Today is Wednesday, Aug. 5, the 217th day of 2026. Today in…Today is Wednesday, Aug. 5, the 217th day of 2026. Today in history:On Aug. 5, 1962, South African anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela was arrested on charges of leaving the country without a valid passport and inciting workers to strike; it was the beginning of 27 years of imprisonment. In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Adm. David G. Farragut led his fleet to victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay, Alabama. In 1884, the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal was laid on Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor.