Today in history
On July 3, 1863, the threeday Civil War Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania ended in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops failed to breach Union positions during an assault known as Pickett’s Charge.
In 1775, Gen. George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In 1890, Idaho became the 43rd state of the Union.
In 1913, during a 50th anniversary reunion at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Civil War veterans re-enacted Pickett’s Charge, which ended with embraces and handshakes between the former enemies.
In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt marked the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg by dedicating the Eternal Light Peace Memorial.
In 1944, during World War II, Soviet forces recaptured Minsk from the Germans.
In 1950, the first carrier strikes of the Korean War took place as the USS Valley Forge and the HMS Triumph sent fighter planes against North Korean targets.
In 1962, French President Charles de Gaulle signed an agreement recognizing Algeria as an independent state after 132 years of French rule.
In 1971, singer Jim Morrison of The Doors died in Paris at age 27.
In 1976, Israel launched its daring mission to rescue 106 passengers and Air France crew members being held at Entebbe (en-TEH’-bee) Airport in Uganda (yoo-GAHN’-dah) by pro-Palestinian hijackers; the commandos succeeded in rescuing all but four of the hostages.
In 1987, British millionaire Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand became the first hot-air balloon travelers to cross the Atlantic, parachuting into the sea as their craft went down off the Scottish coast.
In 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down an Iran Air jetliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
In 1992, the first U.S. Air Force C-130 transport planes from Operation Provide Promise arrived in the besieged Bosnian capital of Sarajevo.
Ten years ago: President George W. Bush refused to rule out an eventual pardon for I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby after already commuting his prison sentence in the CIA leak case (as it turned out, Bush left office without pardoning Libby). Japan’s defense minister (Fumio Kyuma) resigned after drawing furious criticism for suggesting the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were inevitable. The Alinghi team from Switzerland succeeded in defending sailing’s coveted America’s Cup, beating Emirates Team New Zealand 5-2. Saxophonist Boots Randolph (“Yakety Sax”) died in Nashville at age 80. Five years ago: A federal judge in Amarillo, Texas, found Clayton F. Osbon, a Jet-Blue Airways pilot who left the cockpit during a flight and screamed about religion and terrorists, not guilty by reason of insanity of interfering with a flight crew. Andy Griffith, 86, who made homespun American Southern wisdom his trademark as the wise sheriff in “The Andy Griffith Show,” died at his North Carolina home.
One year ago: A devastating truck bombing on a bustling commercial street in downtown Baghdad killed nearly 300 people. A 19-year-old tourist from Virginia lost his left foot in a blast that occurred when he stepped on a plastic bag filled with explosive chemicals in New York’s Central Park. Actress Noel Neill, who played Superman’s love interest, Lois Lane, in both a movie serial and on TV, died in Tucson, Arizona, at age 95.
“A timid person is frightened before a danger; a coward during the time; and a courageous person afterward.” — Jean Paul Richter, German author (1763-1825).