Today in History

Today is Tuesday, July 10, the 192nd day of 2012. There are 174 days left in the year.

Today's Highlights in History:

On July 10, 1962, AT&T's Telstar 1 communications satellite, capable of relaying television signals and telephone calls, was launched by NASA from Cape Canaveral. President John F. Kennedy signed the All-Channel Receiver Act, which required that new TV sets be capable of receiving UHF (ultra-high frequency) channels 14 through 83 in addition to VHF (very high frequency) channels 2 through 13.

On this date:

In 1509, theologian John Calvin, a key figure of the Protestant Reformation, was born in Noyon, Picardy, France.

In 1890, Wyoming became the 44th state.

In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson personally delivered the Treaty of Versailles to the Senate, and urged its ratification. (However, the Senate rejected it.)

In 1929, American paper currency was reduced in size as the government began issuing bills that were approximately 25 percent smaller.

In 1940, during World War II, the Battle of Britain began as Nazi forces began attacking southern England by air. (The Royal Air Force was ultimately victorious.)

In 1951, armistice talks aimed at ending the Korean War began at Kaesong.

In 1961, Mildred E. Gillars, also known as "Axis Sally," was paroled from a federal prison in West Virginia after serving 11 years for treason for her propaganda broadcasts from Nazi Germany during World War II.

In 1973, the Bahamas became fully independent after three centuries of British colonial rule.

In 1982, Pope John Paul II named Archbishop Joseph L. Bernardin of Cincinnati to succeed the late Cardinal John Cody as head of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

In 1985, the Greenpeace protest ship Rainbow Warrior was sunk with explosives in Auckland, New Zealand by French intelligence agents; one activist was killed. Bowing to pressure from irate customers, the Coca-Cola Co. said it would resume selling old-formula Coke, while continuing to sell New Coke.

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 1992, a New York jury found Pan Am guilty of willful misconduct and responsible for allowing a terrorist bomb to destroy Flight 103 in 1988, killing 270 people, opening the way for civil lawsuits.

Ten years ago: The House approved, 310-113, 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). A unified Senate approved harsh new penalties for corporate fraud and document-shredding (however, the legislation was never enacted).

Five years ago: China executed the former head of its food and drug agency for approving untested medicine in exchange for cash. A judge in Los Angeles sentenced pizza deliveryman Chester Turner to death for murdering 10 women and a fetus during the 1980s and '90s. The American League defeated the National League 5-4 in the All-Star game. Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Doug Marlette, 57, died in an auto accident near Holly Springs, Miss.

One year ago: The space shuttle Atlantis docked with the International Space Station, the final such hookup in orbit. An overloaded cruise vessel sank in Russia's Volga River, killing 122 people. Some 70 people were killed when a train derailed in northern India. Britain's best-selling Sunday tabloid the News of the World, brought down by a phone-hacking scandal, signed off with a simple front page message: "THANK YOU & GOODBYE." Acclaimed French choreographer Roland Petit, 87, died in Geneva.

Today's Birthdays: Former boxer Jake LaMotta is 91. Writer-producer Earl Hamner Jr. is 89. Former New York City Mayor David N. Dinkins is 85. Actor William Smithers is 85. Broadway composer Jerry Herman is 81. Director Ivan Passer is 79. Actor Lawrence Pressman is 73. Singer Mavis Staples is 73. Actor Mills Watson is 72. Actor Robert Pine is 71. Rock musician Jerry Miller (Moby Grape) is 69. International Tennis Hall of Famer Virginia Wade is 67. Actor Ron Glass is 67. Actress Sue Lyon is 66. Folk singer Arlo Guthrie is 65. Rock musician Dave Smalley is 63. Country-folk singer-songwriter Cheryl Wheeler is 61. Rock singer Neil Tennant (Pet Shop Boys) is 58. Banjo player Bela Fleck is 54. Country musician Shaw Wilson (BR549) is 52. Country singer-songwriter Ken Mellons is 47. Rock musician Peter DiStefano (Porno for Pyros) is 47. Actor Gale Harold is 43. Country singer Gary LeVox (Rascal Flatts) is 42. Actor Aaron D. Spears is 41. Actress Sofia Vergara is 40. Rockabilly singer Imelda May is 38. Actor Adrian Grenier (grehn-YAY') is 36. Actress Gwendoline Yeo is 35. Actor Thomas Ian Nicholas is 32. Singer-actress Jessica Simpson is 32. Rock musician John Spiker is 31. Actress Heather Hemmens is 28.

Thought for Today: "One must choose in life between boredom and suffering." -- Germaine de Stael, French author (1766-1817).

Copyright 2012, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.