TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Friday, July 10, the 192nd day of 2020. There are 174 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On July 10, 1940, during World War II, the Battle of Britain began as the Luftwaffe started attacking southern England. (The Royal Air Force was ultimately victorious.)

On this date:

In 1908, William Jennings Bryan was nominated for president by the Democratic national convention in Denver.

In 1925, jury selection took place in Dayton, Tenn., in the trial of John T. Scopes, charged with violating the law by teaching Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. (Scopes was convicted and fined, but the verdict was overturned on a technicality.)

In 1951, armistice talks aimed at ending the Korean War began at Kaesong.

In 1973, the Bahamas became fully independent after three centuries of British colonial rule. John Paul Getty III, the teenage grandson of the oil tycoon, was abducted in Rome by kidnappers who cut off his ear when his family was slow to meet their ransom demands; Getty was released in December 1973 for nearly $3 million.

In 1991, Boris N. Yeltsin took the oath of office as the first elected president of the Russian republic. President George H.W. Bush lifted economic sanctions against South Africa.

In 1992, a New York jury found Pan Am guilty of willful misconduct and responsible for allowing a terrorist bomb to destroy Flight 103 in 1988, killing 270 people, opening the way for civil lawsuits.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor William Smithers is 93. Actor Lawrence Pressman is 81. Singer Mavis Staples is 81. Actor Mills Watson is 80. Actor Robert Pine is 79. Country-folk singer-songwriter Cheryl Wheeler is 69. Rock singer Neil Tennant (Pet Shop Boys) is 66. Country singer-songwriter Ken Mellons is 55. Actor Aaron D. Spears is 49. Actress Sofia Vergara is 48. Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor is 43. Actress Gwendoline Yeo is 43. Singer-actress Jessica Simpson is 40. Actress Heather Hemmens is 36. Rapper/singer Angel Haze is 29.