ALMANAC

Today is Thursday, July 28, the 210th day of 2016. There are 156 days left in the year.

Today’s hi.hli.ht in history:

On July 28, 1976, an earthquake devastated northern China, killing at least 242,000 people, according to an official estimate. On this date: In 1655, French dramatist and novelist Cyrano de Bergerac, the inspiration for a play by Edmond Rostand, died in Paris at age 36.

In 1821, Peru declared its independence from Spain.

In 1914, World War I began as Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

In 1932, federal troops forcibly dispersed the so-called “Bonus Army” of World War I veterans who had gathered in Washington to demand payments they weren’t scheduled to receive until 1945.

In 1945, a U.S. Army bomber crashed into the 79th floor of New York’s Empire State Building, killing 14 people. The U.S. Senate ratified the United Nations Charter by a vote of 89-2.

In 1959, in preparation for statehood, Hawaiians voted to send the first ChineseAmerican, Republican Hiram L. Fong, to the U.S. Senate and the first JapaneseAmerican, Democrat Daniel K. Inouye, to the U.S. House of Representatives.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced he was increasing the number of American troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000 “almost immediately.”

In 1984, the Los Angeles Summer Olympics opened.

In 1995, a jury in Union, South Carolina, rejected the death penalty for Susan Smith, sentencing her to life in prison for drowning her two young sons; Smith will be eligible for parole in 2024.

Today’s birthdays: Actor Darryl Hickman is 85. “Garfield” creator Jim Davis is 71. Actress Linda Kelsey is 70. TV producer Dick Ebersol is 69. Actress Sally Struthers is 69. Actress Georgia Engel is 68.Actor Michael Hayden is 53. Actress Lori Loughlin is 52. Actress Elizabeth Berkley is 44. Actor Jon Michael Hill is 31. Actor Dustin Milligan is 31. Actor Nolan Gerard Funk is 30.