TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS FRIDAY, JULY 7, the 188th day of 2017. There are 177 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1865, four people were hanged in Washington, D.C., for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln: Lewis Powell (aka Lewis Payne), David Herold, George Atzerodt and Mary Surratt, the first woman to be executed by the federal government. In 1846, U.S. annexation of California was proclaimed at Monterey after the surrender of a Mexican garrison. In 1898, the United States annexed
Hawaii.
In 1919, the first Transcontinental Motor Convoy, in which a U.S. Army convoy of motorized vehicles crossed the United States, departed Washington, D.C. (The trip ended in San Francisco on Sept. 6, 1919.)
In 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War erupted into full-scale conflict as Imperial Japanese forces attacked the Marco Polo Bridge in Beijing.
In 1946, Italian-born Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini was canonized as the first American saint by Pope Pius XII. Jimmy Carter, 21, married Rosalynn Smith, 18, in Plains, Ga.
In 1948, six female U.S. Navy reservists became the first women to be sworn in to the regular Navy.
In 1954, Elvis Presley made his radio debut as Memphis, Tenn., station WHBQ played his first recording for Sun Records, “That’s All Right.”
In 1969, Canada’s House of Commons gave final approval to the Official Languages Act, making French equal to English throughout the national government.
In 1976, President and Mrs. Gerald R. Ford hosted a White House dinner for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. The United States Military Academy at West Point included female
cadets for the first time as 119 women joined the Class of 1980.
In 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced he was nominating Arizona Judge Sandra Day O’Connor to become the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1987, Lt. Col. Oliver North began his long-awaited public testimony at the Iran-Contra hearing, telling Congress that he had “never carried out a single act, not one,” without authorization. In 1990, the first “Three Tenors” concert took place as opera stars Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras performed amid the brick ruins of Rome’s Baths of Caracalla on the eve of the World Cup championship.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Musicianconductor Doc Severinsen is 90. Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough is 84. Rock star Ringo Starr is 77. Rock musician Jim Rodford and comedian Bill Oddie are 76. Singer-musician Warren Entner (The Grass Roots) is 74. Actor Joe Spano is 71. Pop singer David Hodo (The Village People) and country singer Linda Williams are 70. Actress Shelley Duvall is 68. Actress Roz Ryan is 66. Actor Billy Campbell is 58. Actor Robert Taylor is 57. Rock musician Mark White (Spin Doctors) is 55. Singer-songwriter Vonda Shepard is 54. Actor-comedian Jim Gaffigan and rhythm-and-blues musician Ricky Kinchen (Mint Condition) are 51. Actresses Amy Carlson and Jorja Fox are 49. Actresses Cree Summer and Robin Weigert are 48. Actress Kirsten Vangsness is 45. Actor Troy Garity is 44. Actress Berenice Bejo and actor Hamish Linklater are 41. Olympic silver and bronze medal figure skater Michelle Kwan is 37. Rapper Cassidy and country singer Gabbie Nolen are 35. Actor Ross Malinger is 33. Pop singer Ally Hernandez (Fifth Harmony) (TV: “The X Factor”) is 24. Pop musician Ashton Irwin (5 Seconds to Summer) is 23. Country singer Maddie Marlow (Maddie and Tae) is 22.