Today In History
Today is Tuesday, July 17, the 198th day of 2018. There are 167 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
› 1944: During World War II, 320 men, two-thirds of them African-Americans, were killed when a pair of ammunition ships exploded at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California.
ON THIS DATE
› 1821: Spain ceded Florida to the United States.
› 1938: Aviator Douglas Corrigan took off from New York, saying he was headed for California; he ended up in Ireland, supposedly by accident, earning the nickname “Wrong Way Corrigan.”
› 1954: The two-day inaugural Newport Jazz Festival, billed as “The First American Jazz Festival,” opened in Rhode Island; among the performers the first night was Billie Holiday, who died in New York on this date in 1959 at age 44.
› 1955: Disneyland had its opening day in Anaheim, California.
› 1975: An Apollo spaceship docked with a Soyuz spacecraft in orbit in the first superpower link-up of its kind.
› 1997: Woolworth Corp. announced it was closing its 400 remaining five-and-dime stores across the country, ending 117 years in business.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Actor Donald Sutherland is 83. Actress-singer Diahann Carroll is 83. Rock musician Spencer Davis is 79. Sportscaster Verne Lundquist is 78. Comedian Tim Brooke-Taylor is 78. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, is 71. Actor David Hasselhoff is 66. Rock musician Fran Smith Jr. (The Hooters) is 66. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is 64. Television producer Mark Burnett is 58. Actress Nancy Giles is 58. Singer Regina Belle is 55. Rock musician Kim Shattuck is
55. Country singer Craig Morgan is 54. Rock musician Lou Barlow is 52. Contemporary Christian singer Susan Ashton is
51. Actor Andre Royo is
50. Actress Bitty Schram is 50. Actor Jason Clarke is 49. Movie director F. Gary Gray is 49. Singer JC (PM Dawn) is 47. Rapper Sole’ is 45. Country singer Luke Bryan is 42. Actor Eric Winter is 42. Hockey player Marc Savard is 41. Actor Mike Vogel is 39. Actor Tom Cullen is 33. Actor Brando Eaton is 32. Rhythm and blues singer Jeremih is 31. Actress Summer Bishil is 30. Actress Billie Lourd is 26. Actor Leo Howard is 21.