Today in History: August 16, Elvis Presley dies at 42

Today in History Today is Tuesday, Aug. 16, the 228th day of 2022. There are 137 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Aug. 16, 1977, Elvis Presley died at his Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee, at age 42. On this date: In 1777, American forces won the Battle of Bennington in what was considered a turning point of the Revolutionary War. In 1812, Detroit fell to British and Native American forces in the War of 1812. In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln issued Proclamation 86, which prohibited the states of the Union from engaging in commercial trade with states that were in rebellion – i.e., the Confederacy. In 1948, baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York at age 53. In 1962, the Beatles fired their original drummer, Pete Best, replacing him with Ringo Starr. In 1978, James Earl Ray, convicted assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., told a Capitol Hill hearing he did not commit the crime, saying he’d been set up by a mysterious man called ‘œRaoul.’� In 1987, people worldwide began a two-day celebration of the ‘œharmonic convergence,’� which heralded what believers called the start of a new, purer age of humankind. In 2002, terrorist mastermind Abu Nidal reportedly was found shot to death in Baghdad, Iraq; he was 65. In 2003, Idi Amin, the former dictator of Uganda, died in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia; he was believed to have been about 80. In 2014, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, where police and protesters repeatedly clashed in the week since a Black 18-year-old, Michael Brown, was shot to death by a white police officer. In 2018, Aretha Franklin, the undisputed ‘œQueen of Soul,’� died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 76. In 2020, California’s Death Valley recorded a temperature of 130 degrees amid a blistering heat wave, the third-highest temperature ever measured. Ten years ago: Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney declared he had paid at least 13 percent of his income in federal taxes every year for the previous decade; President Barack Obama’s campaign shot back: ‘œProve it.’� A U.S. military helicopter crashed during a firefight with insurgents in southern Afghanistan, killing seven Americans and four Afghans. Ecuador decided to identify WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as a refugee and give him asylum in its London embassy. Five years ago: The University of Florida denied a request by white supremacist Richard Spencer to rent space on the campus for a September event. (The university later allowed Spencer to appear in October, saying it was legally obligated to allow the expression of many viewpoints.) President Donald Trump disbanded two White House business councils, amid criticism from CEOs for his remarks on the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a woman was killed during a protest against a white nationalist rally. One year ago: Afghans desperate to escape the Taliban takeover of their country clung to the side of a departing U.S. military jet as it rolled down the tarmac at the Kabul airport, and some apparently fell to their death as the aircraft gained altitude; U.S. officials said at least seven people died during the chaotic evacuation at the airport. Witnesses said hundreds of people were trapped between American forces trying to push them out of the airport and Taliban forces trying to keep them in. The Country Music Association announced that R&B legend Ray Charles and the Grammy-winning duo The Judds would be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.