历史上的今天-Today in History 2013-08-14

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In Washington, President Harry¹ Truman announces Japan’s unconditional² surrender, ending WWII. Weeks later, a surrender ceremony on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay formally concludes 6 years of fighting in Europe and the Pacific.

2003. 50 million people lose power as a huge blackout hits the northeastern United States and parts of Canada. An Ohio-based utility later receives much of the blame for the outages, which highlight the condition of North America’s power grid³.

1935. “Today a hope of many years' standing⁴ is in large part fulfilled.”

In Washington, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act. The law provides retirement⁵ income to elderly Americans and other government benefits to this day.

1969. British troops arrive in Northern Ireland. They’re sent there to intervene amid a surge in sectarian violence between Protestants and Roman Catholics. But that violence continues to flare⁶ in the troubled province until a peace process emerges decades later.

1980. During the Cold War, workers begin a strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland. The job action leads to the Solidarity⁷ labor⁸ movement, the first in dependent union behind the Iron Curtain. Solidarity helps topple Communism in Poland by the end of the decade.

And 1945. “Excue me.”

Steve Martin, actor, comedian⁹, writer and producer is born in Waco, Texas. Today in History, August 14th. Camille Bohannon, the Associated Press.

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