Today in history
Today is Tuesday, July 4, the 185th day of 2017 and the 15th day of summer.
On this date in the SCV:
In 1946, The Signal reported that a Wild West chase with the fugitive dodging and scampering around corners and through buildings with the law in hot pursuit took place on Spruce Street and was followed by a battle royal in which the fugitive, George T. Ashmore of Newhall, scratched up Deputy Sheriff Sibley before he was overpowered. Ashmore was observed by Deputies Sibley and Wright driving a light truck down Spruce Street in an erratic manner. When the truck went over the curbing at the Motor Stage cafe the officers placed driver Ashmore under arrest and left him in the prowl car while they interviewed witnesses. While they were talking Ashmore hopped out of the prowl car and started east on Market Street. He was pursued by Wright, who fired two shots from his revolver to try and bring the fugitive to a halt. He disregarded the shots, dodged through the dining room and kitchen of the Motor Stage cafe, and then out on Spruce Street. The officers grabbed him in the middle of the street in the 700 block. After that Ashmore battled the officers furiously, both on the way to the station and after arriving there, but to no avail, as he wound up in the detention cell. In court Ashmore was quite docile, pleaded guilty to a charge of disturbing the peace, and got a 90 day jail sentence from Judge Miller.
Today’s Highlights in History:
In 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. In 1826, founding fathers John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In 1960, the modern version of the American flag (with 50 stars) debuted at a ceremony in Philadelphia. In 1997, NASA’s Pathfinder space probe landed on Mars. In 2012, the discovery of Higgs boson-like particles through experiments at the Large Hadron Collider was announced at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).
Today’s fact: Renowned advice columnists Eppie Lederer and Pauline Phillips, known as Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren (“Dear Abby”) respectively, were twin sisters, born on this day in 1918.
Today’s sports: In 1939, New York Yankee slugger Lou Gehrig,
who was suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, announced his retirement at Yankee Stadium, delivering the famous line, “Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.”
Today’s number: 1,000 – approximate number of “Gorilla Sign Language” signs in the working vocabulary of Koko, a female lowland gorilla born on this day in 1971.
Today’s moon: Between first quarter moon (June 30) and full moon (July 8).