Today in History

Today is Wednesday, July 6, the 187th day of 2022. There are 178 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On July 6, 1944, an estimated 168 people died in a fire that broke out during a performance in the main tent of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Hartford, Connecticut.

On this date:

In 1483, England's King Richard III was crowned in Westminster Abbey.

In 1777, during the American Revolution, British forces captured Fort Ticonderoga.

In 1854, the first official meeting of the Republican Party took place in Jackson, Michigan.

In 1885, French scientist Louis Pasteur tested an anti-rabies vaccine on 9-year-old Joseph Meister, who had been bitten by an infected dog; the boy did not develop rabies.

In 1933, the first All-Star baseball game was played at Chicago's Comiskey Park; the American League defeated the National League, 4-2.

In 1942, Anne Frank, her parents and sister entered a "secret annex" in an Amsterdam building where they were later joined by four other people; they hid from Nazi occupiers for two years before being discovered and arrested.

In 1945, President Harry S. Truman signed an executive order establishing the Medal of Freedom.

In 1957, Althea Gibson became the first Black tennis player to win a Wimbledon singles title as she defeated fellow American Darlene Hard 6-3, 6-2.

In 1988, 167 North Sea oil workers were killed when explosions and fires destroyed a drilling platform.

In 2015, Pope Francis received a hero's welcome in Guayaquil, Ecuador's biggest city, as he celebrated the first public Mass of his South American tour.

In 2016, Philando Castile, a Black elementary school cafeteria worker, was killed during a traffic stop in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights by Officer Jeronimo Yanez. (Yanez was later acquitted on a charge of second-degree manslaughter.)

In 2020, the Trump administration formally notified the United Nations of its withdrawal from the World Health Organization; President Donald Trump had criticized the WHO's response to the coronavirus pandemic. (The pullout was halted by President Joe Biden's administration.) Amy Cooper, the white woman who called police during a videotaped dispute with a Black man in New York's Central Park, was charged with filing a false report. (The case would be dismissed after Cooper completed a counseling program.)

Ten years ago: At a 100-nation conference in Paris, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton hailed an accelerating wave of defections in President Bashar Assad's inner circle as the United States and its international allies pleaded once again for global sanctions against the Syrian regime. Former neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman was released from jail in Florida for a second time while he awaited his second-degree murder trial for fatally shooting Trayvon Martin. (Zimmerman was acquitted.)

Five years ago: The maker of opioid painkiller Opana ER said it would stop selling the drug at the request of the Food and Drug Administration in an effort to curb abuse.

One year ago: Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, defeating a large field in New York's first major race to use ranked choice voting. (Adams would be elected mayor in November.) Filmmaker and actor Robert Downey Sr. died at 85; he was the father of film star Robert Downey Jr.

Today's Birthdays: The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is 87. Singer Gene Chandler is 82. Country singer Jeannie Seely is 82. Actor Burt Ward is 77. Former President George W. Bush is 76. Actor-director Sylvester Stallone is 76. Actor Fred Dryer is 76. Actor Shelley Hack is 75. Actor Nathalie Baye is 74. Actor Geoffrey Rush is 71. Actor Allyce Beasley is 71. Rock musician John Bazz (The Blasters) is 70. Actor Grant Goodeve is 70. Retired MLB All-Star Willie Randolph is 68. Jazz musician Rick Braun is 67. Actor Casey Sander is 67. Country musician John Jorgenson is 66. Former first daughter Susan Ford Bales is 65. Hockey player and coach Ron Duguay is 65. Actor-writer Jennifer Saunders is 64. Rock musician John Keeble (Spandau Ballet) is 63. Actor Pip Torrens is 62. Actor Brian Posehn is 56. Actor Robb Derringer is 55. Political reporter/moderator John Dickerson is 54. Actor Brian Van Holt is 53. Rapper Inspectah Deck (Wu-Tang Clan) is 52. TV host Josh Elliott is 51. Rapper 50 Cent is 47. Actors Tia and Tamera Mowry are 44. Comedian-actor Kevin Hart is 43. Actor Eva Green is 42. Actor Gregory Smith is 39. Rock musician Chris "Woody" Wood (Bastille) is 37. Rock singer Kate Nash is 35. Actor Jeremy Suarez is 32. San Diego Padres infielder Manny Machado is 30. NBA star Zion Williamson is 22.