Today is Tuesday, July 19, the 200th day of 2005. There are 165 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On July 19, 1985, Christa McAuliffe of New Hampshire was chosen to be the first schoolteacher to ride aboard the space shuttle. (McAuliffe and six other crew members died when Challenger exploded shortly after lift-off the following January.)
On this date:
In 1553, 15-year-old Lady Jane Grey was deposed as Queen of England after claiming the crown for nine days. King Henry VIII’s daughter Mary was proclaimed Queen.
In 1848, a pioneer women’s rights convention convened in Seneca Falls, N.Y.
In 1870, the Franco-Prussian war began.
In 1941, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill launched his “V for Victory” campaign in Europe.
In 1943, allied air forces raided Rome during World War II.
In 1969, Apollo 11 and its astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins, went into orbit around the moon.
In 1975, the Apollo and Soyuz space capsules that were linked in orbit for two days separated.
In 1980, the Moscow Summer Olympics began, minus dozens of nations that were boycotting the games because of the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan.
In 1984, U.S. Rep. Geraldine A. Ferraro, D-N.Y., won the Democratic nomination for vice president by acclamation at the party’s convention in San Francisco.
In 1989, 112 people were killed when a United Air Lines DC-10 crashed while making an emergency landing at Sioux City, Iowa; 184 other people survived.
Ten years ago: President Clinton firmly rejected calls for dismantling affirmative action programs. The Dow Jones industrial average ended at 4,628.87, down 57.41 after plunging more than 130 points earlier in the session. A pair of House subcommittees held a joint hearing on the federal government’s raid on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas.
Five years ago: President Clinton shuttled between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his own experts during peace talks at Camp David after delaying his departure for an economic summit in Japan.
One year ago: Mark Hacking of Salt Lake City shot and killed his wife, Lori, disposed of her remains, then reported her missing; he was later sentenced to six years to life in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder. A fuel tanker rigged as a massive bomb exploded near the Baghdad police station, killing nine people. A methane gas explosion in a Ukrainian mine killed at least 34 miners. Former Japanese Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki died at age 93.
Today’s Birthdays: Former Sen. George McGovern is 83. Actor Pat Hingle is 81. Actress Helen Gallagher is 79. Country singer Sue Thompson is 79. Country singer George Hamilton IV is 68. Actor Dennis Cole is 65. Singer Vikki Carr is 64. Country singer-musician Commander Cody is 61. Actor George Dzundza is 60. Rock singer-musician Alan Gorrie (Average White Band) is 59. Rock musician Brian May is 58. Rock musician Bernie Leadon is 58. Actress Beverly Archer is 57. Actor Peter Barton is 49. Rock musician Kevin Haskins (Love and Rockets; Bauhaus) is 45. Movie director Atom Egoyan is 45. Actor Campbell Scott is 44. Actor Anthony Edwards is 43. Country singer Kelly Shiver is 42. Actress Rachel Miner is 25. Actor Jared Padalecki is 23. Actor Steven Anthony Lawrence (“Even Stevens”) is 15.
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).