Today In History
Today is Saturday, July 17, the 198th day of 2021. There are 167 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
› 1975: An Apollo spaceship docked with a Soyuz spacecraft in orbit in the first superpower link-up of its kind.
ON THIS DATE
› 1821: Spain ceded Florida to the United States.
› 1862: During the Civil War, Congress approved the Second Confiscation Act, which declared that all slaves taking refuge behind Union lines were to be set free.
› 1918: Russia’s Czar Nicholas II and his family were executed by the Bolsheviks.
› 1936: The Spanish Civil War began as right-wing army generals launched a coup attempt against the Second Spanish Republic.
› 1962: The United States conducted its last atmospheric nuclear test to date, detonating a 20-kiloton device, codenamed Little Feller I, at the Nevada Test Site.
› 1967: After seven dates, Jimi Hendrix quit as the opening act for the Monkees following a concert at Forest Hills Stadium in New York. (Although greatly admired by the Monkees, Hendrix had received a less than enthusiastic reception from their fans.)
› 1997: Woolworth Corp. announced it was closing its 400 remaining five-and-dime stores across the country, ending 117 years in business.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Actor Donald Sutherland is 86. Sportscaster Verne Lundquist is 81. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, is 74. Rock musician Terry “Geezer” Butler is 72. Actor Lucie Arnaz is 70. Actor David Hasselhoff is 69. Rock musician Fran Smith Jr. (The Hooters) is 69. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is 67. Television producer Mark Burnett is
61. Actor Nancy Giles is
61. Singer Regina Belle is
58. Country singer Craig Morgan is 57. Rock musician Lou Barlow is 55. Contemporary Christian singer Susan Ashton is
54. Actor Andre Royo is
53. Actor Bitty Schram is
53. Actor Jason Clarke is
52. Movie director F. Gary Gray is 52. Rapper Solé is
48. Country singer Luke Bryan is 45. Actor Eric Winter is 45. Actor Mike Vogel is 42. Actor Tom Cullen is 36. Actor Brando Eaton is 35. R&B singer Jeremih is 34. Actor Summer Bishil is 33. Actor Billie Lourd is 29. Actor Leo Howard is 24.