Today In History

Today is Tuesday, July 23, the 204th day of 2019. There are 161 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1829: William Austin Burt received a patent for his “typographer,” a forerunner of the typewriter.

ON THIS DATE

› 1983: An Air Canada Boeing 767 ran out of fuel while flying from Montreal to Edmonton; the pilots were able to glide the jetliner to a safe emergency landing in Gimli, Manitoba. (The near-disaster occurred because the fuel had been erroneously measured in pounds instead of kilograms at a time when Canada was converting to the metric system.)

› 1996: At the Atlanta Olympics, Kerri Strug made a heroic final vault despite torn ligaments in her left ankle as the U.S. women gymnasts clinched their first-ever Olympic team gold medal.

› 2001: Pope John Paul II urged President George W. Bush in their first meeting, held at Castel Gandolfo, Italy, to bar creation of human embryos for medical research.

› 2003: Massachusetts’ attorney general issued a report saying clergy members and others in the Boston Archdiocese probably had sexually abused more than 1,000 people over a period of six decades.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Concert pianist Leon Fleisher is 91. Retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is 83. Actor Ronny Cox is 81. Radio personality Don Imus is 79. Actor Larry Manetti is 76. Rock singer David Essex is 72. Singer-songwriter John Hall is 71. Actress-writer Lydia Cornell is 66. Actor Woody Harrelson is 58. Rock musician Martin Gore (Depeche Mode) is 58. Actor Eriq Lasalle is 57. Rock musician Yuval Gabay is 56. Rock musician Slash is 54. Actor Juan Pope is 52. Model-actress Stephanie Seymour is 51. Rhythm and blues singer Dalvin DeGrate is 48. Rock musician Chad Gracey (Live) is 48. Actor-comedian Marlon Wayans is 47. Country singer Shannon Brown is 46. Actress Kathryn Hahn is 46. Actress Stephanie March is 45. A Country musician David Pichette is 42. Rhythm and blues singer Michelle Williams is 39. Actor Paul Wesley is 37. Actress Krysta Rodriguez is 35. Country musician Neil Perry is 29. Actress Lili Simmons is 26. Country singer Danielle Bradbery (TV: “The Voice”) is 23.