Today’s highlight

Today in history:

On Aug. 11, 1934, the first federal prisoners arrived at Alcatraz Island, a former military prison, in San Francisco Bay; the island would be home to more than 1,500 prisoners over the next three decades, including gangsters Al Capone and James “Whitey” Bulger, before closing in 1963.

Also on this date:

1929: Babe Ruth became the first baseball player to reach 500 career home runs with a homer at Cleveland’s League Park.

1965: Rioting that claimed 34 lives and lasted six days broke out in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles.

1972: The last U.S. ground combat troops in South Vietnam left to return to the United States.

1992: The Mall of America, the nation’s largest shopping-entertainment center, opened in Bloomington, Minnesota.

1997: President Bill Clinton made the first use of the historic line-item veto, rejecting three items in spending and tax bills. (The U.S. Supreme Court later struck down the veto as unconstitutional.)

2014: Academy Award-winning actor and comedian Robin Williams died in Tiburon, California at age 63.

Today’s birthdays

Computer scientist and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is 74. Wrestler-actor Hulk Hogan is 71. Musician Joe Jackson is 70. Playwright David Henry Hwang is 67. Actor-host Joe Rogan is 57. Rock guitarist Charlie Sexton is 56. Hip-hop artist Ali Shaheed Muhammad is 54. Actor Will Friedle is 48.