Today is Monday, July tenth, the 191st day of 2006. There are 174 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On July tenth, 1940, during World War Two, the Battle of Britain began as Nazi forces began attacking southern England by air.
On this date:
In 1850, Vice President Millard Fillmore assumed the presidency, following the death of President Taylor.
In 1890, Wyoming became the 44th state.
In 1919, President Wilson personally delivered the Treaty of Versailles (vehr-SY’) to the Senate, and urged its ratification.
In 1925, the official news agency of the Soviet Union, TASS, was established.
In 1943, during World War Two, U-S and British forces invaded Sicily.
In 1951, armistice talks aimed at ending the Korean conflict began at Kaesong.
In 1962, the Telstar communications satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
In 1973, the Bahamas became independent after three centuries of British colonial rule.
In 1985, bowing to pressure from irate customers, the Coca-Cola Company said it would resume selling old-formula Coke, while continuing to sell New Coke.
In 1991, Boris N. Yeltsin took the oath of office as the first elected president of the Russian republic.
Ten years ago: In a tough speech to the U-S Congress laying out conditions for Mideast negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded that Syria and the Palestinians stop terrorists from attacking Israel.
Five years ago: The White House backed off a plan to let religious groups that receive federal money, such as the Salvation Army, ignore local laws that ban discrimination against gays and lesbians. For the second time in a month, a jury in New York rejected the death penalty for one of the men convicted in the bombings of two U-S embassies in Africa, opting instead for life in prison without parole. The American League defeated the National League, 4-to-1, in the All-Star Game.
One year ago: A search-and-rescue team found the body of a missing U-S commando in eastern Afghanistan, bringing an end to the desperate search for the last member of an ill-fated, four-man special forces unit that had disappeared the previous month. Nineteen-month-old Suzie Marie Pena was killed by Los Angeles police officers during a shootout with the child’s father, Jose Raul Pena, who was using his daughter as a shield. Hurricane Dennis roared quickly through the Florida Panhandle and Alabama coast with blinding squalls and crashing waves.
Today’s Birthdays: “Mr. Wizard” Don Herbert is 89. Eunice Kennedy Shriver is 85. Former boxer Jake LaMotta is 85. Writer-producer Earl Hamner Junior is 83. Former New York City Mayor David N. Dinkins is 79. Actor William Smithers is 79. Broadway composer Jerry Herman is 73. Director Ivan Passer is 73. Actor Lawrence Pressman is 67. Singer Mavis Staples is 67. Actor Mills Watson is 66. Actor Robert Pine is 65. Rock musician Jerry Miller (Moby Grape) is 63. Tennis player Virginia Wade is 61. Actor Ron Glass is 61. Actress Sue Lyon is 60. Folk singer Arlo Guthrie is 59. Country-folk singer-songwriter Cheryl Wheeler is 55. Rock singer Neil Tennant (Pet Shop Boys) is 52. Banjo player Bela Fleck is 48. Country musician Shaw Wilson (BR549) is 46. Country singer-songwriter Ken Mellons is 41. Rock musician Peter DiStefano (Porno for Pyros) is 41. Country singer Gary LeVox (Rascal Flats) is 36. Actress Sofia Vergara is 34. Actor Adrian Grenier (grehn-YAY’) is 30. Actor Thomas Ian Nicholas is 26. Singer-actress Jessica Simpson is 26. Actress Gwendoline Yeo is 26.
Thought for Today: “One can pay back the loan of gold, but one dies forever in debt to those who are kind.” -- Malayan proverb.