This day in history
Today is Sunday, July 9, the 190th day of 2023. There are 175 days left in the year.
▶ Birthdays: Actor-singer Actor Richard Roundtree is 81. Singer Dee Dee Kenniebrew (The Crystals) is 78. Author Dean Koontz is 78. Football Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson is 76. Actor Chris Cooper is 72. TV personality John Tesh is 71. Country singer David Ball is 70. Business executive/TV personality Kevin O’Leary (TV: “Shark Tank”) is 69. R&B singer Debbie Sledge (Sister Sledge) is
69. Actor Jimmy Smits is 68. Actor Tom Hanks is 67. Singer Marc Almond is 66. Actor Kelly McGillis is 66. Rock singer Jim Kerr (Simple Minds) is 64. Actor-rock singer Courtney Love is
59. Rock musician Frank Bello (Anthrax) is 58. Actor David O’Hara is 58. Actor Pamela Adlon is 57. Actor Scott Grimes is
52. Actor Enrique Murciano is
50. Rock singer-musician Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse) is 48. Musician/producer Jack White is 48. Rock musician Dan Estrin (Hoobastank) is 47. Actor-director Fred Savage is 47. Actor Linda Park is 45. Actor Megan Parlen is 43. Actor Mitchel Musso is 32. Actor Georgie Henley is 28. ºIn 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read aloud to Gen. George Washington’s troops in New York.
▶ In 1918, 101 people were killed in a train collision in Nashville, Tennessee.
▶ In 1937, a fire at 20th Century Fox’s storage facility in Little Ferry, New Jersey, destroyed most of the studio’s silent films.
▶ In 1943, during World War II, the Allies launched Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily.
▶ In 1944, during World War II, American forces secured Saipan as the last Japanese defenses fell.
▶ In 1947, the engagement of Britain’s Princess Elizabeth to Lt. Philip Mountbatten was announced.
▶ In 1965, the Sonny Cher single “I Got You Babe” was released by ATCO Records.
▶ In 1982, Pan Am Flight 759, a Boeing 727, crashed in Kenner, Louisiana, shortly after takeoff from New Orleans International Airport, killing all 145 people aboard and eight people on the ground.
▶ In 2004, a Senate Intelligence Committee report concluded the CIA had provided unfounded assessments of the threat posed by Iraq that the Bush administration had relied on to justify going to war.
▶ In 2010, the largest US-Russia spy swap since the Cold War was completed on a remote stretch of Vienna airport tarmac as planes from New York and Moscow arrived within minutes of each other with 10 Russian sleeper agents and four prisoners accused by Russia of spying for the West.