This day in history

► Today is Friday, Aug. 26, the 238th day of 2011. There are 127 days left in the year. ► Today’s birthdays: Former Washington Post executive editor Benjamin C. Bradlee is 90. Actress Francine York is 75. Singer Vic Dana is 69. Rhythm-and-blues singer Valerie Simpson is 65. Pop singer Bob Cowsill is 62. Actor Brett Cullen is 55. NBA coach Stan Van Gundy is 52. Jazz musician Branford Marsalis is 51. Country musician Jimmy Olander (Diamond Rio) is 50. Actor Chris Burke is 46. Singer Shirley Manson (Garbage) is 45. Rock musician Dan Vickrey (Counting Crowes) is 45. TV writer-actress Riley Weston is 45. Rock musician Adrian Young (No Doubt) is 42. Actress Melissa McCarthy is 41. Latin pop singer Thalia is 40. Rock singer-musician Tyler Connolly (Theory of a Deadman) is 36. Actor Macaulay Culkin is 31. Actor Chris Pine is 31. Rhythm-and-blues singer Cassie Ventura is 25. Actress Keke Palmer is 18. ► In 1883, the island volcano Krakatoa began cataclysmic eruptions, leading to a massive explosion the following day. ► In 1910, Thomas Edison demonstrated for reporters an improved version of his Kinetophone, a device for showing a movie with synchronized sound. ► In 1920, the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, guaranteeing American women the right to vote, was certified in effect by Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby. ► In 1936, the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, calling for most British troops to leave Egypt, was signed in Montreux, Switzerland (it was abrogated by Egypt in 1951). ► In 1958, Alaskans went to the polls to overwhelmingly vote in favor of statehood. ► In 1961, the original Hockey Hall of Fame was opened in Toronto. ► In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson was nominated for a term of office in his own right at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City. ► In 1971, New Jersey Governor William T. Cahill announced that the New York Giants football team had agreed to leave Yankee Stadium for a new sports complex to be built in East Rutherford. ► In 1978, Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice was elected pope following the death of Paul VI. The new pontiff took the name Pope John Paul I. (However, he died just over a month later.) ► In 1986, in the so-called “preppie murder case,’’ 18-year-old Jennifer Levin was found strangled in New York’s Central Park; Robert Chambers later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and served 15 years in prison. ► In 2010, the government of Chile released the first video of the 33 miners trapped deep in a copper mine; the men appeared slim but healthy as they sang the national anthem and yelled, “Long live Chile, and long live the miners!’’