Today In History

Today is Saturday, July 8, the 189th day of 2017. There are 176 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1947: A New Mexico newspaper, the Roswell Daily Record, quoted officials at Roswell Army Air Field as saying they had recovered a “flying saucer” that crashed onto a ranch; officials then said it was actually a weather balloon. (To this day, there are those who believe what fell to Earth was an alien spaceship carrying extra-terrestrial beings.)

ON THIS DATE

› 1776: Col. John Nixon gave the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence, outside the State House (now Independence Hall) in Philadelphia.

› 1907: Florenz Ziegfeld staged his first “Follies,” on the roof of the New York Theater.

› 1919: President Woodrow Wilson received a tumultuous welcome in New York City after his return from the Versailles Peace Conference in France.

› 1950: President Harry S. Truman named Gen. Douglas MacArthur commander-in-chief of United Nations forces in Korea. (Truman ended up sacking MacArthur for insubordination nine months later.)

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Singer Steve Lawrence is 82. Actor Jeffrey Tambor is 73. Ballerina Cynthia Gregory is 71. Actress Kim Darby is 70. Actress Jonelle Allen is 69. Children’s performer Raffi is

69. Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck is 68. Actress Anjelica Huston is 66. Writer Anna Quindlen is

65. Actor Kevin Bacon is

59. Actor Robert Knepper is 58. Rock musician Andy Fletcher (Depeche Mode) is 56. Country singer Toby Keith is 56. Rock musician Graham Jones (Haircut 100) is 56. Rock singer Joan Osborne is 55. Writer-producer Rob Burnett is 55. Actor Rocky Carroll is 54. Actor Corey Parker is 52. Actor Lee Tergesen is 52. Actor Billy Crudup is 49. Actor Michael Weatherly is 49. Singer Beck is 47. Country singer Drew Womack (Sons of the Desert) is

47. Comedian Sebastian Maniscalo is 44. Actress Kathleen Robertson is 44. Christian rock musician Stephen Mason (Jars of Clay) is 42. Actor Milo Ventimiglia is 40. Rock musician Tavis Werts is

40. Singer Ben Jelen is 38. Actor Lance Gross is 36. Actress Sophia Bush is

35. Rock musician Jamie Cook (Arctic Monkeys) is 32. Actor Jaden Smith is 19.