Today is Friday, Aug. 5, the 218th day of 2016. There are 148 days left in the year.

Today’s birthdays: College Football Hall of Famer and former NFL player Roman Gabriel is 76. Actress Loni Anderson is 71. Actress Erika Slezak is 70. Actress-singer Maureen McCormick is 60. Author David Baldacci is 56. Actress Tawney Kitaen is 55. Basketball Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing is 54. Actor Jesse Williams is 36.

In 1884, the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal was laid on Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor.

In 1936, Jesse Owens of the United States won the 200-meter dash at the Berlin Olympics, collecting the third of his four gold medals.

In 1957, the teenage dance show ‘‘American Bandstand,’’ hosted by Dick Clark, made its network debut on ABC-TV.

In 1962, actress Marilyn Monroe, 36, was found dead in her Los Angeles home; her death was ruled a probable suicide from ‘‘acute barbiturate poisoning.’’ South African anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela was arrested, the the beginning of 27 years of imprisonment.

In 1969, the US space probe Mariner 7 flew by Mars, sending back photographs and scientific data.

In 1974, the White House released transcripts of subpoenaed tape recordings showing that President Richard Nixon and his chief of staff had discussed a plan in June 1972 to use the CIA to thwart the FBI’s Watergate investigation.

In 2011, Standard Poor’s lowered the United States’ AAA credit rating by one notch to AA-plus.