Today in history: Aug. 12
The MGM movie musical βThe Wizard of Oz,β starring Judy Garland, had its world premiere at the Strand Theater in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, three days before opening in Hollywood, andΒ more events that happened on this day in history.
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Updated1867: Andrew Johnson
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In 1867, President Andrew Johnson sparked a move to impeach him as he defied Congress by suspending Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, with whom he had clashed over Reconstruction policies. (Johnson was acquitted by the Senate.)
1909: The Indianapolis Motor Speedway
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In 1909, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home to the Indianapolis 500, first opened.
1939: "The Wizard of Oz"
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In 1939, the MGM movie musical βThe Wizard of Oz,β starring Judy Garland, had its world premiere at the Strand Theater in Oconomowoc (oh-KAHβ-noh-moh-wahk), Wisconsin, three days before opening in Hollywood.
1944: Joseph Kennedy Jr.
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In 1944, during World War II, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., eldest son of Joseph and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, was killed with his co-pilot when their explosives-laden Navy plane blew up over England.
1985: Aircraft Disaster
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In 1985, the worldβs worst single-aircraft disaster occurred as a crippled Japan Airlines Boeing 747 on a domestic flight crashed into a mountain, killing 520 people. (Four people survived.)
2000: Submarine Kursk
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In 2000, the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk and its 118-man crew were lost during naval exercises in the Barents Sea.
2004: James E. McGreevey
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In 2004, New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey announced his resignation and acknowledged that heβd had an extramarital affair with another man.
2009: Les Paul
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In 2009, guitar virtuoso Les Paul died in White Plains, New York, at 94.
2010: Ed Whitacre
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Ten years ago: General Motors Co. chief Ed Whitacre announced he was stepping down as CEO on September 1, 2010, saying his mission was accomplished as the company reported its second straight quarterly profit. (Whitacre was succeeded as CEO by GM board member Daniel Akerson.)
2013: James "Whitey" Bulger
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In 2013, James βWhiteyβ Bulger, the feared Boston mob boss who became one of the nationβs most-wanted fugitives, was convicted in a string of 11 killings and dozens of other gangland crimes, many of them committed while he was said to be an FBI informant. (Bulger was sentenced to life; he was fatally beaten at a West Virginia prison in 2018, hours after being transferred from a facility in Florida.)
2015: Jimmy Carter
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Five years ago: Former President Jimmy Carter announced he had been diagnosed with cancer following recent liver surgery.
2015: Tianjin, China
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Five years ago: Deadly warehouse blasts in the Chinese port city of Tianjin claimed 165 lives.Β
2017: Charlottesville
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In 2017, a car plowed into a crowd of people peacefully protesting a white nationalist rally in the Virginia college town of Charlottesville, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and hurting more than a dozen others. (The attacker, James Alex Fields, was sentenced to life in prison on 29 federal hate crime charges, and life plus 419 years on state charges.) President Donald Trump condemned what he called an βegregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.β
2019: The Trump Administration
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One year ago: The Trump administration said it was moving ahead with one of its most aggressive steps to restrict legal immigration: denying green cards to many migrants who use Medicaid, food stamps, housing vouchers or other forms of public assistance.
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