Today in History: August 18, 19th Amendment Gives Women the Right to Vote

Today is Sunday, August 18, the 231st day of 2024. There are 135 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing the right to vote for American women, was ratified. Tennessee became the 36th state to approve the amendment.

Also on this date:

In 1590, John White, the governor of the Roanoke Island colony (in present-day North Carolina), returned to Roanoke after nearly three years abroad, only to find the settlement abandoned; the fate of the “Lost Colony” remains a mystery.

In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson issued his Neutrality Proclamation, aimed at keeping the United States out of World War I.

In 1958, Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita was published in the United States.

In 1963, James Meredith became the first black student to graduate from the University of Mississippi.

In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in Bethel, New York, concluded after three evenings with a morning performance by Jimi Hendrix.

In 1983, Hurricane Alicia hit the Texas coast, killing 21 people and causing more than $1 billion in damage.

In 2004, Paul Hamm (hahm) won the gold medal in the men’s all-around in Athens by the narrowest margin ever in this event. Controversy arose after it emerged that a scoring error cost South Korea’s Yang Tae-young the title.

In 2005, a judge in Wichita, Kansas, sentenced BTK serial killer Dennis Rader to 10 consecutive life sentences, the maximum allowed by law.

In 2014, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon sent the National Guard to Ferguson, a St. Louis suburb that was rocked by protests following the fatal shooting of 18-year-old black youth Michael Brown.

Today’s birthday:

• Actor-director Robert Redford is 88.
• Actor Carole Bouquet is 67.
• Actor Denis Leary is 67.
• Actress Madeleine Stowe is 66.
• ABC News reporter Bob Woodruff is 63.
• Actor Edward Norton is 55.
• Actor Christian Slater is 55.
• Actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner is 54.
• Actor Kaitlin Olson is 49.
• Actor-comedian Andy Samberg is 46.
• Artist-model Frances Bean Cobain is 32.
• Actress-singer Maia Mitchell is 31.
• Actress Madelaine Petsch is 30.
• Olympic gold medal swimmer Summer McIntosh is 18 years old.