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On this date in history:

In 1914, a U.S. ship sailed from the Atlantic to the Pacific
Ocean, officially opening the Panama Canal.

In 1935, humorist Will Rogers and pilot Wiley Post were
killed when their plane crashed in Alaska.

In 1947, India and Pakistan won their independence from
Great Britain.

In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival opened on
Max Yasgur's farm near Bethel, N.Y., drawing an estimated
400,000 people for three days of music.

In 1985, South African President P.W. Botha, rejecting
Western pleas to abolish apartheid, declared, "I am not
prepared to lead white South Africans and other minority
groups on a road to abdication and suicide."

In 1987, more than 13.5 inches of rain drenched the
Chicago area, causing more than $100 million in damage.

In 1991, the United Nations allowed Iraq to sell up to
$1.6 billion worth of oil to obtain money for food and
medicine.

In 1992, Vietnam blamed Hollywood for creating the "myth"
that U.S. servicemen are being held in Indochina.

In 1993, Pope John Paul II conducted mass for up to
400,000 people at the World Youth Day festival south of
Denver.

In 1995, the Justice Department agreed to pay $3.1
million to white separatist Randall Weaver, whose wife
and teenage son were killed by FBI sharpshooters during
a standoff at his Idaho cabin three years earlier.

In 1998, a bomb blast in Omagh, Northern Ireland,
killed 28 people and injured more than 300 others.
A 29th victim died a month later. It was the worst
attack in 29 years of paramilitary violence in Ulster.

Also in 1998, Pakistan handed over to Kenya a suspect
who reportedly confessed to involvement in the bombing
of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi eight days earlier.

In 2002, the Centers for Disease Control confirmed that
the United States was experiencing its worst outbreak
of mosquito-borne West Nile virus since the virus
appeared in the nation in 1999.

In 2003, Libya admitted responsibility for the 1988
bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland,
that claimed 270 lives and agreed to pay reparations
that reports say could total $2.7 billion.

In 2004, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Anan called on
Central Africa governments to curb militias in the
border areas of Burundi, Congo, Rwanda and Uganda
following the massacre of more than 150 Congolese
refugees, mostly women and children, in Burundi.

Also in 2004, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
survived a referendum to oust him.

In 2005, newly formed Hurricane Irene strengthened
to 85 mph winds but forecasters said it was unlikely
to pose a threat to the United States.