TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, the 212th day of 2019. There are 153 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1954, Pakistan’s K2 was conquered as two members of an Italian expedition, Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli, reached the summit.
In 1715, a fleet of Spanish ships carrying gold, silver and jewelry sank during a hurricane off the east Florida coast; of some 2,500 crew members, more than 1,000 died.
In 1777, during the Revolutionary War, the Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, was made a majorgeneral in the American Continental Army.
In 1945, Pierre Laval, premier of the proNazi Vichy government, surrendered to U.S. authorities in Austria. (He was turned over to France, which later tried and executed him)
In 1961, IBM introduced its first Selectric typewriter with its distinctive “typeball.”
In 1964, the American space probe Ranger 7 reached the moon, transmitting pictures back to Earth before crashing on the lunar surface.
In 1970, “The Huntley-Brinkley Report” came to an end after nearly 14 years as co-anchor Chet Huntley signed off for the last time. (The broadcast was renamed “NBC Nightly News.”)
In 1971, Apollo 15 crew members David Scott and James Irwin became the first astronauts to use a lunar rover on the surface of the moon.
In 1972, Democratic vice-presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton withdrew from the ticket with George McGovern following disclosures that Eagleton had once undergone psychiatric treatment.
In 1991, President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow.
In 1992, the former Soviet republic of Georgia was admitted to the United Nations as its 179th member. Thai Airways Flight 311, an Airbus A310, crashed while approaching Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal. All 113 people aboard died.
In 2002, a bomb exploded inside a cafeteria at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, killing nine people, including five Americans.
In 2008, scientists reported the Phoenix spacecraft had confirmed the presence of frozen water in Martian soil.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actor Don Murray is 90. Jazz composer-musician Kenny Burrell is 88. Actresses France Nuyen and Susan Flannery are 80. Singer Lobo is 76. Actress Geraldine Chaplin and former movie studio executive Sherry Lansing are 75. Singer Gary Lewis is 74. Actor Lane Davies and actress Susan Wooldridge are 69. International Tennis Hall of Famer Evonne Goolagong Cawley and actor Barry Van Dyke are 68. Actor Alan Autry and jazz composer-musician Michael Wolff are 67. Actor James Read is 66. Actor Michael Biehn is 63. Rock singer-musician Daniel Ash (Love and Rockets) and actor Dirk Blocker are 62. Entrepreneur Mark Cuban, rock musician Bill Berry and actor Wally Kurth are 61. Actor Wesley Snipes is 57. Country singer Chad Brock and musician Fatboy Slim are 56. Rock musician Jim Corr is 55. Author J.K. Rowling is 54. Actors Dean Cain and Jim True-Frost are 53. Actors Ben Chaplin and Loren Dean are 50. Actress Eve Best and retired NFL quarterback Gus Frerotte are 48. Actress Annie Parisse is 44. Actor Robert Telfer is 42. Country singer-musician Zac Brown is 41. Actor-producer-writer B.J. Novak is 40. Actor Eric Lively is 38. Country singer Blaire Stroud (3 of Hearts) is 36. Singer Shannon Curfman is 34. NHL center Evgeni Malkin is 33. Hip-hop artist Lil Uzi Vert is 25. Actors Reese Hartwig and Rico Rodriguez are 21.