TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SATURDAY, JULY 10, the 191st day of 2021. There are 174 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1991, Boris N. Yeltsin took the oath of office as the first elected president of the Russian republic. President George H.W. Bush lifted economic sanctions against South Africa.
In A.D. 138, Roman Emperor Hadrian, responsible for the construction of opulent temples, as well as the barrier in northern Britain known as Hadrian’s Wall, died at age 62.
In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson personally delivered the Treaty of Versailles to the Senate and urged its ratification. (However, the Senate rejected it.)
In 1925, jury selection took place in Dayton, Tennessee, in the trial of John T. Scopes, charged with violating the law by teaching Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. (Scopes was convicted and fined, but the verdict was overturned on a technicality.)
In 1940, during World War II, the Battle of Britain began as the Luftwaffe started attacking southern England. (The Royal Air Force was ultimately victorious.)
In 1943, during World War II, U.S. and British forces invaded Sicily.
In 1951, armistice talks aimed at ending the Korean War began at Kaesong.
In 1985, the Greenpeace protest ship Rainbow Warrior was sunk with explosives in Auckland, New Zealand, by French intelligence agents; one activist was killed.
In 1989, Mel Blanc, the “man of a thousand voices,” including such cartoon characters as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig, died in Los Angeles at age 81.
In 2002, the House approved, 310113, a measure to allow airline pilots to carry guns in the cockpit to defend their planes against terrorists (President George W. Bush later signed the measure into law).
In 2005, a search-and-rescue team found the body of a missing U.S. commando in eastern Afghanistan, bringing an end to the desperate search for the last member of an ill-fated, four-man special forces unit that had disappeared the previous month.
In 2015, to the cheers of thousands, South Carolina pulled the Confederate flag from its place of honor at the Statehouse after more than 50 years.
In 2018, a daring rescue mission in Thailand was completed successfully, as the last four of the 12 boys who were trapped in a flooded cave for more than two weeks were brought to safety along with their soccer coach; the other eight had been brought out over the two preceding days.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actor William Smithers is 94. Actor Lawrence Pressman and singer Mavis Staples are 82. Actor Mills Watson is 81. Actor Robert Pine is 80. Rock musician Jerry Miller (Moby Grape) is 78. International Tennis Hall-of-Famer Virginia Wade is 76. Folk singer Arlo Guthrie is 74. Rock musician Dave Smalley is 72. Countryfolk singer-songwriter Cheryl Wheeler is 70. Rock singer Neil Tennant (Pet Shop Boys) is 67. Banjo player Bela Fleck and actor Fiona Shaw are 63. Bluegrass singer-musician Tim Surrett (Balsam Range) is 58. Actor Alec Mapa, country singer-songwriter Ken Mellons and rock musician Peter DiStefano (Porno for Pyros) are 56. Actor Gale Harold is 52. Country singer Gary LeVox (Rascal Flatts) is 51. Actor Aaron D. Spears is 50. Actor Sofia Vergara is 49. Rockabilly singer Imelda May is 47. Actor Adrian Grenier is 45. Actors Chiwetel Ejiofor and Gwendoline Yeo are 44. Actor Thomas Ian Nicholas and singer-actor Jessica Simpson are 41. Actor Heather Hemmens is 37. Actor Emily Skeggs (TV: “When We Rise”) is 31. Rapper/singer Angel Haze is 30. Pop singer Perrie Edwards (Little Mix) is 28.