TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS MONDAY, JULY 3,
the 184th day of 2017. There are 181 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1863, the three-day Civil War Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania ended in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops failed to breach Union positions during an assault known as Pickett’s Charge.
In 1775,
Gen. George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Mass.
In 1890,
Idaho became the 43rd state of the Union.
In 1913,
during a 50th anniversary reunion at Gettysburg, Pa., Civil War veterans re-enacted Pickett’s Charge, which ended with embraces and handshakes between the former enemies.
In 1938,
President Franklin D. Roosevelt marked the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg by dedicating the Eternal Light Peace Memorial.
In 1944,
during World War II, Soviet forces recaptured Minsk from the Germans.
In 1950,
the first carrier strikes of the Korean War took place as the USS Valley Forge and the HMS Triumph sent fighter planes against North Korean targets.
In 1962,
French President Charles de Gaulle signed an agreement recognizing Algeria as an independent state after 132 years of French rule.
In 1971,
singer Jim Morrison of The Doors died in Paris at age 27.
In 1976,
Israel launched its daring mission to rescue 106 passengers and Air France crew members being held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda by pro-Palestinian hijackers; the commandos succeeded in rescuing all but four of the hostages.
In 1987,
British millionaire Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand became the first hot-air balloon travelers to cross the Atlantic, parachuting into the sea when their craft went down off the Scottish coast.
In 1988,
the USS Vincennes shot down an Iran Air jetliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
In 1992,
the first U.S. Air Force C-130 transport planes from Operation Provide Promise arrived in the besieged Bosnian capital of Sarajevo.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:
Actor Tim O’Connor is 90. Playwright Tom Stoppard is 80. Writer-producer Jay Tarses is 78. Actor Michael Cole (TV: “The Mod Squad”) is 77. Attorney Gloria Allred is 76. Folk singer Judith Durham (The Seekers) and actor Kurtwood Smith are 74. Country singer Johnny Lee is 71. Humorist Dave Barry and actress Betty Buckley are 70. Rock singer-musician Paul Barrere (Little Feat) is 69. Actress Jan Smithers is 68. Actor Bruce Altman is 62. Talk show host Montel Williams is 61. Country singer Aaron Tippin is 59. Rock musician Vince Clarke (Erasure) is 57. Actors Tom Cruise and Thomas Gibson, and actress Hunter Tylo are 55. Actresses Connie Nielsen and Yeardley Smith are 53. TV chef Sandra Lee is 51. Singer Ishmael Butler, rock musician Kevin Hearn (Barenaked Ladies) and actress-singer Shawnee Smith are 48. Actress-singer Audra McDonald is 47. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is 46. Actor Patrick Wilson is 44. Country singer Trent Tomlinson is 42. Actress Andrea Barber and singer Shane Lynch (Boyzone) are 41. Actor Ian Anthony Dale is 39. Actress Elizabeth Hendrickson and rhythm-and-blues singer Tonia Tash (Divine) are 38. Country singersongwriter Sarah Buxton, and actresses Olivia Munn and Shoshannah Stern are 37. Rock singer-songwriter Elle King is 28. Actor Grant Rosenmeyer is 26. Actress Kelsey Batelaan is 22.