Today in history

On July 9, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read aloud to Gen. George Washington’s troops in New York.

In 1540, England’s King Henry VIII had his 6-month-old marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, annulled.

In 1816, Argentina declared independence from Spain.

In 1850, the 12th president of the United States, Zachary Taylor, died after serving only 16 months of his term. (He was succeeded by Millard Fillmore.)

In 1896, William Jennings Bryan delivered his famous “cross of gold” speech at the Democratic national convention in Chicago.

In 1918, 101 people were killed in a train collision in Nashville, Tennessee. The Distinguished Service Cross was established by an Act of Congress.

In 1937, a fire at 20th Century Fox’s film storage facility in Little Ferry, New Jersey, destroyed most of the studio’s silent films.

In 1945, architect Frank Lloyd Wright unveiled his design for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, a spiral structure on Manhattan’s Upper East Side that was completed in 1959.

In 1951, President Harry S. Truman asked Congress to formally end the state of war between the United States and Germany. (An official end to the state of war was declared in October 1951.)

In 1962, pop artist Andy Warhol’s exhibit of 32 paintings of Campbell’s soup cans opened at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles.

In 1974, former U.S. Chief Justice Earl Warren died in Washington at age 83.

In 1982, Pan Am Flight 759, a Boeing 727, crashed in Kenner, Louisiana, shortly after takeoff from New Orleans International Airport, killing all 145 people aboard and eight people on the ground.

In 1995, Jerry Garcia performed for the final time as frontman of the Grateful Dead during a concert at Chicago’s Soldier Field (Garcia died a month later).

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush directed former aides to defy congressional subpoenas, claiming executive privilege in resisting Congress’ investigation into the firings of U.S. attorneys. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., whose telephone number was disclosed by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the so-called “D.C. Madam,” said in a statement he was sorry for a “serious sin” and that he’d already made peace with his wife. A jury convicted four Muslim militants of plotting to bomb London’s public transport system. Character actor Charles Lane, 102, died in Santa Monica, California.

“Invest in the human soul. Who knows, it might be a diamond in the rough.” — Mary McLeod Bethune, American educator and reformer (18751955).