QUOTE UNQUOTE
"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
NEIL ARMSTRONG,
ASTRONAUT WHO ON THIS DATE IN 1969 WAS THE FIRST PERSON TO STEP ON THE SURFACE OF THE MOON (ARMSTRONG INSISTED THAT HE SAID "FOR A MAN," NOT "FOR MAN"; LATER RESEARCH BACKS HIM UP)
Today’s highlights in history
On July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon after reaching the surface in their Apollo 11 lunar module.
On this date
In 1917, America’s World War I draft lottery began as Secretary of War Newton Baker, wearing a blindfold, reached into a glass bowl and pulled out a capsule containing the number 258 during a ceremony inside the Senate office building.
In 1923, Mexican revolutionary leader Pancho Villa was assassinated by gunmen in Parral.
In 1942, the first detachment of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps — later known as WACs — began basic training at Fort Des Moines, Iowa.
In 1944, an attempt by a group of German officials to assassinate Adolf Hitler with a bomb failed as the explosion only wounded the Nazi leader.
In 1954, the Geneva Accords divided Vietnam into northern and southern entities.
In 1968, the first International Special Olympics Summer Games, organized by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, were held at Soldier Field in Chicago.
In 1976, America’s Viking 1 robot spacecraft made a successful, first-ever landing on Mars.
Ten years ago: President George W. Bush signed an executive order prohibiting cruel and inhuman treatment, including humiliation or denigration of religious beliefs, in the detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects.
Five years ago: Gunman James Holmes opened fire inside a crowded movie theater in Aurora, Colo., during a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises,” killing 12 people and wounding 70 others. (Holmes was later convicted of murder and attempted murder, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.)
One year ago: A federal appeals court ruled that Texas’ strict voter ID law discriminated against minorities and the poor and had to be weakened before the November elections.