Today in History: August 16, American music loses two legends

Today is Sunday, Aug. 16, the 228th day of 2026. There are 137 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Aug. 16, 1977, Elvis Presley died at his Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee at the age of 42; forty-one years later, in 2018, singer Aretha Franklin, known as the “Queen of Soul,” died in Detroit at the age of 76.

Also 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 1896, gold was discovered in Canada’s Yukon Territory, sparking the “Klondike Fever” that would draw tens of thousands to the region in search of fortune.

In 1948, baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York at age 53.

In 1954, the first issue of “Sports Illustrated” was released.

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 “Raoul.”

In 1987, people worldwide began a two-day celebration of the “Harmonic Convergence,” which heralded what believers called the start of a new, purer age of humankind.

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 after a Black 18-year-old, Michael Brown, was shot to death by a white police officer.

In 2020, lightning sparked the August Complex wildfire in California. More than 1,600 square miles — greater than the size of Rhode Island — would burn over the following three months.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Julie Newmar is 93. Film director Bruce Beresford is 86. Actor Bob Balaban is 81. Ballerina Suzanne Farrell is 81. Actor Lesley Ann Warren is 80. Actor Reginald VelJohnson is 74. Singer/author/TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford is 73. Singer J.T. Taylor (Kool and the Gang) is 73. Movie director James Cameron is 72. Singer/actor Madonna is 68. Actor Angela Bassett is 68. Actor Timothy Hutton is 66. Actor Steve Carell (kuh-REHL’) is 64. Country musician Emily Strayer (The Chicks) is 54. Actor/filmmaker Taika Waititi is 51. Singer Vanessa Carlton is 46. Country singer Dan Smyers (Dan & Shay) is 39. Actor Rumer Willis is 38. U.S. Olympic gold medal swimmer Caeleb Dressel is 30. Actor Piper Curda is 29. Tennis player Jannik Sinner is 25. Actor Seth Carr is 19.