Today in history

Today is Tuesday, July 25, the 206th day of 2017 and the 36th day of summer.

On this date in the SCV: In 1946, The Signal reported that Roy Branies of Atwood Addition, whose wife was the victim of a fatal hit-and-run accident on U. S. 99 three weeks ago, almost suffered the same fate early Saturday on the same highway. Mr. Branies was southbound at the top of the Pico Crest when a northbound car driven by Charles Vasquez of Los Angeles crossed the double line in passing a truck and hit the Branies car head-on. Branies luckily escaped with hardly a scratch. Vasquez was arrested by CHP officers.

Today’s Highlights in History: In 1952, Puerto Rico became a selfgoverning U.S. commonwealth. In 1978, Louise Joy Brown, the first baby to be conceived via in vitro fertilization, was born in Greater Manchester, England. In 2005, two major unions, the Teamsters and the Service Employees International Union, withdrew from the AFL-CIO. In 2010, the website WikiLeaks released the “Afghan War Diary,” containing more than 75,000 secret documents from the United States’ war in Afghanistan.

Today’s fact: The Viking Orbiter 1 spacecraft, while searching for potential landing sites for the Viking 2 Lander, snapped the famous “Face on Mars” photo of the planet’s surface on this day in 1976.

Today’s sports: In 1976, American Edwin Moses ran in his first international track and field event at the Montreal Olympics – the 400m hurdles – and won a gold medal,

with a record-setting time of 47.64 seconds.

Today’s number: 3.4 million – approximate combined membership of the Teamsters and the Service Employees International unions in 2017.

Today’s moon: Between new moon (July 23) and first quarter moon (July 30).