August 16 Birthday
On August 16, 1977, Elvis Presley was found dead on the bathroom floor at Graceland. He was forty-two. The cause was cardiac arrhythmia, complicated by years of prescription drug abuse. Elvis had been taking an estimated nineteen medications daily, including opiates, barbiturates, and steroids. His personal physician, Dr. George Nichopoulos, would later have his license revoked. Elvis's body was initially buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis, but after an attempt to steal the body, it was moved to Graceland. Graceland became the second-most-visited house in America, after the White House. T.E. Lawrence, born this day in 1888, was an Oxford archaeologist who became "Lawrence of Arabia" during World War I. He organized Arab tribes to fight against the Ottoman Empire. His account, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, described his experiences. He was troubled by the British and French betrayal of Arab independence — the Sykes-Picot Agreement had divided the Middle East between them. After the war, Lawrence enlisted in the RAF under a false name and lived as a private soldier. He died in a motorcycle accident in 1935 at forty-six. People born on August 16 fall under the zodiac sign of Leo. The birthstone is Peridot and the birth flower is Gladiolus. Historical events on August 16 include 1977: Elvis Presley found dead at Graceland at age 42, 1896: Gold discovered in the Klondike, sparking a gold rush, 1812: Fort Detroit surrenders to British without firing a shot. Famous people born on August 16 include T.E. Lawrence (1888), Menachem Begin (1913), Madonna (1958).