Editorials

Today’s Highlight in History: 

On Aug. 1, 1981, the rock music video channel MTV made its debut. 

On this date: 

In 1790, the first United States census was completed, showing a population of nearly four million people. 

In 1873, inventor Andrew S. Hallidie successfully tested a cable car he had designed for the city of San Francisco. 

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

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

In 1944, an uprising broke out in Warsaw, Poland, against Nazi occupation, a revolt that lasted two months before collapsing. 

In 1946, President Truman signed the Fulbright Program into law, establishing the scholarships named for Sen. William J. Fulbright. 

In 1946, the Atomic Energy Commission was established. 

In 1957, the United States and Canada reached agreement to create the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD). 

In 1966, 25-year-old Charles Joseph Whitman shot and killed 15 people at the University of Texas before he was gunned down by police. 

In 1975, a 35-nation summit in Helsinki, Finland, concluded with the signing of an accord dealing with European security, human rights and East-West contacts. 

Ten years ago: The Supreme Court permitted the Bush administration to continue returning Haitians intercepted at sea to their Caribbean homeland. Gail Devers won the women’s 100 meters, Linford Christie the men’s 100 meters, at the Barcelona Summer Olympics. 

Five years ago: The National Cancer Institute reported that fallout from 1950s nuclear bomb tests had exposed millions of children across the country to radioactive iodine. President Clinton lifted a 20-year-old ban on the sale of high-performance aircraft and other advanced weapons to Latin America. 

One year ago: 

Pro Bowl tackle Korey Stringer died of heat stroke, a day after collapsing at the Minnesota Vikings’ training camp on the hottest day of the year. 

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Arthur Hill is 80. Actor-director Geoffrey Holder is 72. Actor-comedian Dom DeLuise is 69. Fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent is 66. Former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, a New York Republican, is 65. Actor Giancarlo Giannini is 60. Blues singer-musician Robert Cray is 49. Singer Michael Penn is 44. Rock singer Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) is 43. Rapper Chuck D (Public Enemy) is 42. Actor Jesse Borrego is 40. Rapper Coolio is 39. Movie director Sam Mendes is 37. Country singer George Ducas is 36. Country musician Charlie Kelley (Buffalo Club) is 34.