Today in history
On July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon after reaching the surface in their
Apollo 11 lunar module.
In 1923, Mexican revolutionary leader Pancho Villa was assassinated by gunmen in Parral.
In 1944, an attempt by a group of German officials to assassinate Adolf Hitler with a bomb failed as the explosion only wounded the Nazi leader. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated for a fourth term of office at the Democratic convention in Chicago.
In 1951, Jordan’s King Abdullah I was assassinated in Jerusalem by a Palestinian gunman who was shot dead on the spot by security.
In 1960, a pair of Polaris missiles were fired from the submerged USS George Washington off Cape Canaveral, Fla., at a target more than 1,100 miles away.
In 1965, the Bob Dylan single “Like a Rolling Stone” was released by Columbia Records.
In 1968, the first International Special Olympics Summer Games, organized by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, were held at Soldier Field in Chicago.
In 1976, America’s Viking 1 robot spacecraft made a successful, first-ever landing on Mars.
In 1977, a flash flood hit Johnstown, Pennsylvania, killing more than 80 people and causing $350 million worth of damage. The U.N. Security Council voted to admit Vietnam to the world body.
In 1990, Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, one of the court’s most liberal voices, announced he was stepping down.
In 1993, White House deputy counsel Vincent Foster Jr., 48, was found shot to death in a park near Washington, D.C.; his death was ruled a suicide.
In 2007, President George W. Bush signed an executive order prohibiting cruel and inhuman treatment, including humiliation or denigration of religious beliefs, in the detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects.
In 2012, gunman James Holmes opened fire inside a crowded movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, during a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises,” killing 12 people and wounding 70 others. (Holmes was later convicted of murder and attempted murder, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.)
Ten years ago: The Senate Judiciary Committee voted almost totally along party lines, 13-6, to approve Elena Kagan to be the Supreme Court’s fourth female justice. Actress Lindsay Lohan began a 14-day jail sentence — reduced from 90 due to overcrowding — for violating probation in 2007 drug case.
Five years ago: The United States and Cuba restored full diplomatic relations after more than five decades of frosty relations rooted in the Cold War. The U.N. Security Council unanimously endorsed a landmark deal to rein in Iran’s nuclear program. Banks in Greece finally reopened after being closed for three weeks. Zach Johnson won the British Open. Songwriter Wayne Carson, 72, died in Nashville, Tennessee. “Archie” cartoonist Tom Moore, 86, died in El Paso, Texas.
One year ago: Americans marked the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing; Buzz Aldrin, the second man to set foot on the moon, showed Vice President Mike Pence the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center where the historic flight began. A heat wave that spread from Texas to Maine canceled festivals, horse races and other events.