Today In History

Today is Friday, July 31, the 212th day of 2015. There are 153 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

1715: A fleet of Spanish ships carrying gold, silver and jewelry sank during a hurricane off the east Florida coast, scattering most of their treasure along the ocean floor. Of some 2,500 crew members, more than 1,000 died.

ON THIS DATE

1875: The 17th president of the United States, Andrew Johnson, died in Carter County, Tennessee, at age 66.

1919: Germany’s Weimar Constitution was adopted by the republic’s National Assembly.

1954: Pakistan’s K2 was conquered as two members of an Italian expedition, Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli, reached the summit.

1964: The American space probe Ranger 7 reached the moon, transmitting pictures back to Earth before impacting the lunar surface.

1972: Democratic vice-presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton withdrew from the ticket with George McGovern following disclosures that Eagleton had once undergone psychiatric treatment.

1991: President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Actor Don Murray is 86. Jazz composer-musician Kenny Burrell is 84. Actress France Nuyen is 76. Actress Susan Flannery is 76. Singer Lobo is 72. Former movie studio executive Sherry Lansing is 71. Singer Gary Lewis is 70. Actor Lane Davies is 65. International Tennis Hall of Famer Evonne Goolagong Cawley is 64. Actor Barry Van Dyke is 64. Entrepreneur Mark Cuban is 57. Rock musician Bill Berry is 57. Actor Wally Kurth is 57. Actor Wesley Snipes is 53. Musician Fatboy Slim is 52. Rock musician Jim Corr is 51. Author J.K. Rowling is 50. Actor Dean Cain is 49. Actor Jim True-Frost is 49. Actor Ben Chaplin is 46. Actor Loren Dean is 46. Actress Eve Best is 44. Actor Robert Telfer is 38. Country singer-musician Zac Brown is 37. Actor-producer-writer B.J. Novak is 36. Actor Eric Lively is 34. Country singer Blaire Stroud (3 of Hearts) is 32. Singer Shannon Curfman is 30. Actor Reese Hartwig is 17. Actor Rico Rodriguez is 17.