On this date
In 1848, a pioneering women’s rights convention convened in Seneca Falls, N.Y.
In 1903, the first Tour de France was won by Maurice Garin.
In 1969, Apollo 11 and its astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins, went into orbit around the moon.
In 1979,
the Nicaraguan capital of Managua fell to Sandinista guerrillas, two days after President Anastasio Somoza fled the country.
In 1989,
111 people were killed when United Air Lines Flight 232, a DC-10 that suffered the uncontained failure of its tail engine and the loss of hydraulic systems, crashed while making an emergency landing at Sioux City, Iowa; 185 other people survived.
In 1990,
President George H.W. Bush joined former presidents Ronald Reagan, Gerald R. Ford and Richard M. Nixon at ceremonies dedicating the Nixon Library and Birthplace (since redesignated the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum) in Yorba Linda, Calif.
In 1993,
President Bill Clinton announced a policy allowing homosexuals to serve in the military under a compromise dubbed “don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t pursue.”
Ten years ago:
The Indiana Fever defeated the New York Liberty 71-55 in the WNBA’s first outdoor game, played at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Five years ago:
In a rare and public reflection on race, President Barack Obama called on the nation to do some soul searching over the death of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of his shooter, George Zimmerman, saying the slain black teenager “could have been me 35 years ago.”
One year ago:
Sen. John McCain’s office said the 80-year-old Arizona Republican and former presidential nominee had been diagnosed with a brain tumor, glioblastoma.