Today is Friday, Aug. 5, the 217th day of 2011. There are 148 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History

On Aug. 5, 1921, a baseball game was broadcast for the first time as KDKA radio announcer Harold Arlin described the action between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies from Forbes Field. (The Pirates won, 8-5.)

On this date

In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Revenue Act of 1861, which included the first-ever federal personal income tax, a 3 percent levy on incomes above $800 (however, no income tax ended up actually being collected under this law).

In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Admiral David G. Farragut led his fleet to victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay, Ala.

In 1924, the comic strip “Little Orphan Annie,” by Harold Gray, made its debut.

In 1936, Jesse Owens of the United States won the 200-meter dash at the Berlin Olympics, collecting the third of his four gold medals.

In 1953, Operation Big Switch began as prisoners taken during the Korean conflict were exchanged at Panmunjom.

In 1961, the amusement park Six Flags Over Texas had its official grand opening day in Arlington.

In 1962, actress Marilyn Monroe, 36, was found dead in her Los Angeles home; her death was ruled a probable suicide from an overdose of sleeping pills.

In 1963, the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union signed a treaty in Moscow banning nuclear tests in the atmosphere, in space and underwater.

In 1969, the U.S. space probe Mariner 7 flew by Mars, sending back photographs and scientific data.

In 1981, the federal government began firing air traffic controllers who had gone out on strike.

Ten years ago

Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban jailed eight foreign aid workers, including two Americans, for allegedly preaching Christianity. (The workers were rescued in Nov. 2001 during U.S. military operations launched in the wake of 9/11.)

Five years ago

Floyd Landis was fired by his team and the Tour de France no longer considered him its champion after his second doping sample tested positive for higher-than-allowable levels of testosterone. The late Reggie White was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame along with Troy Aikman, Warren Moon, John Madden, Rayfield Wright and Harry Carson. Four-time Iditarod champion Susan Butcher died in Seattle at age 51.

One year ago

The Senate confirmed Elena Kagan, 63-37, as the Supreme Court’s 112th justice and the fourth woman in its history. BP finished pumping cement into the blown Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. Thirty-three workers were trapped in a copper mine in northern Chile after a tunnel caved in (all 33 were rescued after being entombed for 69 days). Ten members of a Christian medical team from the International Assistance Mission were gunned down in Afghanistan (the Taliban initially said it was responsible, but the IAM has cast doubt on that claim).

Today’s Birthdays

Former astronaut Neil A. Armstrong is 81. Actor John Saxon is 75. Country songwriter Bobby Braddock is 71. Rock musician Rick Huxley (The Dave Clark Five) is 71. Actress Erika Slezak is 65. Rock singer Rick Derringer is 64. Actress Holly Palance is 61. Singer Samantha Sang is 58. Actress-singer Maureen McCormick is 55. Rock musician Pat Smear is 52. Actress Tawney Kitaen is 50. Country musician Mark O’Connor is 50. Basketball Hall-of-Famer Patrick Ewing is 49. Rapper MCA (The Beastie Boys) is 47. Actor Jonathan Silverman is 45. Country singer Terri Clark is 43. Actor Brendon Ryan Barrett is 25.

Thought for Today

“If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.”

— Gen. George S. Patton (1885-1945)