Today in History

Today is Friday, July 19, the 200th day of 2013. There are 165 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On July 19, 1943, Allied air forces raided Rome during World War II, the same day Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini met in Feltre in northern Italy.

On this date:

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

In 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.

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

In 1870, the Franco-Prussian war began.

In 1903, the first Tour de France was won by Maurice Garin.

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 on a flight from New York to Los Angeles.

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 1993, President Bill Clinton announced a policy allowing homosexuals to serve in the military under a compromise dubbed "don't ask, don't tell." Clinton fired FBI Director William Sessions, citing "serious questions" about Sessions' conduct and leadership.

Ten years ago: A chartered aircraft carrying three families to a game reserve plowed into Mount Kenya, killing all 12 American tourists and the two South African pilots on board.

Five years ago: Democrat Barack Obama visited U.S. troops and met with officials in Afghanistan as part of a congressional fact-finding tour. The Indiana Fever defeated the New York Liberty 71-55 in the WNBA's first outdoor game, played at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

One year ago: A calm-looking Syrian President Bashar Assad made his first appearance on state TV a day after a bomb killed some of his top lieutenants. Russia and China again vetoed a Western-backed U.N. resolution aimed at pressuring Assad's government to end the escalating civil war in Syria. Omar Suleiman, 76, Egypt's former spy chief, deposed President Hosni Mubarak's top lieutenant and keeper of secrets who ran for president earlier in the year, died in Cleveland, Ohio. Sylvia Woods, 86, founder of the famed soul food restaurant in New York's Harlem neighborhood that carries her name, died in Mount Vernon, N.Y.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Helen Gallagher is 87. Country singer Sue Thompson is 87. Country singer George Hamilton IV is 76. Singer Vikki Carr is 73. Country singer-musician Commander Cody is 69. Actor George Dzundza is 68. Rock singer-musician Alan Gorrie (Average White Band) is 67. Tennis player Ilie Nastase is 67. Rock musician Brian May is 66. Rock musician Bernie Leadon is 66. Actress Beverly Archer is 65. Movie director Abel Ferrara is 62. Actor Peter Barton is 57. Rock musician Kevin Haskins (Love and Rockets; Bauhaus) is 53. Movie director Atom Egoyan is 53. Actor Campbell Scott is 52. Actor Anthony Edwards is 51. Country singer Kelly Shiver is 50. Actress Clea Lewis is 48. Percusssionist Evelyn Glennie is 48. Country musician Jeremy Patterson is 43. Classical singer Urs Buhler (Il Divo) is 42. Actor Andrew Kavovit is 42. Rock musician Jason McGerr (Death Cab for Cutie) is 39. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch is 37. Actor Jared Padalecki is 31. Actor Steven Anthony Lawrence is 23.

Thought for Today: "The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious...the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science." -- Albert Einstein (1879-1955).

Copyright 2013, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.