Today in History

Today is Wednesday, July 22, the 203rd day of 2015. There are 162 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On July 22, 1975, the U.S. House of Representatives joined the Senate in voting to restore the American citizenship of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. (President Gerald R. Ford signed the measure on August 5.)

On this date:

In 1587, an English colony fated to vanish under mysterious circumstances was established on Roanoke Island off North Carolina.

In 1796, Cleveland, Ohio, was founded by General Moses Cleaveland.

In 1893, Wellesley College professor Katharine Lee Bates visited the summit of Pikes Peak, where she was inspired to write the original version of her poem "America the Beautiful."

In 1916, a bomb went off during a Preparedness Day parade in San Francisco, killing 10 people.

In 1934, bank robber John Dillinger was shot to death by federal agents outside Chicago's Biograph Theater, where he had just seen the Clark Gable movie "Manhattan Melodrama."

In 1946, Jewish extremists blew up a wing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, killing 90 people.

In 1950, former Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King died in Kingsmere, Quebec, at age 75.

In 1957, Walter "Fred" Morrison applied for a patent for a "flying toy" which became known as the Frisbee.

In 1963, Sonny Liston knocked out Floyd Patterson in the first round of their rematch in Las Vegas to retain the world heavyweight title.

In 1983, Samantha Smith and her parents returned home to Manchester, Maine, after completing a whirlwind tour of the Soviet Union.

In 1995, Susan Smith was convicted by a jury in Union, South Carolina, of first-degree murder for drowning her two sons. (She was later sentenced to life in prison, and will not be eligible for parole until 2024.)

In 2011, Anders Breivik massacred 69 people at a Norwegian island youth retreat after detonating a bomb in nearby Oslo that killed eight others in the nation's worst violence since World War II.

Ten years ago: Jean Charles de Menezes, a Brazilian electrician, was shot to death by London police who'd mistaken him for a terrorist. A labor agreement ended an NHL lockout that canceled the previous hockey season.

Five years ago: President Hugo Chavez severed Venezuela's diplomatic relations with neighboring Colombia over claims he was harboring leftist guerrillas. The city manager, assistant manager and police chief of Bell, California, resigned after outraged residents found out through a Los Angeles Times investigation that the officials were making a total of more than $1.6 million a year. Six people were killed when a Greyhound bus crashed into an overturned SUV on a highway in Fresno, California. (Authorities later said the SUV driver, who died in the collision, was drunk.)

One year ago: A Hamas rocket exploded near Israel's main airport, prompting a ban on flights from the U.S. and many from Europe and Canada. Johann Breyer, an 89-year-old Nazi war crimes suspect, died at a Philadelphia hospital hours before a U.S. ruling that he should be extradited to Germany to face trial.

Today's Birthdays: Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., is 92. Actor-comedian Orson Bean is 87. Actress Louise Fletcher is 81. Rhythm-and-blues singer Chuck Jackson is 78. Actor Terence Stamp is 77. Game show host Alex Trebek is 75. Singer George Clinton is 74. Actor-singer Bobby Sherman is 72. Former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, is 72. Movie writer-director Paul Schrader is 69. Actor Danny Glover is 69. Singer Mireille Mathieu is 69. Actor-comedian-director Albert Brooks is 68. Rock singer Don Henley is 68. Movie composer Alan Menken is 66. Singer-actress Lonette McKee is 62. Jazz musician Al Di Meola is 61. Actor Willem Dafoe is 60. Rhythm-and-blues singer Keith Sweat is 54. Actress Joanna Going is 52. Actor Rob Estes is 52. Folk singer Emily Saliers (Indigo Girls) is 52. Actor John Leguizamo is 51. Actor-comedian David Spade is 51. Actor Patrick Labyorteaux is 50. Rock musician Pat Badger is 48. Actress Irene Bedard is 48. Actor Rhys Ifans is 48. Actress Diana Maria Riva is 46. Actor Colin Ferguson is 43. Retired NFL player Keyshawn Johnson is 43. Rock musician Daniel Jones is 42. Singer Rufus Wainwright is 42. Actress Franka Potente is 41. Actress A.J. Cook is 37. Actor Keegan Allen is 28. Actress Camila Banus is 25. Actress Selena Gomez is 23. Britain's Prince George of Cambridge is two.

Thought for Today: "Life is the art of drawing without an eraser." -- John W. Gardner, American government official (1912-2002).

Copyright 2015, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.