TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SATURDAY, JULY 23, the 205th day of 2016. There are 161 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1996, in one of the most memorable moments of the Atlanta Olympics, Kerri Strug made a heroic final vault despite torn ligaments in her sprained left ankle as the U.S. women gymnasts clinched their first-ever Olympic team gold medal.
In 1885, Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president of the United States, died in Mount McGregor, N.Y., at age 63.
In 1914, Austria-Hungary presented a list of demands to Serbia after the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serb assassin; Serbia’s refusal to agree to the entire ultimatum led to the outbreak of World War I.
In 1945, French Marshal Henri Petain, who had headed the pro-Axis Vichy government during World War II, went on trial, charged with treason. He was convicted and condemned to death, but the sentence was commuted to life in prison. On this date in 1951, Petain died in prison.
In 1952, Egyptian military officers led by Gamal Abdel Nasser launched a successful coup against King Farouk I.
In 1962, the first public TV transmissions over Telstar 1 took place during a special program featuring live shots beamed from the United States to Europe, and vice versa.
In 1967, a week of deadly race-related rioting that claimed 43 lives erupted in Detroit.
In 1977, a jury in Washington, D.C., convicted 12 Hanafi Muslims of charges stemming from the hostage siege at three buildings the previous March.
In 1986, Britain’s Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey in London. (The couple divorced in 1996.)
In 1990, President George H.W. Bush announced his choice of Judge David Souter of New Hampshire to succeed the retiring Justice William J. Brennan on the U.S. Supreme Court.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Concert pianist Leon Fleisher is 88. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is 80. Radio personality Don Imus is 76. Rock singer David Essex is 69. Singersongwriter John Hall is 68. Actress-writer Lydia Cornell is 63. Actor Eriq Lasalle is 54. Rock musician Slash is 51. Actor Juan Pope is 49. Model-actress Stephanie Seymour is 48. Country singer Alison Krauss, rhythm-andblues singer Dalvin DeGrate and rock musician Chad Gracey (Live) are 45. Actor-comedian Marlon Wayans is 44. Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky is 43. Country musician David Pichette is 39. Actor Paul Wesley is 34. Actor Daniel Radcliffe is 27. Country musician Neil Perry is 26. Country singer Danielle Bradbery (TV: “The Voice”) is 20.