TODAY IN HISTORY
Today's Highlight in History:
On July 31, 1777, during the Revolutionary War, the Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, was made a major-general in the American Continental Army.
On this date:
In 1556, St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, died in Rome.
In 1875, the 17th president of the United States, Andrew Johnson, died in Carter County, Tennessee, at age 66.
In 1919, Germany's Weimar Constitution was adopted by the republic's National Assembly.
In 1930, the radio character "The Shadow" made his debut as narrator of the "Detective Story Hour" on CBS Radio.
In 1942, Oxfam International had its beginnings as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief was founded in England.
In 1954, Pakistan's K2 was conquered as two members of an Italian expedition, Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli, reached the summit.
In 1957, the Distant Early Warning Line, a system of radar stations designed to detect Soviet bombers approaching North America, went into operation.
In 1964, the American space probe Ranger 7 reached the moon, transmitting pictures back to Earth before impacting the lunar surface.
In 1972, Democratic vicepresidential candidate Thomas Eagleton withdrew from the ticket with George McGovern following disclosures that Eagleton had once undergone psychiatric treatment.
In 1989, a pro-Iranian group in Lebanon released a grisly videotape showing the body of American hostage William R. Higgins, a Marine lieutenantcolonel, dangling from a rope.
In 1991, President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow.
In 1992, the former Soviet republic of Georgia was admitted to the United Nations as its 179th member. Ten years ago: The Army censured retired three-star Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger for a "perfect storm of mistakes, misjudgments and a failure of leadership" after the 2004 friendlyfire death in Afghanistan of Army Ranger Pat Tillman.
Five years ago: Three Indian electric grids collapsed in a cascade, cutting power to 620 million people in the world's biggest blackout. Wrapping up an overseas trip, Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney said in Warsaw that Poland's economy was a model of small government and free enterprise that other nations should emulate.