Today in History

Today in History

Today is Saturday, July 23, the 205th day of 2016. There are 161 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On July 23, 1996, in one of the best remembered moments of the Atlanta Olympics, Kerri Strug made a heroic final vault despite torn ligaments in her sprained left ankle as the U.S. women gymnasts clinched their first-ever Olympic team gold medal.

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 1886, a legend — or myth — was born as Steve Brodie claimed to have made a daredevil plunge from the Brooklyn Bridge into New York’s East River. (However, there are doubts about whether the dive had actually taken place.)

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 1945, French Marshal Henri Petain (ahn-REE’ pay-TAN’), who had headed the pro-Axis Vichy (vee-shee) government during World War II, went on trial, charged with treason. (He was convicted and condemned to death, but the sentence was commuted to life in prison. On this date in 1951, Petain died in prison.)

In 1952, Egyptian military officers led by Gamal Abdel Nasser launched a successful coup against King Farouk I.

In 1962, the first public TV transmissions over Telstar 1 took place during a special program featuring live shots beamed from the United States to Europe, and vice versa.

In 1967, a week of deadly race-related rioting that claimed 43 lives erupted in Detroit.

In 1977, a jury in Washington, D.C. convicted 12 Hanafi (hah-NAH’-fee) Muslims of charges stemming from the hostage siege at three buildings the previous March.

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.)

In 1984, Vanessa Williams became the first Miss America to resign her title, after nude photographs of her taken in 1982 were published in Penthouse magazine.

In 1986, Britain’s Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey in London. (The couple divorced in 1996.)

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush announced his choice of Judge David Souter (SOO’-tur) of New Hampshire to succeed the retiring Justice William J. Brennan on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ten years ago: Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was hospitalized on the 17th day of a hunger strike; he appeared thinner but healthy at his trial a few days later. American Floyd Landis won the Tour de France (however, he was later disqualified for doping). Tiger Woods became the first player since Tom Watson in 1982-83 to win consecutive British Open titles. Zuleyka Rivera Mendoza of Puerto Rico was crowned Miss Universe 2006 at the pageant in Los Angeles.

Five years ago: Singer Amy Winehouse, 27, was found dead in her London home from accidental alcohol poisoning. Retired Army Gen. John Shalikashvili (shal-ee-kash-VEE’-lee), the first foreign-born chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, died at Madigan Army Medical Center near Tacoma, Washington, at age 75. Nguyen Cao Ky, 80, the flamboyant former air force general who’d ruled South Vietnam for two years during the Vietnam war, died in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A bullet train crash in southern China claimed 40 lives.

One year 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.

Today’s Birthdays: Actress Gloria DeHaven is 91. Concert pianist Leon Fleisher (FLY’-shur) is 88. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is 80. Actor Ronny Cox is 78. Radio personality Don Imus is 76. Actor Larry Manetti is 73. Country singer Tony Joe White is 73. Rock singer David Essex is 69. Singer-songwriter John Hall is 68. Actress Belinda Montgomery is 66. Rock musician Blair Thornton (Bachman Turner Overdrive) is 66. Actress Edie McClurg is 65. Actress-writer Lydia Cornell is 63. Actor Woody Harrelson is 55. Rock musician Martin Gore (Depeche Mode) is 55. Actor Eriq Lasalle is 54. Rock musician Yuval Gabay is 53. Rock musician Slash is 51. Actor Juan Pope is 49. Model-actress Stephanie Seymour is 48. Actress Charisma Carpenter is 46. Rhythm-and-blues singer Sam Watters is 46. Country singer Alison Krauss is 45. Rhythm-and-blues singer Dalvin DeGrate is 45. Rock musician Chad Gracey (Live) is 45. Actor-comedian Marlon Wayans is 44. Country singer Shannon Brown is 43. Actress Kathryn Hahn is 43. Retired MLB All-Star Nomar Garciaparra is 43. Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky is 43. Actress Stephanie March is 42. Country musician David Pichette is 39. Rhythm-and-blues singer Michelle Williams is 36. Actor Paul Wesley is 34. Actor Daniel Radcliffe is 27. Country musician Neil Perry is 26. Country singer Danielle Bradbery (TV: “The Voice”) is 20.

Thought for Today: “Science and technology revolutionize our lives, but memory, tradition and myth frame our response.” — Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., American historian (1917-2007).