Edward Furlong is 32. Rock musician Devon Glenn is 29. Cleveland Indians All-Star center fielder Grady Sizemore is 27. Actress Hallie Eisenberg is 17.

Thought for Today

The trouble with this country is that there are too many people going about saying, The trouble with this country is …

Sinclair Lewis, American author (1885-1951)