Today in History: August 7, Twin Tower tightrope walk

Today is Friday, Aug. 7, the 219th day of 2026. There are 146 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Aug. 7, 1974, French high-wire artist Philippe Petit performed an unapproved tightrope walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York, over 1,300 feet above the ground; the event was chronicled in the Academy Award-winning documentary “Man on Wire.”

Also on this date:

In 1789, the U.S. Department of War was established by Congress.

In 1942, U.S. and other allied forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II.

In 1960, Cote d’Ivoire gained independence from France.

In 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson broad powers in dealing with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.

In 1971, the Apollo 15 moon mission ended successfully as its command module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter declared the Love Canal environmental disaster in Niagara Falls, N.Y., a federal health emergency; it would later top the initial list of Superfund cleanup sites.

In 1989, a plane carrying U.S. Rep. Mickey Leland, D-Texas, and 15 others disappeared over Ethiopia. (The wreckage of the plane was found six days later; there were no survivors.)

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush ordered U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard the oil-rich desert kingdom against a possible invasion by Iraq.

In 1998, terrorist bombs at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.

In 2007, San Francisco’s Barry Bonds hit home run No. 756 to break Hank Aaron’s storied record with one out in the fifth inning of a game against the Washington Nationals, who won, 8-6.

In 2012, to avoid a possible death penalty, Jared Lee Loughner agreed to spend the rest of his life in prison, accepting that he went on a deadly shooting rampage at an Arizona political gathering in 2011 that left six people dead and 13 injured, including U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords.

In 2015, Colorado theater shooter James Holmes was spared the death penalty in favor of life in prison after a jury failed to agree on whether he should be executed for his attack at a packed movie premiere that left 12 people dead.

In 2020, an Air India Express flight returning Indians stranded abroad by the COVID-19 pandemic skidded off a runway in heavy rain and cracked in two in southern India. Eighteen people including both pilots were killed and more than 120 were injured in the accident as the flight from Dubai was landing in Kerala state.

Today’s Birthdays: Singer Lana Cantrell is 83. Actor John Glover is 82. Actor David Rasche is 82. Former diplomat, talk show host and activist Alan Keyes is 76. Country singer Rodney Crowell is 76. Actor Caroline Aaron is 74. Comedian Alexei Sayle is 74. Actor Wayne Knight is 71. Rock singer Bruce Dickinson is 68. Actor David Duchovny is 66. Actor Delane Matthews is 65. Actor Harold Perrineau is 63. Jazz musician Marcus Roberts is 63. Country singer Raul Malo is 61. Actor David Mann is 60. Actor Charlotte Lewis is 59. Actor Sydney Penny is 55. Actor Greg Serano is 54. Actor Michael Shannon is 52. Actor Charlize Theron is 51. Rock musician Barry Kerch is 50. Actor Eric Johnson is 47. Actor Randy Wayne is 45. Actor-writer Brit Marling is 44. NHL center Sidney Crosby is 39. MLB All-Star Mike Trout is 35. Actor Liam James is 30. Actor Luca Luhan is 19.