Today in history
On July 26, 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first woman to be nominated for president by a major political party at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
In 1775, the Continental Congress established a Post Office and appointed Benjamin Franklin its Postmaster-General.
In 1788, New York became the 11th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. In 1847, the western African country of Liberia, founded by freed American slaves, declared its independence.
In 1887, the artificial language Esperanto, intended as a universal form of communication, was published by its creator, Dr. L.L. Zamenhof.
In 1908, U.S. Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte ordered creation of a force of special agents that was a forerunner of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In 1945, the Potsdam Declaration warned Imperial Japan to unconditionally surrender, or face “prompt and utter destruction.” Winston Churchill resigned as Britain’s prime minister after his Conservatives were soundly defeated by the Labour Party; Clement Attlee succeeded him.
In 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act, which reorganized America’s armed forces as the National Military Establishment and created the Central Intelligence Agency.
In 1952, Argentina’s first lady, Eva Peron, died in Buenos Aires at age 33. King Farouk I of Egypt abdicated in the wake of a coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser.
In 1971, Apollo 15 was launched from Cape Kennedy on America’s fourth successful manned mission to the moon.
In 1986, Islamic radicals in Lebanon released the Rev. Lawrence Martin Jenco, an American hostage held for nearly 19 months. American statesman W. Averell Harriman died in Yorktown Heights, New York, at age 94.
In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In 1992, singer Mary Wells died in Los Angeles at age 49.
Ten years ago: The Senate passed, 85-8, a package of security measures recommended by the 9/11 Commission. (The House followed suit the next day by a vote of 371-40; President George W. Bush signed the legislation into law.) Wall Street suffered one of its worst losses of 2007, closing down 311.50 or 2.26 percent, to 13,473.57.
Five years ago: The White House said President Barack Obama would not push for stricter gun laws, one day after his impassioned remarks about the need to keep assault weapons off the streets. With the Olympics Games as a backdrop, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney held a day of meetings with Britain’s most powerful people; however, Romney rankled his hosts with comments he’d made upon his arrival calling London’s problems with the games’ preparation “disconcerting.”
One year ago: A man armed with a knife killed 19 disabled people at a care home in Japan (a suspect turned himself in). Youree Dell Harris, the actress who became famous for playing the Jamaican psychic Miss Cleo, died in Palm Beach, Florida, at age 53.
“Government is too big and important to be left to the politicians.” — Chester Bowles, American diplomat, businessman, author — and politician (1901-1986).