Television

The Games of the XXIX Olympiad opened in Beijing, China, on August 8, 2008.

American actress, singer, and dancer Judy Garland was born on June 10, 1922, in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

On June 2, 1953, the coronation ceremony for Queen Elizabeth II attracted worldwide attention.

Acclaimed author Laura Ingalls Wilder was born on February 7, 1867, in Pepin County, Wisconsin.

Actor Boris Karloff was born William Henry Pratt on November 23, 1887, in Camberwell, London, England.

On October 28, 1956, Elvis Presley received a widely publicized polio vaccine that helped to promote the widespread immunization of teenagers around the country.

Puppeteer James Maury Henson was born on September 24, 1936, in Greenville, Mississippi.

On August 15, 1939, The Wizard of Oz premiered at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California.

On August 12, 1983, the USPS issued its first Express mail stamp, though the service, and those like it, had been available for several years.