TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Sunday, July 5, the 187th day of 2020. There are 179 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On July 5, 1947, Larry Doby made his debut with the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first Black player in the American League three months after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the National League. In the game against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park, Doby, pinch-hitting for Bryan Stephens, struck out in his first at-bat during the seventh inning; Chicago won 6-5.
On this date:
■ In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act.
■ In 1943, the Battle of Kursk began during World War II; in the weeks that followed, the Soviets were able to repeatedly repel the Germans, who eventually withdrew in defeat.
■ In 1946, the bikini, created by Louis Reard (ray-AHRD’), was modeled by Micheline Bernardini during a poolside fashion show in Paris.
■ In 1948, Britain’s National Health Service Act went into effect, providing publicly-financed medical and dental care.
■ In 1954, Elvis Presley’s first commercial recording session took place at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee; the song he recorded was “That’s All Right.”
■ In 1971, President Richard Nixon certified the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which lowered the minimum voting age from 21 to 18.
■ In 1975, Arthur Ashe became the first Black man to win a Wimbledon singles title as he defeated Jimmy Connors, 6-1, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.
■ In 1977, Pakistan’s army, led by General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, seized power from President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZUL’-fih-kahr ah-LEE’ BOO’toh). (Bhutto was executed in 1979.)
■ In 2003, Serena Williams beat sister Venus 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 for her second straight Wimbledon title.
■ In 2009, a bankruptcy judge ruled that General Motors Corp. could sell the bulk of its assets to a new company, clearing the way for the automaker to emerge from bankruptcy protection. Roger Federer won his record 15th Grand Slam title when he outlasted Andy Roddick 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14 in a marathon match for his sixth Wimbledon championship.
■ In 2011, a jury in Orlando, Florida, found Casey Anthony, 25, not guilty of murder, manslaughter and child abuse in the 2008 disappearance and death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.
■ In 2018, James Alex Fields Jr. pleaded not guilty to federal hate crime charges in a car attack on a crowd of protesters opposing a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12, 2017; a 32-year-old woman died and dozens were injured. (Fields later pleaded guilty to 29 federal hate crime charges under a plea deal in which prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty.)
Ten years ago: Israel eased its blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza to allow virtually all consumer goods; the move was welcomed by the White House, but Gaza business leaders and rights activists said the measures were far short of what Gaza needed. Opera singer Cesare Siepi, 87, died in Atlanta. David Fanshawe, a widely traveled British musical explorer best known as the composer of “African Sanctus,” died in Wiltshire, England, at age 68.