TODAY IN HISTORY

1789

In an event symbolizing the start of the French Revolution, residents of Paris stormed the Bastille prison and released the seven prisoners inside.

1798

Congress passed the Sedition Act, making it a federal crime to publish false, scandalous or malicious writing about the U.S. government.

1865

The Matterhorn, straddling Italy and Switzerland, was summited as a sevenmember rope party led by British climber Edward Whymper reached the peak.

1914

Scientist Robert H. Goddard received a U.S. patent for a liquid-fueled rocket apparatus.

1921

Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were convicted in Dedham, Mass., of murdering a shoe company paymaster and his guard.

2016

Terror struck Bastille Day celebrations in the French Riviera city of Nice as a large truck plowed into a festive crowd, killing 86 people in an attack claimed by Islamic State extremists; the driver was shot dead by police.