Today is Tuesday, Aug. 17, the 229th day of 2010. There are 136 days left in the year.

On this date:

In 1960, the west African country of Gabon became independent of France.

In 1960, the newly renamed Beatles (formerly the Silver Beetles), consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and just-hired drummer Pete Best, began their first gig in Hamburg, West Germany at the Indra Club.

In 1969, Hurricane Camille slammed into the Mississippi coast as a Category 5 storm that was blamed for 256 US deaths, three in Cuba.

In 1987, Rudolf Hess, the last member of Adolf Hitler's inner circle, died at Spandau Prison at age 93, an apparent suicide.

Thought for Today:

"A river has no politics." — David E. Lilienthal, American public official (1899-1981).