Today in History - History - August 16th

1858Britain's Queen Victoria telegraphs US President James Buchanan

2012Julian Assange, Wikileaks founder, is granted political asylum by Ecuador

1513Battle at Eguinegatte/Guinegate: Maximilian & Henry VIII beat France

1991President Bush declares recession is near an end

1962Ringo Starr replaces Pete Best as Beatles' drummer

19271st HR hit out of Comiskey Park Chicago (NY Yankee Babe Ruth)

197254th PGA Championship: Gary Player shoots a 281 at Oakland Hills Mich

192438th US Womens Tennis: Helen Wills Moody beats Molla Mallory (6-1 6-3)

199274th PGA Championship: Nick Price shoots a 278 at Bellerive St Louis

1834Charles Darwin climbs Mt Campana in Chile

1958Madonna, [Ciccone], Bay City Michigan, singer/actress (Like a Virgin)

1954James Cameron, Kapuskasing Ontario, writer/director (True Lies, Titanic)

1913Menachem Begin, Brest Russian Empire, Israeli PM (1977-83, Nobel 1978), (d. 1992)

1930Tony Trabert, Cincinnati Ohio, tennis pro (1955 Wimbledon)

1946Famous ballet choreographer George Balanchine (42) weds ballerina Maria Tallchief (21)

1992Comedian Janeane Garofalo (27) weds writer Robert Cohen in Las Vegas

1985Singer Madonna weds actor Sean Penn on her 27th birthday

1919NFL player Curly Lambeau (21) weds high school sweetheart Marguerite Van Kessel in Green Bay, Wisconsin

1979John Diefenbaker, 13th Prime Minister of Canada, dies at 83

1956Bela Lugosi, actor (Dracula), dies of heart attack at 73

1949Margaret Mitchell, US writer (Gone With the Wind), dies at 48

1977Elvis Presley, American musician, dies at Graceland at 42. Official cause of death is cardiac arrhythmia

1948Babe Ruth, Baseball legend (NY Yankees), dies in NY at 53

1938Robert Johnson, US Delta-blues singer/guitarist, poisoned at 27