Today in History

Today is Thursday, July 23, the 205th day of 2020. There are 161 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On July 23, 1829, William Austin Burt received a patent for his "typographer," a forerunner of the typewriter.

On this date:

In 1885, Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president of the United States, died in Mount McGregor, New York, at age 63.

In 1914, Austria-Hungary presented a list of demands to Serbia following the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serb assassin; Serbia's refusal to agree to the entire ultimatum led to the outbreak of World War I.

In 1948, American pioneer filmmaker D.W. Griffith died in Los Angeles at age 73.

In 1967, five days of deadly rioting erupted in Detroit as an early morning police raid on an unlicensed bar resulted in a confrontation with local residents that escalated into violence that spread into other parts of the city; 43 people, mostly Blacks, were killed.

In 1982, actor Vic Morrow and two child actors, 7-year-old Myca Dinh Le and 6-year-old Renee Shin-Yi Chen, were killed when a helicopter crashed on top of them during filming of a Vietnam War scene for "Twilight Zone: The Movie." (Director John Landis and four associates were later acquitted of manslaughter charges.)

In 1983, an Air Canada Boeing 767 ran out of fuel while flying from Montreal to Edmonton; the pilots were able to glide the jetliner to a safe emergency landing in Gimli, Manitoba. (The near-disaster occurred because the fuel had been erroneously measured in pounds instead of kilograms at a time when Canada was converting to the metric system.)

In 1997, the search for Andrew Cunanan, the suspected killer of designer Gianni Versace and others, ended as police found his body on a houseboat in Miami Beach, an apparent suicide.

In 1999, space shuttle Columbia blasted off with the world's most powerful X-ray telescope and Eileen Collins, the first woman to command a U.S. space flight.

In 2003, a new audiotape purported to be from toppled dictator Saddam Hussein called on Iraqis to resist the U.S. occupation. Massachusetts' attorney general issued a report saying clergy members and others in the Boston Archdiocese probably had sexually abused more than 1,000 people over a period of six decades.

In 2006, Tiger Woods became the first player since Tom Watson in 1982-83 to win consecutive British Open titles.

In 2011, singer Amy Winehouse, 27, was found dead in her London home from accidental alcohol poisoning.

In 2017, a tractor trailer was found in a Walmart parking lot in San Antonio, Texas, crammed with dozens of immigrants; ten died and many more were treated at a hospital for dehydration and heat stroke. (The driver, James Bradley Jr., was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to transporting the immigrants resulting in death.)

Ten years ago: The Office of Management and Budget predicted the budget deficit would reach a record $1.47 trillion in the current fiscal year. (The actual figure for fiscal 2010 turned out to be $1.29 trillion.) Ford Motor Co. said it had made $2.6 billion from April through June 2010, its fifth straight quarterly profit. Daniel Schorr, longtime journalist with stints at CBS, CNN and NPR, died in Washington at age 93.

Five years ago: Secretary of State John Kerry told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee it was "fantasy plain and simple" to claim that President Barack Obama had failed to insist on enough restraints on Iran's nuclear program before agreeing to lift economic sanctions. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump paid a visit to the Mexico border, where he predicted Hispanics would love him, adding, "They already do." A gunman opened fire in a Lafayette, Louisiana, theater during a screening of the film "Trainwreck," killing two people and wounding nine before fatally shooting himself.

One year ago: Boris Johnson won the contest to lead Britain's governing Conservative Party, putting him in line to become the country's prime minister the following day. Former defense industry lobbyist Mark Esper won Senate confirmation and was sworn in as secretary of defense, succeeding Jim Mattis. (The Pentagon had gone seven months without a confirmed leader, the longest such period in its history.) The Senate gave final legislative approval to a measure ensuring that a victims' compensation fund related to the Sept. 11 attacks would never run out of money.

Today's Birthdays: Concert pianist Leon Fleisher is 92. Retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is 84. Actor Ronny Cox is 82. Actor Larry Manetti is 77. Rock singer David Essex is 73. Singer-songwriter John Hall is 72. Actress Belinda Montgomery is 70. Rock musician Blair Thornton (Bachman Turner Overdrive) is 70. Actress-writer Lydia Cornell is 67. Actor Woody Harrelson is 59. Rock musician Martin Gore (Depeche Mode) is 59. Actor Eriq Lasalle is 58. Rock musician Yuval Gabay is 57. Rock musician Slash is 55. Actor Juan Pope is 53. Model-actress Stephanie Seymour is 52. Actress Charisma Carpenter is 50. Rhythm-and-blues singer Sam Watters is 50. Country singer Alison Krauss is 49. Rhythm-and-blues singer Dalvin DeGrate is 49. Rock musician Chad Gracey (Live) is 49. Actor-comedian Marlon Wayans is 48. Country singer Shannon Brown is 47. Actress Kathryn Hahn is 47. Retired MLB All-Star Nomar Garciaparra is 47. Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky is 47. Actress Stephanie March is 46. Actor Shane McRae is 43. Country musician David Pichette is 43. Rhythm-and-blues singer Michelle Williams is 40. Actor Paul Wesley is 38. Actress Krysta Rodriguez is 36. Actor Daniel Radcliffe is 31. Country musician Neil Perry is 30. Actress Lili Simmons is 27. Country singer Danielle Bradbery (TV: "The Voice") is 24.