Today in History

Today in History

Today is Monday, July 11, the 193rd day of 2016. There are 173 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On July 11, 1804, Vice President Aaron Burr mortally wounded former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton during a pistol duel in Weehawken, New Jersey. (Hamilton died the next day.)

On this date:

In 1767, John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States, was born in Braintree, Massachusetts.

In 1798, the U.S. Marine Corps was formally re-established by a congressional act that also created the U.S. Marine Band.

In 1922, the Hollywood Bowl officially opened with a program called "Symphonies Under the Stars" with Alfred Hertz conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

In 1936, New York City's Triborough Bridge (now officially the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge) linking Manhattan, Queens and The Bronx was opened to traffic.

In 1952, the Republican National Convention, meeting in Chicago, nominated Dwight D. Eisenhower for president and Richard M. Nixon for vice president.

In 1955, the U.S. Air Force Academy swore in its first class of cadets at its temporary quarters at Lowry Air Force Base in Colorado.

In 1960, the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee was first published by J.B. Lippincott and Co.

In 1966, the game show "The Newlywed Game," hosted by Bob Eubanks, premiered on ABC-TV.

In 1979, the abandoned U.S. space station Skylab made a spectacular return to Earth, burning up in the atmosphere and showering debris over the Indian Ocean and Australia.

In 1989, actor and director Laurence Olivier died in Steyning, West Sussex, England, at age 82.

In 1991, a Nigeria Airways DC-8 carrying Muslim pilgrims crashed at the Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, international airport, killing all 261 people on board.

In 1995, the U.N.-designated "safe haven" of Srebrenica in Bosnia-Herzegovina fell to Bosnian Serb forces, who then carried out the killings of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys. The United States normalized relations with Vietnam.

Ten years ago: Eight bombs hit a commuter rail network during evening rush hour in Mumbai, India, killing more than 200 people. In Chicago, a Blue Line train derailed and started a fire during the evening rush hour, filling a subway tunnel with smoke and forcing dozens of soot-covered commuters to evacuate. The American League edged the National League 3-2 in the All-Star Game in Pittsburgh. Actor Barnard Hughes died in New York at age 90.

Five years ago: Rupert Murdoch's media empire was besieged by accusations that two more of his British newspapers engaged in hacking, deception and privacy violations. So Yeon Ryu won the U.S. Women's Open, defeating fellow South Korean Hee Kyung Seo by three shots in a three-hole playoff.

One year ago: Top Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, escaped from a maximum security prison for the second time by exiting through a secretly dug mile-long tunnel (he was recaptured in January 2016). A crowd of furious Bosnian Muslims jumped over fences and attacked Serbia's prime minister, Aleksandar Vucic, with stones and water bottles, marring the 20th anniversary commemorations of the Srebrenica massacre. Serena Williams won her sixth title at Wimbledon, beating Garbine Muguruza of Spain 6-4, 6-4 in the women's final; for Williams, it was her second "Serena Slam" holding all four major titles at the same time.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Tab Hunter is 85. Actress Susan Seaforth Hayes is 73. Singer Jeff Hanna (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) is 70. Ventriloquist-actor Jay Johnson is 67. Actor Bruce McGill is 66. Singer Bonnie Pointer is 66. Actor Stephen Lang is 64. Actress Mindy Sterling is 63. Boxer Leon Spinks is 63. Actress Sela Ward is 60. Reggae singer Michael Rose (Black Uhuru) is 59. Singer Peter Murphy is 59. Actor Mark Lester is 58. Jazz musician Kirk Whalum is 58. Singer Suzanne Vega is 57. Rock guitarist Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi) is 57. Actress Lisa Rinna is 53. Rock musician Scott Shriner (Weezer) is 51. Actress Debbe Dunning is 50. Actor Greg Grunberg is 50. Wildlife expert Jeff Corwin is 49. Actor Justin Chambers is 46. Actress Leisha Hailey is 45. Actor Michael Rosenbaum is 44. Pop-rock singer Andrew Bird is 43. Country singer Scotty Emerick is 43. Rapper Lil' Kim is 41. Actor Jon Wellner is 41. Rock singer Ben Gibbard is 40. Rapper Lil' Zane is 34. Pop-jazz singer-musician Peter Cincotti is 33. Actress Serinda Swan is 32. Actor Robert Adamson is 31. Actor David Henrie is 27. Actor Connor Paolo is 26. Tennis player Caroline Wozniacki is 26.

Thought for Today: "Those people who think only of themselves, are hopelessly uneducated. They are not educated, no matter how instructed they may be." -- Nicholas Murray Butler, American educator (1862-1947).