Today in History

Today is Friday, July 10, the 191st day of 2015. There are 174 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On July 10, 1940, during World War II, the Battle of Britain began as the Luftwaffe started attacking southern England. (The Royal Air Force was ultimately victorious.)

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 1925, jury selection took place in Dayton, Tennessee, in the trial of John T. Scopes, charged with violating the law by teaching Darwin's Theory of Evolution. (Scopes was convicted and fined, but the verdict was overturned on a technicality.)

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

In 1943, during World War II, U.S. and British forces invaded Sicily.

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

In 1962, AT&T's Telstar 1 communications satellite, capable of relaying television signals and telephone calls, was launched by NASA from Cape Canaveral.

In 1973, the Bahamas became fully independent after three centuries of British colonial rule. John Paul Getty III, the teenage grandson of the oil tycoon, was abducted in Rome by kidnappers who cut off his ear when his family was slow to meet their ransom demands; young Getty was released in December 1973 for nearly $3 million.

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 1999, the United States women's soccer team won the World Cup, beating China 5-4 on penalty kicks after 120 minutes of scoreless play at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

Ten years ago: A search-and-rescue team found the body of a missing U.S. commando in eastern Afghanistan, bringing an end to the desperate search for the last member of an ill-fated, four-man special forces unit that had disappeared the previous month. Nineteen-month-old Suzie Marie Pena was struck and killed by a SWAT team bullet during a shootout between Los Angeles police and her father, who was using the toddler as a shield; Jose Raul Pena also died. Hurricane Dennis roared quickly through the Florida Panhandle and Alabama coast with blinding squalls and crashing waves.

Five years ago: Robotic submarines removed a leaking cap from a gushing oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, sending crude flowing freely into the sea until BP installed a new seal that stopped the oil days later. Australia's Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde headed a class of seven inductees into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Grammy-winning country singer Carrie Underwood married NHL player Mike Fisher at a resort in Greensboro, Georgia.

One year ago: Germany demanded that the CIA station chief in Berlin leave the country as a new round of allegations of U.S. espionage worsened friction between the two allies.

Today's Birthdays: Former boxer Jake LaMotta is 94. Writer-producer Earl Hamner Jr. is 92. Former New York City Mayor David N. Dinkins is 88. Actor William Smithers is 88. Broadway composer Jerry Herman is 84. Director Ivan Passer is 82. Actor Lawrence Pressman is 76. Singer Mavis Staples is 76. Actor Mills Watson is 75. Actor Robert Pine is 74. Rock musician Jerry Miller (Moby Grape) is 72. International Tennis Hall of Famer Virginia Wade is 70. Actor Ron Glass is 70. Actress Sue Lyon is 69. Folk singer Arlo Guthrie is 68. Rock musician Dave Smalley is 66. Country-folk singer-songwriter Cheryl Wheeler is 64. Rock singer Neil Tennant (Pet Shop Boys) is 61. Banjo player Bela Fleck is 57. Country musician Shaw Wilson (BR549) is 55. Actor Alec Mapa is 50. Country singer-songwriter Ken Mellons is 50. Rock musician Peter DiStefano (Porno for Pyros) is 50. Actor Gale Harold is 46. Country singer Gary LeVox (Rascal Flatts) is 45. Actor Aaron D. Spears is 44. Actress Sofia Vergara is 43. Rockabilly singer Imelda May is 41. Actor Adrian Grenier is 39. Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor is 38. Actress Gwendoline Yeo is 38. Actor Thomas Ian Nicholas is 35. Singer-actress Jessica Simpson is 35. Rock musician John Spiker is 34. Actress Heather Hemmens is 31. Rapper/singer Angel Haze is 24. Pop singer Perrie Edwards (Little Mix) is 22.

Thought for Today: "The people I distrust most are those who want to improve our lives but have only one course of action in mind." -- Frank Herbert, American author (1920-1986).

Copyright 2015, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.