Today in history
On July 30, 1945, the Portland class heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis, having just delivered components of the atomic bomb to Tinian in the Mariana Islands, was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine; only 317 out of nearly 1,200 men survived.
In 1619, the first representative assembly in America convened in Jamestown in the Virginia Colony.
In 1792, the French national anthem “La Marseillaise” (lah mar-seh-YEHZ’), by Claude Joseph
Rouget de Lisle, was first sung in Paris by troops arriving from Marseille.
In 1844, the New York Yacht Club was founded.
In 1908, the first round-theworld automobile race, which had begun in New York in February, ended in Paris with the drivers of the American car, a Thomas Flyer, declared the winners over teams from Germany and Italy.
In 1916, German saboteurs blew up a munitions plant on Black Tom, an island near Jersey City, New Jersey, killing about a dozen people.
In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a measure making “In God We Trust” the national motto, replacing “E Pluribus Unum” (Out of many, one).
In 1960, the recently founded American Football League saw its first pre-season game, in which the Boston Patriots defeated the host Buffalo Bills 28-7.
In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a measure creating Medicare, which began operating the following year.
In 1975, former Teamsters union president Jimmy Hoffa disappeared in suburban Detroit; although presumed dead, his remains have never been found.
In 1980, Israel’s Knesset passed a law reaffirming all of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state.
In 2001, Robert Mueller (MUHL’-ur), President George W. Bush’s choice to head the FBI, promised the Senate Judiciary Committee that if confirmed, he would move forcefully to fix problems at the agency. (Mueller became FBI director on Sept. 4, 2001, a week before the 9/11 attacks.)
In 2003, President George W. Bush took personal responsibility for the first time for using discredited intelligence in his State of the Union address, but predicted he would be vindicated for going to war against Iraq.
Ten years ago: President Barack Obama toured Chrysler and General Motors assembly plants, where he offered an upbeat assessment of the U.S. auto industry a year after the big government bailouts. A 12-year-old Florida girl was seriously injured when she plunged about 100 feet to the ground from an amusement park free-fall ride in Lake Delton, Wisconsin. (Nets and air bags that were supposed to catch Teagan Marti had not been deployed.)
Five years ago: The Associated Press released the results of a five-month independent study it had commissioned which found that athletes competing in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro would be swimming and boating in waters so rife with sewage bacteria and viruses, they faced the risk of becoming seriously ill. The Afghan Taliban confirmed the death of longtime leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and appointed his successor, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor. Singer Lynn Anderson, 67, whose strong, husky voice carried her to the top of the charts with ”(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden,” died in Nashville, Tennessee.
One year ago: At a debate in Detroit, the “Medicare for All” proposal from the leading Democratic progressive candidates came under fire from moderates who warned that “wish list economics” would hurt the party’s chances for winning the White House in 2020. President Donald Trump marked the 400th anniversary of American democracy at an event in Jamestown, Virginia; it was boycotted by Black Virginia lawmakers angered by Trump’s continued disparagement of veteran Black congressman Elijah Cummings. Hall of Fame football middle linebacker Nick Buoniconti, who helped lead the Miami Dolphins to their unbeaten record in 1972, died at the age of 78.