Today in History

Today is Thursday, July 19, the 201st day of 2012. There are 165 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On July 19, 1812, during the War of 1812, the First Battle of Sackets Harbor in Lake Ontario resulted in an American victory as U.S. naval forces repelled a British attack.

On this date:

In 1553, King Henry VIII's daughter Mary was proclaimed Queen of England after pretender Lady Jane Grey was deposed.

In 1848, a pioneer women's rights convention convened in Seneca Falls, N.Y.

In 1870, the Franco-Prussian war began.

In 1943, allied air forces raided Rome during World War II.

In 1952, the Summer Olympics opened in Helsinki, Finland.

In 1961, TWA became the first airline to begin showing regularly scheduled in-flight movies as it presented "By Love Possessed" to first-class passengers.

In 1969, Apollo 11 and its astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins, went into orbit around the moon.

In 1979, the Nicaraguan capital of Managua fell to Sandinista guerrillas, two days after President Anastasio Somoza fled the country.

In 1980, the Moscow Summer Olympics began, minus dozens of nations that were boycotting the games because of the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan.

In 1989, 111 people were killed when a United Air Lines DC-10 crashed while making an emergency landing at Sioux City, Iowa; 185 other people survived.

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush joined former presidents Ronald Reagan, Gerald R. Ford and Richard M. Nixon at ceremonies dedicating the Nixon Library and Birthplace (since redesignated the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum) in Yorba Linda, Calif.

In 1992, anti-Mafia prosecutor Paolo Borsellino was killed along with five members of his security escort in a car bombing in Palermo, Sicily.

Ten years ago: The Dow Jones industrials dipped below their post-terrorist attack lows in a 390-point selloff. ConAgra Beef Co. of Colorado asked Americans to destroy 19 million pounds of hamburger meat because of E. coli concerns. Alejandro Avila was arrested in the slaying of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion of Stanton, Calif. (Avila was later convicted and sentenced to death.) Celebrated musicologist Alan Lomax died in Safety Harbor, Fla., at age 87.

Five years ago: A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by former CIA operative Valerie Plame, who was demanding money from Bush administration officials she blamed for leaking her agency identity. Taliban gunmen abducted 23 South Koreans who worked at an aid organization in Kandahar, Afghanistan. (Two hostages were fatally shot; the rest were later freed.)

One year ago: Summoned by British lawmakers to answer for a phone hacking and bribery scandal at one of his tabloids, media mogul Rupert Murdoch said he was humbled and ashamed, but accepted no responsibility for wrongdoing.

Today's Birthdays: Former Sen. George McGovern, D-S.D., is 90. Actress Helen Gallagher is 86. Country singer Sue Thompson is 86. Country singer George Hamilton IV is 75. Singer Vikki Carr is 72. Country singer-musician Commander Cody is 68. Actor George Dzundza is 67. Rock singer-musician Alan Gorrie (Average White Band) is 66. Rock musician Brian May is 65. Rock musician Bernie Leadon is 65. Actress Beverly Archer is 64. Movie director Abel Ferrara is 61. Actor Peter Barton is 56. Rock musician Kevin Haskins (Love and Rockets; Bauhaus) is 52. Movie director Atom Egoyan is 52. Actor Campbell Scott is 51. Actor Anthony Edwards is 50. Country singer Kelly Shiver is 49. Actress Clea Lewis is 47. Country musician Jeremy Patterson is 42. Classical singer Urs Buhler (Il Divo) is 41. Actor Andrew Kavovit is 41. Alt-country singer Elizabeth Cook is 40. Rock musician Jason McGerr (Death Cab for Cutie) is 38. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch is 36. Actor Jared Padalecki is 30. Actor Steven Anthony Lawrence is 22.

Thought for Today: "Ben Franklin may have discovered electricity, but it is the man who invented the meter who made the money." -- Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States (1891-1974).

Copyright 2012, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.