Today in History
Today is Friday, July 7, the 188th day of 2023. There are 177 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On July 7, 1976, the United States Military Academy at West Point included female cadets for the first time as 119 women joined the Class of 1980.
On this date:
In 1846, U.S. annexation of California was proclaimed at Monterey after the surrender of a Mexican garrison.
In 1865, four people were hanged in Washington, D.C. for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln: Lewis Powell, David Herold, George Atzerodt and Mary Surratt, the first woman to be executed by the federal government.
In 1898, the United States annexed Hawaii.
In 1930, construction began on Boulder Dam (later Hoover Dam).
In 1946, Jimmy Carter, 21, married Rosalynn (ROH’-zuh-lihn) Smith, 18, in Plains, Georgia.
In 1948, six female U.S. Navy reservists became the first women to be sworn in to the regular Navy.
In 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced he was nominating Arizona Judge Sandra Day O’Connor to become the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1990, the first “Three Tenors” concert took place as opera stars Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras performed amid the brick ruins of Rome’s Baths of Caracalla on the eve of the World Cup championship.
In 2005, terrorist bombings in three Underground stations and a double-decker bus killed 52 victims and four bombers in the worst attack on London since World War II.
In 2010, Los Angeles police charged Lonnie Franklin Jr. in the city’s “Grim Sleeper” serial killings. (Franklin, who was sentenced to death for the killings of nine women and a teenage girl, died in prison in March 2020 at the age of 67.)
In 2016, Micah Johnson, a Black Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, opened fire on Dallas police, killing five officers in an act of vengeance for the fatal police shootings of Black men; the attack ended with Johnson being killed by a bomb delivered by a police robot.
Ten years ago: A de Havilland DHC-3 Otter air taxi crashed after taking off from Soldotna, Alaska, killing all 10 people on board. Andy Murray became the first British man in 77 years to win the Wimbledon title, beating Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in the final.
Five years ago: After two days of talks in North Korea’s capital, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he had commitments for new discussions on denuclearization, but North Korea said Pompeo’s visit had been “regrettable” and that the United States was making “gangster-like” demands. High electricity demand amid a California heat wave left tens of thousands without power in Los Angeles.
One year ago: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation after droves of top government officials quit over the latest scandal to engulf him, marking an end to three tumultuous years in which he tried to bluster his way through one ethical lapse after another. A federal judge sentenced Derek Chauvin to 21 years in prison for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, telling the former Minneapolis police officer that what he did was “simply wrong” and “offensive.” James Caan, the curly-haired tough guy known to movie fans as the hotheaded Sonny Corleone of “The Godfather” and to television audiences as the dying football player in the classic weeper “Brian’s Song,” died at age 82.
Today’s Birthdays: Musician-conductor Doc Severinsen is 96. Rock star Ringo Starr is 83. Comedian Bill Oddie is 82. Actor Joe Spano is 77. Pop singer David Hodo (The Village People) is 76. Country singer Linda Williams is 76. Actor Shelley Duvall is 74. Actor Roz Ryan is 72. Actor Billy Campbell is 64. Rock musician Mark White (Spin Doctors) is 61. Singer-songwriter Vonda Shepard is 60. Actor-comedian Jim Gaffigan is 57. R&B musician Ricky Kinchen (Mint Condition) is 57. Actor Amy Carlson is 55. Actor Jorja Fox is 55. Actor Cree Summer is 54. Actor Robin Weigert is 54. Actor Kirsten Vangsness is 51. Actor Troy Garity is 50. Actor Berenice Bejo (BEH’-ruh-nees BAY’-hoh) is 47. Actor Hamish Linklater is 47. Olympic silver and bronze medal figure skater Michelle Kwan is 43. Rapper Cassidy is 41. Country singer Gabbie Nolen is 41. Actor Ross Malinger is 39. Actor-comedian Luke Null (TV: “Saturday Night Live”) is 33. Pop singer Ally Hernandez (Fifth Harmony) (TV: “The X Factor”) is 30. Pop musician Ashton Irwin (5 Seconds to Summer) is 29. Country singer Maddie Font (Maddie and Tae) is 28.
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