Today in History

Today is Thursday, July 19, the 200th day of 2018. There are 165 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On July 19, 1980, the Moscow Summer Olympics began, minus dozens of nations that were boycotting the games because of the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan.

On this date:

In 1553, King Henry VIII's daughter Mary was proclaimed Queen of England after pretender Lady Jane Grey was deposed.

In 1812, during the War of 1812, the First Battle of Sackets Harbor in Lake Ontario resulted in an American victory as U.S. naval forces repelled a British attack.

In 1848, a pioneering women's rights convention convened in Seneca Falls, New York.

In 1903, the first Tour de France was won by Maurice Garin.

In 1943, allied air forces raided Rome during World War II.

In 1944, the Democratic national convention convened in Chicago with the nomination of President Franklin D. Roosevelt considered a certainty.

In 1969, Apollo 11 and its astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins, went into orbit around the moon.

In 1979, the Nicaraguan capital of Managua fell to Sandinista guerrillas, two days after President Anastasio Somoza fled the country.

In 1989, 111 people were killed when United Air Lines Flight 232, a DC-10 which suffered the uncontained failure of its tail engine and the loss of hydraulic systems, crashed while making an emergency landing at Sioux City, Iowa; 185 other people survived.

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush joined former presidents Ronald Reagan, Gerald R. Ford and Richard M. Nixon at ceremonies dedicating the Nixon Library and Birthplace (since redesignated the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum) in Yorba Linda, California.

In 1992, anti-Mafia prosecutor Paolo Borsellino was killed along with five members of his security detail in a car bombing in Palermo, Sicily.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton announced a policy allowing homosexuals to serve in the military under a compromise dubbed "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue."

Ten years ago: Democrat Barack Obama visited U.S. troops and met with officials in Afghanistan as part of a congressional fact-finding tour. The Indiana Fever defeated the New York Liberty 71-55 in the WNBA's first outdoor game, played at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Five years ago: In a rare and public reflection on race, President Barack Obama called on the nation to do some soul searching over the death of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of his shooter, George Zimmerman, saying the slain black teenager "could have been me 35 years ago." A Dallas woman plunged 75 feet to her death from a Six Flags Over Texas roller coaster when her safety restraint apparently failed.

One year ago: Sen. John McCain's office said the 80-year-old Arizona Republican and former presidential nominee had been diagnosed with a brain tumor, glioblastoma. President Donald Trump told The New York Times that he would have chosen someone else to be attorney general if he'd known that Jeff Sessions would recuse himself from the FBI probe into possible ties between Trump's campaign and Russia.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Helen Gallagher is 92. Country singer Sue Thompson is 92. Singer Vikki Carr is 78. Blues singer-musician Little Freddie King is 78. Country singer-musician Commander Cody is 74. Actor George Dzundza is 73. Rock singer-musician Alan Gorrie (Average White Band) is 72. International Tennis Hall of Famer Ilie Nastase is 72. Rock musician Brian May is 71. Rock musician Bernie Leadon is 71. Actress Beverly Archer is 70. Movie director Abel Ferrara is 67. Actor Peter Barton is 62. Rock musician Kevin Haskins (Love and Rockets; Bauhaus) is 58. Movie director Atom Egoyan is 58. Actor Campbell Scott is 57. Actor Anthony Edwards is 56. Country singer Kelly Shiver is 55. Actress Clea Lewis is 53. Percusssionist Evelyn Glennie is 53. Country musician Jeremy Patterson is 48. Classical singer Urs Buhler (Il Divo) is 47. Actor Andrew Kavovit is 47. Rock musician Jason McGerr (Death Cab for Cutie) is 44. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch is 42. Actress Erin Cummings is 41. TV chef Marcela Valladolid is 40. Actor Chris Sullivan ("This is Us") is 38. Actor Jared Padalecki is 36. Actor Trai Byers is 35. Actress Kaitlin Doubleday ("Nashville") is 34. Actor/comedian Dustin Ybarra is 32. Actor Steven Anthony Lawrence is 28.

Thought for Today: "The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious ... the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science." -- Albert Einstein (1879-1955).