DAY IN HISTORY

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Today is the 203rd day of 2020 and the 32nd day of summer. TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1861, the first Battle of Bull Run -- the first major battle of the Civil War -- was fought in Virginia, ending in a Confederate victory.

In 1925, Tennessee teacher John Scopes was convicted of violating the state’s law against teaching the theory of evolution.

In 1954, the French surrendered North Vietnam to Communist forces.

In 2011, NASA’S Space Shuttle Program came to an end as the shuttle Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), author; Marshall Mcluhan (1911-1980), author/ theorist; Isaac Stern (1920-2001), violinist; Don Knotts (1924-2006), actor/comedian; Yusuf Islam aka Cat Stevens (1948- ), singer/songwriter; Garry Trudeau (1948- ), cartoonist; Robin Williams (19512014), actor/comedian; Brandi Chastain (1968), soccer player; Josh Hartnett (1978- ), actor; CC Sabathia (1980- ), baseball player; Juno Temple (1989- ), actress.

TODAY’S FACT: Turkish adventurer Erden Eruc completed the first solo, human-powered global circumnavigation on this day in 2012, after traveling 41,196 miles in 1,026 days by rowboat, kayak, bicycle, canoe and on foot.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1959, the Boston Red Sox (the last major league team to integrate) fielded their first African American player when Pumpsie Green entered a game against the Chicago White Sox in the eighth inning.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too.” — Ernest Hemingway, “Men Without Women”

TODAY’S NUMBER: -128.6 — temperature (in degrees Fahrenheit) at Vostok Station, Antarctica, on this day in 1983, the lowest temperature recorded at an inhabited location in world history.

TODAY’S MOON: Between new moon (July 20) and first quarter moon (July 27).