Today in History

Today in History

Today is Sunday, July 10, the 192nd day of 2016. There are 174 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On July 10, 1962, AT&T's Telstar 1 communications satellite, capable of relaying television signals and telephone calls, was launched by NASA from Cape Canaveral.

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

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 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 Manhattan town house was leveled by an explosion; authorities say a suicidal doctor set off the blast to avoid selling the $4 million mansion in a divorce settlement. (The doctor, Nicholas Bartha, died five days later.) A section of ceiling in Boston's Big Dig tunnel collapsed, killing a car passenger. A Pakistani passenger plane crashed, killing all 45 people on board. Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev was killed when a dynamite-laden truck in his convoy exploded.

Five years ago: The space shuttle Atlantis docked with the International Space Station, the final such hookup in orbit. An overloaded cruise vessel sank in Russia's Volga River, killing 122 people. Some 70 people were killed when a train derailed in northern India. Britain's best-selling Sunday tabloid the News of the World, brought down by a phone-hacking scandal, signed off with a simple front page message: "THANK YOU & GOODBYE." Acclaimed French choreographer Roland Petit, 87, died in Geneva.

One year ago: Katherine Archuleta, the embattled head of the government's Office of Personnel Management, abruptly stepped down, bowing to mounting pressure following the unprecedented breach of private information her agency was entrusted to protect. To the cheers of thousands, South Carolina pulled the Confederate flag from its place of honor at the Statehouse after more than 50 years. Actor Omar Sharif, 83, died in Cairo. Actor Roger Rees, 71, died in New York. Opera singer Jon Vickers, 88, died in Ontario, Canada.

Today's Birthdays: Former boxer Jake LaMotta is 95. Former New York City Mayor David N. Dinkins is 89. Actor William Smithers is 89. Broadway composer Jerry Herman is 85. Director Ivan Passer is 83. Actor Lawrence Pressman is 77. Singer Mavis Staples is 77. Actor Mills Watson is 76. Actor Robert Pine is 75. Rock musician Jerry Miller (Moby Grape) is 73. International Tennis Hall of Famer Virginia Wade is 71. Actor Ron Glass is 71. Actress Sue Lyon is 70. Folk singer Arlo Guthrie is 69. Rock musician Dave Smalley is 67. Country-folk singer-songwriter Cheryl Wheeler is 65. Rock singer Neil Tennant (Pet Shop Boys) is 62. Banjo player Bela Fleck is 58. Country musician Shaw Wilson (BR549) is 56. Actor Alec Mapa is 51. Country singer-songwriter Ken Mellons is 51. Rock musician Peter DiStefano (Porno for Pyros) is 51. Actor Gale Harold is 47. Country singer Gary LeVox (Rascal Flatts) is 46. Actor Aaron D. Spears is 45. Actress Sofia Vergara is 44. Rockabilly singer Imelda May is 42. Actor Adrian Grenier is 40. Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor is 39. Actress Gwendoline Yeo is 39. Actor Thomas Ian Nicholas is 36. Singer-actress Jessica Simpson is 36. Rock musician John Spiker is 35. Actress Heather Hemmens is 32. Rapper/singer Angel Haze is 25. Pop singer Perrie Edwards (Little Mix) is 23.

Thought for Today: "One must choose in life between boredom and suffering." -- Germaine de Stael, French author (1766-1817).