Today in History

Today in History

Today is Monday, July 18, the 200th day of 2016. There are 166 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On July 18, 1976, 14-year-old Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, competing at the Montreal Olympics, received the first-ever perfect score of 10 with her routine on uneven parallel bars. (Comaneci would go on to receive six more 10s in Montreal.)

On this date:

In A.D. 64, the Great Fire of Rome began, consuming most of the city for about a week. (Some blamed the fire on Emperor Nero, who in turn blamed Christians.)

In 1792, American naval hero John Paul Jones died in Paris at age 45.

In 1872, Britain enacted voting by secret ballot.

In 1925, Adolf Hitler published the first volume of his autobiographical screed, "Mein Kampf (My Struggle)."

In 1932, the United States and Canada signed a treaty to develop the St. Lawrence Seaway.

In 1944, Hideki Tojo was removed as Japanese premier and war minister because of setbacks suffered by his country in World War II. American forces in France captured the Normandy town of St. Lo.

In 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed a Presidential Succession Act which placed the speaker of the House and the Senate president pro tempore next in the line of succession after the vice president.

In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Soviet Premier Nikolai Bulganin, British Prime Minister Anthony Eden and French Premier Edgar Faure met for a summit in Geneva.

In 1969, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., left a party on Chappaquiddick Island near Martha's Vineyard with Mary Jo Kopechne, 28; some time later, Kennedy's car went off a bridge into the water. Kennedy was able to escape, but Kopechne drowned.

In 1984, gunman James Huberty opened fire at a McDonald's fast food restaurant in San Ysidro, California, killing 21 people before being shot dead by police. Walter F. Mondale won the Democratic presidential nomination in San Francisco.

In 1986, the world got its first look at the wreckage of the RMS Titanic resting on the ocean floor as videotape of the British luxury liner, which sank in 1912, was released by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

In 1994, a bomb hidden in a van destroyed a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 85. Tutsi rebels declared an end to Rwanda's 14-week-old civil war.

Ten years ago: The Senate voted after two days of emotional debate to expand federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, sending the measure to President George W. Bush for a promised veto. A doctor and two nurses who'd labored at a flooded-out New Orleans hospital in Hurricane Katrina's chaotic aftermath were arrested and accused of killing four trapped and desperately ill patients with injections of morphine and sedatives. (A grand jury later declined to indict Dr. Anna Pou and the nurses.)

Five years ago: Gen. David Petraeus handed over command of American and coalition forces in Afghanistan to Gen. John Allen as he left to take over the Central Intelligence Agency. Reeling from months of tragedy caused by a devastating tsunami and earthquake, Japan celebrated after its women's soccer team won the World Cup by beating the United States 3-1 on penalty kicks, after coming from behind twice in a 2-2 tie.

One year ago: Saudi Arabia announced it had broken up planned Islamic State attacks in the kingdom and arrested more than 400 suspects in an anti-terrorism sweep, a day after a powerful blast in neighboring Iraq killed more than 100 people in one of the country's deadliest single attacks since U.S. troops pulled out in 2011. Actor Alex Rocco, 79, died in Los Angeles.

Today's Birthdays: Former Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, is 95. Skating champion and commentator Dick Button is 87. Olympic gold medal figure skater Tenley Albright, M.D., is 81. Movie director Paul Verhoeven is 78. Musician Brian Auger is 77. Singer Dion DiMucci is 77. Actor James Brolin is 76. Baseball Hall of Famer Joe Torre is 76. Singer Martha Reeves is 75. Pop-rock musician Wally Bryson (The Raspberries) is 67. Country-rock singer Craig Fuller (Pure Prairie League) is 67. Actress Margo Martindale is 65. Singer Ricky Skaggs is 62. Actress Audrey Landers is 60. World Golf Hall of Famer Nick Faldo is 59. Rock musician Nigel Twist (The Alarm) is 58. Actress Anne-Marie Johnson is 56. Actress Elizabeth McGovern is 55. Rock musician John Hermann (Widespread Panic) is 54. Rock musician Jack Irons is 54. Talk show host/actress Wendy Williams is 52. Actor Vin Diesel is 49. Actor Grant Bowler is 48. Retired NBA All-Star Penny Hardaway is 45. Alt-country singer Elizabeth Cook is 44. Actor Eddie Matos is 44. MLB All-Star Torii Hunter is 41. Dance music singer-songwriter M.I.A. is 41. Rock musician Daron Malakian (System of a Down; Scars on Broadway) is 41. Rock musician Tony Fagenson (Eve 6) is 38. Movie director Jared Hess is 37. Actor Jason Weaver is 37. Actress Kristen Bell is 36. Actor Michiel Huisman is 35. Rock singer Ryan Cabrera is 34. Actress Priyanka Chopra (TV: "Quantico") is 34. Christian-rock musician Aaron Gillespie (Underoath) is 33. Actor Chace Crawford is 31. Actor James Norton (TV: "Grantchester") is 31. Musician Paul Kowert (Punch Brothers) is 30. Actor Travis Milne is 30. Bluegrass musician Joe Dean Jr. (Dailey & Vincent) is 27.

Thought for Today: "While we read history we make history." -- George William Curtis, American author-editor (1824-1892).