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-monthold marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, annulled.

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 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 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 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: Citing new DNA tests, prosecutors cleared JonBenet Ramsey’s parents and brother in the 1996 killing of the 6-year-old beauty queen in Boulder, Colo. Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, battling a brain tumor, walked into the Senate to cast a dramatic vote in favor of long-stalled Medicare legislation.

Five years ago: A massive memorial service in Arizona honored 19 members of the Prescott-based Granite Mountain Hotshots who died when a wind-fueled, out-of-control fire overran them. Defensemen Scott Niedermayer and Chris Chelios, along with forward Brendan Shanahan, were elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame; they were joined in the class of 2013 by Geraldine Heaney, the third woman to be enshrined in the hall, and the late Fred Shero, the coach who’d led the Philadelphia Flyers to the Stanley Cup in 1974 and ’75.

One year ago: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi celebrated with Iraqi troops in Mosul after they drove Islamic State militants from some of their last strongholds.