TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS SATURDAY, JULY 8, the 189th day of 2017. There are 176 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1947, a New Mexico newspaper, the Roswell Daily Record, quoted officials at Roswell Army Air Field as saying they had recovered a “flying saucer” that crashed onto a ranch; officials then said it was actually a weather balloon.

In 1663, King Charles II of England granted a Royal Charter to Rhode Island.

In 1776, Col. John Nixon gave the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia.

In 1907, Florenz Ziegfeld staged his first “Follies,” on the roof of the New York Theater.

In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson received a tumultuous welcome in New York City after his return from the Versailles Peace Conference in France. In 1950, President Harry S. Truman named Gen. Douglas MacArthur commander-in-chief of United Nations forces in Korea.

In 1967, Academy Award-winning actress Vivien Leigh, 53, died in London.

In 1986, Kurt Waldheim was inaugurated as president of Austria despite controversy over his alleged ties to Nazi war crimes.

In 2011, former first lady Betty Ford died in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at age 93.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Singer Steve Lawrence is 82. Actor Jeffrey Tambor is 73. Children’s performer Raffi is 69. Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck is 68. Actress Anjelica Huston is 66. Writer Anna Quindlen is 65. Actor Kevin Bacon is 59. Rock musician Andy Fletcher (Depeche Mode) and country singer Toby Keith are 56. Rock singer Joan Osborne is 55. Actor Billy Crudup is 49. Actor Milo Ventimiglia is 40. Actress Sophia Bush is 35. Actor Jaden Smith is 19.