BLASTS FROM THE PAST
Today’s highlight in history
On July 7, 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced he was nominating Arizona Judge Sandra Day O’Connor to become the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
On this date
In 1846, U.S. annexation of California was proclaimed at Monterey after the surrender of a Mexican garrison.
In 1865, four people were hanged in Washington, D.C., for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln: Lewis Powell (a.k.a. Lewis Payne), David Herold, George Atzerodt and Mary Surratt, the first woman to be executed by the U.S. federal government. In 1898, the United States annexed Hawaii. In 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War erupted into full-scale conflict as Imperial Japanese forces attacked the Marco Polo Bridge in Beijing.
In 1948, six female U.S. Navy reservists became the first women to be sworn in to the regular Navy.
In 1954, Elvis Presley made his radio debut as Memphis, Tenn., station WHBQ played his first recording for Sun Records, “That’s All Right.”
In 1990, the first “Three Tenors” concert took place as opera stars Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and Jose Carreras performed amid the brick ruins of Rome’s Baths of Caracalla on the eve of the World Cup championship.
Ten years ago: Suicide terrorist bombings in three Underground stations and a doubledecker bus killed 52 victims and four bombers in the worst attack on London since World War II.
Five years ago: In Philadelphia, a disabled sightseeing “duck boat” adrift in the Delaware River was struck by a barge and capsized; two Hungarian tourists died.
One year ago: Washington state issued its first retail marijuana licenses.