TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, July 12, the 193rd day of 2017. There are 172 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1967, rioting erupted in Newark, N.J., over the police beating of a black taxi driver; 26 people were killed in the five days of violence that followed.

ON THIS DATE:

In 1543, England’s King Henry VIII married his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr.

In 1817, author, poet and naturalist Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, Mass.

In 1862, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill authorizing the Army Medal of Honor.

In 1909, the House of Representatives joined the Senate in passing the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, allowing for a federal income tax, and submitted it to the states. (It was declared ratified in February 1913.)

In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was flown by helicopter from the White House to a secret mountaintop location as part of a drill involving a mock nuclear attack on Washington.

In 1984, Democratic presidential candidate Walter F. Mondale announced his choice of U.S. Rep. Geraldine A. Ferraro of New York to be his running mate; Ferraro was the first woman to run for vice president on a major-party ticket.

In 1994, President Bill Clinton, visiting Germany, went to the eastern sector of Berlin, the first U.S. president to do so since Harry Truman.

In 2001, Abner Louima, the Haitian immigrant tortured in a New York City police station, agreed to an $8.7 million settlement with the city and its police union.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actor-comedian Bill Cosby is 80. Fitness guru Richard Simmons is 69. Writer-producer Brian Grazer and actress Cheryl Ladd are 66. Rock guitarist Dan Murphy (Soul Asylum) is 55. Olympic gold medal figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi is 46. Rapper Magoo is 44. ctor Steve Howey is 40. Actor Topher Grace and actress Michelle Rodriguez are 39. Actress Kristen Connolly is 37. Country singer-musician Kimberly Perry (The Band Perry) is 34. Actor Matt Cook (TV: “Man With a Plan”) is 33. Actress Ta’Rhonda Jones and golfer Inbee Park are 29. Actress Rachel Brosnahan is 27. Actor Erik Per Sullivan is 26.

— Associated Press