Today in History

Today is Sunday, July 29, the 210th day of 2018. There are 155 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On July 29, 1921, Adolf Hitler became the leader ("fuehrer") of the National Socialist German Workers Party.

On this date:

In 1030, the patron saint of Norway, King Olaf II, was killed in battle.

In 1890, artist Vincent van Gogh, 37, died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound in Auvers-sur-Oise, France.

In 1914, transcontinental telephone service in the U.S. became operational with the first test conversation between New York and San Francisco. Massachusetts' Cape Cod Canal, offering a shortcut across the base of the peninsula, was officially opened to shipping traffic.

In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, creating NASA.

In 1967, an accidental rocket launch on the deck of the supercarrier USS Forrestal in the Gulf of Tonkin resulted in a fire and explosions that killed 134 servicemen. (Among the survivors was future Arizona senator John McCain, a U.S. Navy lieutenant commander who narrowly escaped with his life.)

In 1974, singer Cass Elliot died in a London hotel room at age 32.

In 1975, President Gerald R. Ford became the first U.S. president to visit the site of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz in Poland.

In 1980, a state funeral was held in Cairo, Egypt, for the deposed Shah of Iran, who had died two days earlier at age 60.

In 1981, Britain's Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in a glittering ceremony at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. (The couple divorced in 1996.)

In 1994, abortion opponent Paul Hill shot and killed Dr. John Bayard Britton and Britton's bodyguard, James H. Barrett, outside the Ladies Center clinic in Pensacola, Florida. (Hill was executed in Sept. 2003.)

In 2004, Sen. John Kerry accepted the Democratic presidential nomination at the party's convention in Boston with a military salute and the declaration: "I'm John Kerry and I'm reporting for duty."

In 2006, the U.S. command announced it was sending 3,700 troops to Baghdad to try to quell sectarian violence sweeping the Iraqi capital.

Ten years ago: Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was indicted on seven felony counts of concealing more than a quarter of a million dollars in house renovations and gifts from a powerful oil contractor. (A jury later found the longtime Republican lawmaker guilty of lying on financial disclosure forms, but a judge subsequently dismissed the case, saying prosecutors had withheld evidence.) Disgraced ex-NBA official Tim Donaghy admitted that he'd brought shame on his profession as a federal judge sentenced him to 15 months behind bars for a gambling scandal. Army scientist Bruce E. Ivins, 62, named as a top suspect in anthrax mailing attacks in 2001, died at a hospital in Frederick, Md., after deliberately overdosing on Tylenol.

Five years ago: The U.S. launched a fresh bid to pull Israel and the Palestinians into substantial negotiations with a dinner meeting in Washington hosted by Secretary of State John Kerry. The FBI said authorities had rescued 105 young people and arrested 150 alleged pimps and others in a three-day sweep in 76 cities.

One year ago: U.S. and South Korean forces conducted joint live-fire exercises in response to North Korea's second launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile; experts said the North Korean launch showed that a large portion of the United States was now within range of North Korea's arsenal.

Today's Birthdays: Former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum-Baker is 86. Actor Robert Fuller is 85. Former Sen. Elizabeth H. Dole is 82. Actor David Warner is 77. Actress Roz Kelly is 76. Rock musician Neal Doughty (REO Speedwagon) is 72. Marilyn Tucker Quayle, wife of former Vice President Dan Quayle, is 69. Actor Mike Starr is 68. Documentary maker Ken Burns is 65. Style guru Tim Gunn is 65. Rock singer-musician Geddy Lee (Rush) is 65. Rock singer Patti Scialfa (Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band) is 65. Olympic gold medal gymnast Nellie Kim is 61. Actor Kevin Chapman is 56. Actress Alexandra Paul is 55. Actor/comedian Dean Haglund is 53. Country singer Martina McBride is 52. Rock musician Chris Gorman is 51. Actor Rodney Allen Rippy is 50. Actor Tim Omundson is 49. Actor Ato Essandoh is 46. Actor Wil Wheaton is 46. Rhythm-and-blues singer Wanya Morris (Boyz II Men) is 45. Country singer-songwriter James Otto is 45. Actor Stephen Dorff is 45. Actor Josh Radnor is 44. Hip-hop DJ/music producer Danger Mouse is 41. Actress Rachel Miner is 38. Actress Allison Mack is 36. Actress Kaitlyn Black is 35. Actor Matt Prokop is 28. Actress Cait Fairbanks is 25.

Thought for Today: "Charity looks at the need and not at the cause." -- German proverb.