Today in History
Today is Monday, July 16, the 197th day of 2018. There are 168 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On July 16, 1945, the United States exploded its first experimental atomic bomb in the desert of Alamogordo, New Mexico; the same day, the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis left Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California on a secret mission to deliver atomic bomb components to Tinian Island in the Marianas.
On this date:
In 1790, a site along the Potomac River was designated the permanent seat of the United States government; the area became Washington, D.C.
In 1862, Flag Officer David G. Farragut became the first rear admiral in the United States Navy.
In 1935, the first parking meters were installed in the United States, in Oklahoma City.
In 1951, the novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger was first published by Little, Brown and Co.
In 1957, Marine Corps Maj. John Glenn set a transcontinental speed record by flying a Vought F8U Crusader jet from California to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8.4 seconds.
In 1964, as he accepted the Republican presidential nomination in San Francisco, Barry M. Goldwater declared that “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice” and that “moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”
In 1969, Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Kennedy on the first manned mission to the surface of the moon.
In 1973, during the Senate Watergate hearings, former White House aide Alexander P. Butterfield publicly revealed the existence of President Richard Nixon’s secret taping system.
In 1980, former California Gov. Ronald Reagan won the Republican presidential nomination at the party’s convention in Detroit.
In 1981, singer Harry Chapin was killed when his car was struck by a tractor-trailer on New York’s Long Island Expressway.
In 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, Carolyn, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, died when their single-engine plane, piloted by Kennedy, plunged into the Atlantic Ocean near Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
In 2002, the Irish Republican Army issued an unprecedented apology for the deaths of “noncombatants” over 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland.
Ten years ago: Republican John McCain addressed the annual convention of the NAACP, telling the civil rights group in Cincinnati he would expand education opportunities, partly through vouchers for low-income children to attend private schools. Israel freed notorious Lebanese militant Samir Kantar and four others after Hezbollah guerrillas handed over the bodies of two Israeli soldiers. Florida resident Casey Anthony, whose 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, had been missing a month, was arrested on charges of child neglect, making false official statements and obstructing a criminal investigation. (Casey Anthony was later acquitted at trial of murdering Caylee, whose skeletal remains were found in December 2008; she was convicted of lying to police.)
Five years ago: Egypt’s interim leader, Adly Mansour, swore in a Cabinet that included women and Christians but no Islamists as the military-backed administration moved swiftly to formalize the new political order. Twenty-three children, between the ages of 5 and 12, were fatally poisoned by pesticide-contaminated lunches served at a school in eastern India. The American League beat the National League 3-0 in the All-Star Game.
One year ago: Ten people died at a popular swimming hole in Arizona’s Tonto National Forest after a rainstorm unleashed a flash flood. Roger Federer won a record-breaking 8th Wimbledon title, beating Marin Cilic (CHIHL’-ihch) 6-3, 6-1, 6-4. British actress Jodie Whittaker was announced as the next star of the long-running science fiction series “Doctor Who” — the first woman to take a role that had been played by a dozen men over six decades. George Romero, director of the cult classic “Night of the Living Dead” and other horror films, died at the age of 77.
Today’s Birthdays: Former U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh is 86. Soul singer William Bell is 79. International Tennis Hall of Famer Margaret Court is 76. College Football Hall of Famer and football coach Jimmy Johnson is 75. Violinist Pinchas Zukerman is 70. Actor-singer Ruben Blades is 70. Rock composer-musician Stewart Copeland is 66. Playwright Tony Kushner is 62. Actress Faye Grant is 61. Dancer Michael Flatley is 60. Actress Phoebe Cates is 55. Actor Paul Hipp is 55. Actor Daryl “Chill” Mitchell is 53. Actor-comedian Will Ferrell is 51. Actor Jonathan Adams is 51. College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Barry Sanders is 50. Actress Rain Pryor is 49. Actor Corey Feldman is 47. Rock musician Ed Kowalczyk (Live) is 47. Rock singer Ryan McCombs (Drowning Pool) is 44. Actress Jayma Mays is 39. Actress AnnaLynne McCord is 31. Actor-singer James Maslow is 28. Actor Mark Indelicato is 24. Pop singer-musician Luke Hemmings (5 Seconds to Summer) is 22.
Thought for Today: “If sentiment doesn’t ultimately make fibbers of some people, their natural abominable memories almost certainly will.” — J.D. Salinger (1919-2010).