Today in History

Today is Saturday, July 19, the 200th day of 2014. There are 165 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On July 19, 1989, 111 people were killed when United Air Lines Flight 232, a DC-10 which suffered the uncontained failure of its tail engine and the loss of hydraulic systems, crashed while making an emergency landing at Sioux City, Iowa; 185 other people survived.

On this date:

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

In 1814, Samuel Colt, inventor of the Colt revolver, was born in Hartford, Connecticut.

In 1848, a pioneer women's rights convention convened in Seneca Falls, New York.

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

In 1944, the Democratic national convention convened in Chicago with the renomination of President Franklin D. Roosevelt considered a certainty.

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 1984, U.S. Rep. Geraldine A. Ferraro of New York won the Democratic nomination for vice president by acclamation at the party's convention in San Francisco.

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, California.

In 1994, a bomb ripped apart a Panama commuter plane, killing 21, including 12 Jews, a day after a car bomb destroyed a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 85 people. A secrecy-shrouded funeral ceremony was held for North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung, who had died July 8 at age 82.

Ten years ago: Mark Hacking of Salt Lake City shot and killed his 27-year-old wife, Lori, disposed of her remains, then reported her missing; he was later sentenced to six years to life in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder. A fuel tanker rigged as a massive bomb exploded near the Baghdad police station, killing nine people. A methane gas explosion in a Ukrainian mine killed at least 34 miners. Former Japanese Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki died at age 93.

Five years ago: A Russian-owned civilian helicopter crashed shortly after takeoff from southern Afghanistan's largest NATO base, killing 16 civilians. Israel rejected a U.S. demand to suspend a planned housing project in east Jerusalem. Stewart Cink won the British Open in a four-hole playoff with Tom Watson. Eighty-one-year-old Hershel McGriff became the oldest driver to take part in a national NASCAR series race, finishing 13th in a Camping World West Series event at Portland International Raceway. Author Frank McCourt, who'd won the Pulitzer Prize for his memoir "Angela's Ashes," died in New York at 78.

One year ago: In a rare and public reflection on race, President Barack Obama called on the nation to do some soul searching over the death of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of his shooter, George Zimmerman, saying the slain black teenager "could have been me 35 years ago." A Dallas woman plunged 75 feet to her death from a Six Flags Over Texas roller coaster when her safety restraint apparently failed.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Helen Gallagher is 88. Country singer Sue Thompson is 88. Country singer George Hamilton IV is 77. Singer Vikki Carr is 74. Country singer-musician Commander Cody is 70. Actor George Dzundza is 69. Rock singer-musician Alan Gorrie (Average White Band) is 68. Tennis player Ilie Nastase is 68. Rock musician Brian May is 67. Rock musician Bernie Leadon is 67. Actress Beverly Archer is 66. Movie director Abel Ferrara is 63. Actor Peter Barton is 58. Rock musician Kevin Haskins (Love and Rockets; Bauhaus) is 54. Movie director Atom Egoyan is 54. Actor Campbell Scott is 53. Actor Anthony Edwards is 52. Country singer Kelly Shiver is 51. Actress Clea Lewis is 49. Percusssionist Evelyn Glennie is 49. Country musician Jeremy Patterson is 44. Classical singer Urs Buhler (Il Divo) is 43. Actor Andrew Kavovit is 43. Rock musician Jason McGerr (Death Cab for Cutie) is 40. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch is 38. Actor Jared Padalecki is 32. Actor Steven Anthony Lawrence is 24.

Thought for Today: "No written law has ever been more binding than unwritten custom supported by popular opinion." -- Carrie Chapman Catt, American feminist (1859-1947).

Copyright 2014, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.