Today in History

Today is Tuesday, July 16, the 197th day of 2013. There are 168 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On July 16, 1973, during the Senate Watergate hearings, former White House aide Alexander P. Butterfield publicly revealed the existence of President Richard Nixon's secret taping system.

On this date:

In 1790, a site along the Potomac River was designated the permanent seat of the United States government; the area became Washington, D.C.

In 1862, Flag Officer David G. Farragut became the first rear admiral in the United States Navy.

In 1912, New York gambler Herman Rosenthal, set to testify before a grand jury about police corruption, was gunned down by members of the Lennox Avenue Gang.

In 1935, the first parking meters were installed in Oklahoma City.

In 1945, the United States exploded its first experimental atomic bomb in the desert of Alamogordo, N.M.

In 1951, the novel "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger was first published by Little, Brown and Co.

In 1964, as he accepted the Republican presidential nomination in San Francisco, Barry M. Goldwater said "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice" and that "moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."

In 1969, Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Kennedy on the first manned mission to the surface of the moon.

In 1979, Saddam Hussein became president of Iraq.

In 1980, former California Gov. Ronald Reagan won the Republican presidential nomination at the party's convention in Detroit.

In 1981, singer Harry Chapin was killed when his car was struck by a tractor-trailer on New York's Long Island Expressway.

In 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, Carolyn, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, died when their single-engine plane, piloted by Kennedy, plunged into the Atlantic Ocean near Martha's Vineyard, Mass.

Ten years ago: The Environmental Protection Agency announced it was starting big-money, long-term cleanups at ten Superfund toxic waste sites and putting ten other sites aside for later. A car driven by 87-year-old George Russell Weller plowed through a farmers market in Santa Monica, Calif., killing 10 people and injuring more than 70. (Weller was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to five years of probation.) Cuban-born "Queen of Salsa" Celia Cruz died in Fort Lee, N.J., at age 77.

Five years ago: Republican John McCain addressed the annual convention of the NAACP, telling the civil rights group in Cincinnati he would expand education opportunities, partly through vouchers for low-income children to attend private schools. Israel freed notorious Lebanese militant Samir Kantar and four others after Hezbollah guerrillas handed over the bodies of two Israeli soldiers. Florida resident Casey Anthony, whose 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, had been missing a month, was arrested on charges of child neglect, making false official statements and obstructing a criminal investigation. (Casey Anthony was later acquitted at trial of murdering Caylee, whose skeletal remains were found in December 2008; she was convicted of lying to police.) Pop singer Jo Stafford died in Century City, Calif., at age 90.

One year ago: North Korea reshuffled its military, dismissing its army chief -- a key mentor to young ruler Kim Jong Un -- and promoting a little-known general to an important position in the million-man force. Singer Kitty Wells, whose hits such as "Making Believe" and "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" made her the first female superstar of country music, died at age 92.

Today's Birthdays: Former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh is 81. Soul singer Denise LaSalle is 79. Soul singer William Bell is 74. International Tennis Hall of Famer Margaret Court is 71. Violinist Pinchas Zukerman is 65. Actor-singer Ruben Blades is 65. Rock composer-musician Stewart Copeland is 61. Playwright Tony Kushner is 57. Dancer Michael Flatley is 55. Actress Phoebe Cates is 50. Actor Daryl "Chill" Mitchell is 48. Actor-comedian Will Ferrell is 46. Actor Jonathan Adams is 46. College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Barry Sanders is 45. Actress Rain Pryor is 44. Actor Corey Feldman is 42. Rock musician Ed Kowalczyk (Live) is 42. Rock singer Ryan McCombs (Drowning Pool) is 39. Actress Jayma Mays is 34. Actress AnnaLynne McCord is 26. Actor-singer James Maslow is 23. Actor Mark Indelicato is 19.

Thought for Today: "What was most significant about the lunar voyage was not that man set foot on the moon but that they set eye on the earth." -- Norman Cousins, American author and journalist (1915-1990).

Copyright 2013, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.