Today is Friday, Aug. 11, the 223rd day of 2023. There are 142 days left in the year.
On this date:
In 1860, the nation’s first successful silver mill began operation near Virginia City, Nevada.
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In 1956, abstract painter Jackson Pollock died in an automobile accident on Long Island, New York at age 44.
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In 1965, rioting and looting that claimed 34 lives broke out in the predominantly Black Watts section of Los Angeles.
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In 1992, the Mall of America, the nation’s largest shopping-entertainment center, opened in Bloomington, Minnesota.
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In 2014, Academy Award-winning actor and comedian Robin Williams died in Tiburon, California at age 63.
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In 2016, the Obama administration said it had decided marijuana would remain on the list of most dangerous drugs, rebuffing growing support across the country for broad legalization, but said it would allow more research into its medical uses.
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In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden named California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate; Harris was the first Black woman on a major party’s presidential ticket.
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Ten years ago: Jason Dufner won his first major title with a two-stroke victory over Jim Furyk at the PGA Championship. Suspected militants gunned down 47 worshippers as they recited their early morning prayers at a mosque in Konduga, Nigeria, and killed another 12 civilians in a nearby village.
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Five years ago: Nobel Prize-winning novelist V.S. Naipaul died at his London home at the age of 85.
