Today in History
In 1789, President George Washington signed a measure establishing the Department of Foreign Affairs, forerunner of the Department of State.
In 1866, Cyrus W. Field finished laying out the first successful underwater telegraph cable between North America and Europe.
In 1909, during the first official test of the U.S. Army’s first airplane, Orville Wright flew himself and a passenger, Lt. Frank Lahm, above Fort Myer, Virginia, for one hour and 12 minutes.
In 1940, Billboard magazine published its first “music popularity chart” listing best-selling retail records. In first place was “I’ll Never Smile Again” recorded by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, with featured vocalist Frank Sinatra.
In 1953, the Korean War armistice was signed at Panmunjom, ending three years of fighting.
In 1960, Vice President Richard M. Nixon was nominated for president on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention in Chicago.
In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed the Kerner Commission to assess the causes of urban rioting, the same day Black militant H. Rap Brown told a press conference in Washington that violence was “as American as cherry pie.”
In 1974, the House Judiciary Committee voted 27-11 to adopt the first of three articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon, charging he had personally engaged in a course of conduct designed to obstruct justice in the Watergate case.
In 1980, on day 267 of the Iranian hostage crisis, the deposed Shah of Iran died at a military hospital outside Cairo, Egypt, at age 60.
In 1981, 6-year-old Adam Walsh was abducted from a department store in Hollywood, Fla., and was later murdered.
In 1996, terror struck the Atlanta Olympics as a pipe bomb exploded at Centennial Olympic Park, directly killing one person and injuring 111. (Anti-government extremist Eric Rudolph later pleaded guilty to the bombing, exonerating security guard Richard Jewell, who had been wrongly suspected.)
In 2015, the Boy Scouts of America ended its blanket ban on gay adult leaders while allowing church-sponsored Scout units to maintain the exclusion for religious reasons.
In 2020, the world’s biggest COVID-19 vaccine study began with the first of 30,000 planned volunteers helping to test shots created by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc.
Ten years ago: Security forces and armed men clashed with supporters of Egypt’s ousted president, Mohammed Morsi, killing at least 80 people. More than a thousand inmates escaped a prison in Libya as protesters stormed political party offices across the country. Former Louisiana congresswoman Lindy Boggs died in Chevy Chase, Maryland at age 97.
Five years ago: The White House announced that North Korea had returned the remains of what were believed to be U.S. servicemen killed during the Korean War, with a U.S. military plane making a rare trip into North Korea to retrieve 55 cases of remains. The Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy surged in the second quarter at an annual growth rate of 4.1 percent, the fastest pace since 2014. Official results showed that former cricket star Imran Khan won in Pakistan’s elections, but that he would have to seek out allies to form a coalition government. A federal judge ruled that the Justice Department doesn’t have the authority to withhold grants to the city of Chicago because of its policies providing sanctuary to immigrants.
One year ago: The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by a hefty three-quarters of a point for a second straight time in its most aggressive drive in three decades to tame high inflation. The last two former Minneapolis police officers who were convicted of violating George Floyd’s civil rights were sentenced in federal court. J. Alexander Kueng was sentenced Wednesday to three years and Tou Thao got a 3 1/2-year sentence. Tony Dow, who as Wally Cleaver on the sitcom “Leave It to Beaver” helped create the popular and lasting image of the American teenager of the 1950s and 60s, died at age 77.
BIRTHDAYS
TV producer Norman Lear is 101.
Actor John Pleshette is 81.
Actor-director Betty Thomas is 76.
Olympic gold medal figure skater Peggy Fleming is 75.
Singer Maureen McGovern is 74.
Rock musician Tris Imboden (formerly with Chicago) is 72.
Actor Roxanne Hart is 69.
Comedian-actor-writer Carol Leifer is 67.
Comedian Bill Engvall is 66.
Jazz singer Karrin Allyson is 61.
Country singer Stacy Dean Campbell is 56.
Rock singer Juliana Hatfield is 56.
Actor Julian McMahon is 55.
Actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is 53.
Comedian Maya Rudolph is 51.
Rock musician Abe Cunningham is 50.
Singer-songwriter Pete Yorn is 49.
Former MLB All-Star Alex Rodriguez is 48.
Actor Seamus Dever is 47.
Actor Martha Madison is 46.
Actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers is 46.
Actor/comedian Heidi Gardner is 40.
Actor Blair Redford is 40.
Actor Taylor Schilling is 39.
MLB All-Star pitcher Max Scherzer is 39.
Singer Cheyenne Kimball is 33.
Golfer Jordan Spieth is 30.
Actor Alyvia Alyn Lind is 16.
