Today is Tuesday, July 7, the 189th day of 2020. There are 177 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On July 7, 1865, four people were hanged in Washington, D.C., for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln: Lewis Powell (aka Lewis Payne), David Herold, George Atzerodt and Mary Surratt, the first woman to be executed by the federal government.
On this date:
- In 1941, U.S. forces took up positions in Iceland, Trinidad and British Guiana to forestall any Nazi invasion, even though the United States had not yet entered the Second World War.
- In 1948, six female U.S. Navy reservists became the first women to be sworn in to the regular Navy.
- In 1954, Elvis Presley made his radio debut as Memphis, Tennessee, station WHBQ played his first recording for Sun Records, "That's All Right."
- In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford and the first lady hosted a White House dinner for Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
- In 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced he was nominating Arizona Judge Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
- In 1983, 11-year-old Samantha Smith of Manchester, Maine, left for a visit to the Soviet Union at the personal invitation of Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov.
- In 2005, terrorist bombings in three Underground stations and a double-decker bus killed 52 victims and four bombers in the worst attack on London since World War II.
Ten years ago: President Barack Obama bypassed the Senate and appointed Dr. Donald Berwick to run Medicare and Medicaid. In Philadelphia, a disabled sightseeing "duck boat" adrift in the Delaware River was struck by a barge and capsized; two Hungarian tourists died.
Five years ago: President Barack Obama met at the White House with the head of Vietnam's Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, as the U.S. pressed ahead to conclude talks on a groundbreaking Asia-Pacific economic pact.
One year ago: The Navy announced that Adm. William Moran, the four-star admiral who'd been set to become the Navy's top officer, would instead retire, a move prompted by what Navy Secretary Richard Spencer described as poor judgment regarding a professional relationship.
Today's Birthdays: Musician-conductor Doc Severinsen is 93. Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough is 87. Rock star Ringo Starr is 80. Comedian Bill Oddie is 79. Singer-musician Warren Entner (The Grass Roots) is 77. Actor Joe Spano is 74. Pop singer David Hodo (The Village People) is 73. Actress Shelley Duvall is 71. Actress Roz Ryan is 69. Actor Billy Campbell is 61. Actor Robert Taylor is 60. Rock musician Mark White (Spin Doctors) is 58. Singer-songwriter Vonda Shepard is 57. Actor-comedian Jim Gaffigan is 54. Actress Amy Carlson is 52. Actress Cree Summer is 51. Actress Kirsten Vangsness is 48. Actor Troy Garity is 47. Actress Berenice Bejo is 44. Olympic silver and bronze medal figure skater Michelle Kwan is 40. Rapper Cassidy is 38. Actor Ross Malinger is 36. Pop musician Ashton Irwin (5 Seconds to Summer) is 26. Country singer Maddie Marlow (Maddie and Tae) is 25.
- The Associated Press