This Day In History: August 5

Today's Highlight in History:
On Aug. 5, 1858, the first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable, the dreamchild of American businessman Cyrus Field, was laid between Newfoundland and Ireland. (However, after several weeks of use, the cable burned out.)

On this date:
In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Adm. David G. Farragut led his fleet to victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay, Ala.

In 1884, the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty's pedestal was laid on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor.

In 1914, one of the first, if not the first, electric traffic light systems was installed in Cleveland, Ohio, at the intersection of 105th Street and Euclid Avenue.

In 1924, the comic strip "Little Orphan Annie," by Harold Gray, made its debut.

In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the National Labor Board, which was later replaced with the National Labor Relations Board.

In 1953, Operation Big Switch began as prisoners taken during the Korean conflict were exchanged at Panmunjom.

In 1962, actress Marilyn Monroe, 36, was found dead in her Los Angeles home; her death was ruled a probable suicide from an overdose of sleeping pills.

In 1963, the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union signed a treaty in Moscow banning nuclear tests in the atmosphere, in space and underwater.

In 1968, the Republican national convention convened in Miami Beach.

In 1981, the federal government began firing air traffic controllers who had gone out on strike.

Ten years ago: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein broke off cooperation with U.N. weapons inspectors and demanded the commission monitoring the weapons be reorganized. Marie Noe of Philadelphia was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, accused of smothering eight of her children to death between 1949 and 1968. (Noe later received 20 years' probation.)

Five years ago: Episcopal leaders in Minneapolis voted to approve the election of the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, an openly gay clergyman, as bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire. A car bombing at the Marriott hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, killed 12 people.

One year ago: President Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai began meeting at Camp David to discuss security issues in Afghanistan. Lorena Ochoa won the Women's British Open — the first women's professional tournament played at venerable St. Andrews — for her first major title. Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, one of the most influential Roman Catholic figures in France, died in Paris at age 80. Comedian Stanley Myron Handelman died in Panorama City, Calif., at age 77.

Today's Birthdays: Former astronaut Neil A. Armstrong is 78. Country singer Vern Gosdin is 74. Actress Cammie King ("Gone with the Wind") is 74. Actor John Saxon is 73. Actor Zakes Mokae is 73. Country songwriter Bobby Braddock is 68. Rock musician Rick Huxley (The Dave Clark Five) is 66. Actress Loni Anderson is 62. Actress Erika Slezak is 62. Rock singer Rick Derringer is 61. Actress Holly Palance is 58. Singer Samantha Sang is 55. Actress-singer Maureen McCormick is 52. Rock musician Pat Smear is 49. Actress Tawney Kitaen is 47. Country musician Mark O'Connor is 47. Rapper MCA (The Beastie Boys) is 44. Actor Jonathan Silverman is 42. Country singer Terri Clark is 40. Actor Brendon Ryan Barrett is 22.

Thought for Today: "I slept, and dreamed that life was Beauty; I woke, and found that life was Duty." — Ellen Sturgis Hooper, American poet (1816-1841).

Courtesy of the Associated Press and Edwin 1961