Today in History
Today is Saturday, July 29, the 210th day of 2023. There are 155 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On July 29, 1981, Britain’s Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in a glittering ceremony at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. (The couple divorced in 1996.)
On this date:
In 1890, artist Vincent van Gogh, 37, died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound in Auvers-sur-Oise, France.
In 1914, transcontinental telephone service in the U.S. became operational with the first test conversation between New York and San Francisco.
In 1921, Adolf Hitler became the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party.
In 1957, the International Atomic Energy Agency was established. Jack Paar made his debut as host of NBC’s “Tonight Show.”
In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, creating NASA.
In 1967, an accidental rocket launch on the deck of the supercarrier USS Forrestal in the Gulf of Tonkin resulted in a fire and explosions that killed 134 servicemen.
In 1968, Pope Paul the Sixth reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church’s stance against artificial methods of birth control.
In 1980, a state funeral was held in Cairo, Egypt, for the deposed Shah of Iran, who had died two days earlier at age 60.
In 1986, a federal jury in New York found that the National Football League had committed an antitrust violation against the rival United States Football League. But the jury ordered the N-F-L to pay token damages of only three dollars.
In 1994, abortion opponent Paul Hill shot and killed Dr. John Bayard Britton and Britton’s escort, James H. Barrett, outside the Ladies Center clinic in Pensacola, Florida.
In 1999, a former day trader, apparently upset over stock losses, opened fire in two Atlanta brokerage offices, killing nine people and wounding 13 before shooting himself to death; authorities said Mark O. Barton had also killed his wife and two children.
In 2016, former suburban Chicago police officer Drew Peterson was given an additional 40 years in prison for trying to hire someone to kill the prosecutor who put him behind bars for killing his third wife.
Ten years ago: The U.S. launched a fresh bid to pull Israel and the Palestinians into substantial negotiations with a dinner meeting in Washington hosted by Secretary of State John Kerry. The FBI said authorities had rescued 105 young people and arrested 150 alleged pimps and others in a three-day sweep in 76 cities.
Five years ago: President Donald Trump tweeted that he was willing to see the government shut down over border security issues, including money for a U.S.-Mexico border wall. Pitcher Sean Newcomb of the Atlanta Braves was within one strike of a no-hitter before Chris Taylor singled for the Los Angeles Dodgers. After the game, the 25-year-old Newcomb apologized for racist, homophobic and sexist tweets he had sent as a teenager; he described the tweets as “some stupid stuff” he said with friends.
One year ago: Search and rescue teams backed by the National Guard searched for people missing in record floods that wiped out entire communities in some of the poorest places in America. Kentucky’s governor said at least 16 people there had died. Russia and Ukraine accused each other of shelling a prison in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine, an attack that reportedly killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war captured after the fall of Mariupol, the city where troops famously held out against a monthslong Russian siege. Will Smith again apologized to Chris Rock for slapping him during the Oscar telecast, saying that his behavior was “unacceptable.”
Today’s Birthdays: Former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum-Baker is 91. Actor Robert Fuller is 90. Former Sen. Elizabeth H. Dole is 87. Actor Roz Kelly is 81. Rock musician Neal Doughty (REO Speedwagon) is 77. Marilyn Tucker Quayle, wife of former Vice President Dan Quayle, is 74. Actor Mike Starr is 73. Documentary maker Ken Burns is 70. Style guru Tim Gunn is 70. Rock singer-musician Geddy Lee (Rush) is 70. Rock singer Patti Scialfa (Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band) is 70. Actor Kevin Chapman is 61. Actor Alexandra Paul is 60. Actor/comedian Dean Haglund is 58. Country singer Martina McBride is 57. Actor Rodney Allen Rippy is 55. Actor Tim Omundson is 54. Actor Ato Essandoh is 51. Actor Wil Wheaton is 51. R&B singer Wanya Morris (Boyz II Men) is 50. Country singer-songwriter James Otto is 50. Actor Stephen Dorff is 50. Actor Josh Radnor is 49. Hip-hop DJ/music producer Danger Mouse is 46. Actor Rachel Miner is 43. Actor Kaitlyn Black is 40. Actor Matt Prokop is 33. Actor Cait Fairbanks is 30.
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