TODAY IN HISTORY

In 1781,

Capt. Jack Jouett began riding his horse some 40 miles from Louisa County, Virginia, to Charlottesville, where Gov. Thomas Jefferson and other politicians were located, to warn of approaching British troops who intended to take them prisoner.

In 1861,

Illinois Sen. Stephen A. Douglas, the Democratic presidential nominee in the 1860 election, died in Chicago of typhoid fever; he was 48.

In 1935,

the French liner Normandie set a record on its maiden voyage, arriving in New York after crossing the Atlantic in just four days.

In 1948,

the 200-inch reflecting Hale Telescope at the Palomar Mountain Observatory in California was dedicated.

In 1962,

Air France Flight 007, a U.S.-bound Boeing 707, crashed while attempting to take off from Orly Airport near Paris; all but two of the 132 people aboard were killed.

In 1965,

astronaut Edward H. White became the first American to “walk” in space during the flight of Gemini 4.

In 1968,

pop artist Andy Warhol was shot and critically wounded at his New York film studio, known as “The Factory,” by Valerie Solanas, an actress and self-styled militant feminist who ended up serving three years in prison for assault.

In 1977,

the United States and Cuba agreed to set up diplomatic interests sections in each other’s countries; Cuba also announced the immediate release of 10 Americans jailed on drug charges.

In 1989,

Iran’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, died. On the same day, Chinese army troops began their sweep of Beijing to crush student-led pro-democracy demonstrations.

In 2008,

Barack Obama claimed the Democratic presidential nomination, speaking in the same St. Paul, Minnesota, arena where Republicans would be holding their national convention in September 2008.

In 2009,

the Organization of American States cleared the way for Cuba’s possible return to the group by lifting a 47-year ban on the country.

In 2016,

heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali died at a hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona, at age 74.

In 2017,

a white van slammed into pedestrians on London Bridge, killing eight people; the three attackers were shot and killed by police.