Today In History

Today is Wednesday, July 31, the 212th day of 2019. There are 153 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 2008: Scientists reported the Phoenix spacecraft had confirmed the presence of frozen water in Martian soil.

ON THIS DATE

› 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.

› 1961: IBM introduced its first Selectric typewriter with its distinctive “typeball.”

› 1964: The American space probe Ranger 7 reached the moon, transmitting pictures back to Earth before impacting the lunar surface.

› 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.

› 1991: President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow.

› 1992: The former Soviet republic of Georgia was admitted to the United Nations as its 179th member.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Actress Eva Marie SActor Don Murray is

90. Jazz composer-musician Kenny Burrell is 88. Actress France Nuyen is

80. Actress Susan Flannery is 80. Singer Lobo is 76. Actress Geraldine Chaplin is 75. Former movie studio executive Sherry Lansing is 75. Singer Gary Lewis is 74. Actor Barry Van Dyke is 68. Actor Alan Autry is 67. Jazz composer-musician Michael Wolff is 67. Actor James Read is 66. Actor Michael Biehn is 63. Rock singer-musician Daniel Ash (Love and Rockets) is 62. Actor Dirk Blocker is 62. Entrepreneur Mark Cuban is 61. Rock musician Bill Berry is 61. Actor Wally Kurth is 61. Actor Wesley Snipes is

57. Country singer Chad Brock is 56. Musician Fatboy Slim is 56. Rock musician Jim Corr is 55. Author J.K. Rowling is

54. Actor Dean Cain is

53. Actor Jim True-Frost is 53. Actor Ben Chaplin is 50. Actor Loren Dean is 50. Actress Eve Best is

48. Country singer-musician Zac Brown is 41. Actor-producer-writer B.J. Novak is 40. Actor Eric Lively is 38. Singer Shannon Curfman is

34. NHL center Evgeni Malkin is 33. Hip-hop artist Lil Uzi Vert is 25. Actor Reese Hartwig is

21. Actor Rico Rodriguez is 21.