Today is Sunday, Aug. 1, the 213th day of 2010. There are 152 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History

On Aug. 1, 1944, an uprising broke out in Warsaw, Poland, against Nazi occupation; the revolt lasted two months before collapsing.

On this date

In 1714, Britain’s Queen Anne died at age 49; she was succeeded by George I.

In 1876, Colorado was admitted as the 38th state.

In 1894, the First Sino-Japanese War erupted, the result of a dispute over control of Korea; Japan’s army routed the Chinese.

In 1907, the U.S. Army Signal Corps established an aeronautical division, the forerunner of the U.S. Air Force.

In 1935, the British movie thriller “The 39 Steps,” directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll, opened in the U.S.

In 1936, the Olympic games opened in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler.

In 1946, President Harry S. Truman signed the Fulbright Program into law, establishing the scholarships named for Sen. William J. Fulbright. America’s Atomic Energy Commission was established.

In 1960, the Western African country of Dahomey (now Benin) became independent of French rule.

In 1966, Charles Joseph Whitman, 25, went on a shooting rampage at the University of Texas in Austin, killing 14 people. Whitman, who had also murdered his wife and mother hours earlier, was gunned down by police.

In 1981, the rock music video channel MTV made its debut.

Ten years ago

A U.S. military court in Germany sentenced Army Staff Sgt. Frank Ronghi to life in prison without parole for sexually assaulting and killing Merita Shabiu, an 11-year-old ethnic Albanian girl, while on peacekeeping duty in Kosovo.

Five years ago

Saudi Arabia’s ruler, King Fahd, died; Crown Prince Abdullah, the king’s half-brother, became the country’s new monarch. President George W. Bush used a recess appointment to install John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations, bypassing the Senate after a testy standoff with Democrats.

One year ago

A fierce storm caused an outdoor stage at the Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, Alberta, Canada, to collapse, killing one person and injuring dozens of others. A gunman opened fire at a gay youth center in Tel Aviv, Israel, killing two people. Former Philippine President Corazon Aquino, 76, the democracy icon who’d swept away a dictator, died in Manila. Naomi Sims, 61, believed to be the first black supermodel, died in Newark, N.J.

Today’s Birthdays

Actor-director Geoffrey Holder is 80. Singer Ramblin’ Jack Elliott is 79. Cartoonist Tom Wilson (retired creator of “Ziggy”) is 79. Former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (R-N.Y.) is 73. Actor Giancarlo Giannini is 68. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams is 60. Blues singer-musician Robert Cray is 57. Singer Michael Penn is 52. Rock singer Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) is 51. Rock singer-musician Suzi Gardner (L7) is 50. Rapper Chuck D (Public Enemy) is 50. Actor Jesse Borrego is 48. Rapper Coolio is 47. Actor John Carroll Lynch is 47. Rock singer Adam Duritz (Counting Crows) is 46. Movie director Sam Mendes is 45. Country singer George Ducas is 44. Country musician Charlie Kelley is 42. Actor Charles Malik Whitfield is 38. Actress Tempestt Bledsoe is 37. Actor Jason Momoa is 31. Singer Ashley Parker Angel is 29. Actress Taylor Fry is 29. Actor Elijah Kelley is 24. Actor James Francis Kelly is 21.

Thought for Today

“Middle age snuffs out more talent than ever wars or sudden deaths do.”

— Richard Hughes,

Welsh author and dramatist (1900-1976)