The moon is waning. The morning stars are Neptune, Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus. The evening stars are Venus, Mars and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include English socialist leader Harold Laski in 1893; actress Susan Hayward and singer Lena Horne (age 91) in 1917; actress Nancy Dussault in 1936 (age 72); singer Florence Ballard of The Supremes in 1943; actors William Atherton in 1947 (age 61) and David Alan Grier in 1955 (age 53); and former heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson in 1966 (age 42).

In 1859, Frenchman Jean Francois Gravelet, known professionally as the Great Blondin, became the first daredevil to walk across Niagara Falls on a tight rope.

In 1870, Ada Kepley became the first woman to graduate from an accredited law school in the United States, Union College of Law in Chicago.

In 1908, a spectacular explosion occurred over central Siberia, probably caused by a meteorite. The fireball reportedly could be seen hundreds of miles away.

In 1923, jazz pioneer Sidney Bechet made his first recording. It included Wild Cat Blues and Kansas City Blues.

In 1934, German leader Adolf Hitler ordered a bloody purge of his own political party, assassinating hundreds of Nazis whom he feared might become political enemies.

In 1936, Margaret Mitchell's Civil War novel Gone With the Wind was published.

In 1950, U.S. troops were moved from Japan to help defend South Korea against the invading North Koreans.

In 1982, the extended deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment expired, three states short of the 38 needed for passage.

In 1971, three Soviet Cosmonauts, crewmembers of the world's first space station, were killed when their spacecraft depressurized during re-entry.

In 1986, Hugh Hefner, calling his Playboy Bunny a symbol of the past, closed Playboy Clubs in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

In 1992, Fidel Ramos was inaugurated as the eighth Philippine president in the first peaceful transfer of power in a generation.

In 1998, a casualty of the Vietnam War buried at the Tomb of the Unknown in Arlington, Va., was identified as Air Force Lt. Michael Blassie of St. Louis.

In 1999, Clinton crony Webster Hubbell, a former associate U.S. attorney general, pleaded guilty to reduced charges in the Whitewater land deal scandal.

In 2000, the Clinton administration said Iraq restarted its missile program and flight-tested a short-range ballistic missile.

Also in 2000, the Presbyterian Church ordered its ministers not to conduct same-sex unions.

In 2002, published reports said fugitive terrorist leader Osama bin Laden wrote his operations chief in late December saying he survived the U.S. assault on his cave complex in Afghanistan.

Also in 2002, Israel announced it had killed a top Hamas bomb-maker, responsible for the deaths of more than 100 Israelis in suicide attacks and had begun work on an electronic fence designed to block off three sides of Jerusalem from the West Bank.

In 2003, after agreeing on a cease-fire with the Palestinians, Israel pulled out of most of the Gaza Strip, ending for the time being a blockade on the main highway that began in 2000.

In 2004, the Federal Reserve, for the first time in four years, raised its benchmark interest rate from a record low 1 percent to 1.25 percent for overnight loans.

Also in 2004, the Cassini spacecraft, in space on a U.S.-European mission, became the first device to orbit the planet Saturn.

In 2005, the Federal Reserve raised key interest rates a ninth straight time, noting rising energy prices.

Also in 2005, Israel declared the Gaza Strip a closed military zone. All Israelis, except for residents, service providers and reporters, were barred from entering.

And, Spain became the third country to legalize same-sex marriage.

In 2006, a joint U.S.-Canadian investigation grounded a group accused of using helicopters and planes to ferry drugs from British Columbia across the border. Agents reported arresting 46 people and seizing 4 tons of marijuana, 800 pounds of cocaine, aircraft and $1.5 million in cash.

In 2007, many U.S. airports increased security in advance of the Fourth of July holiday. Meanwhile, a car blew up at Glasgow airport in Scotland after two British bomb threats the day before prompting authorities to raise the security level to critical.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Neptune, Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus. The evening stars are Venus, Mars and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz in 1646; French novelist George Sand, a pseudonym for Amandine Dupin, in 1804; pioneer aviator Louis Bleriot in 1872; actor Frank Morgan in 1890; actor Charles Laughton and blues, gospel musician, composer Thomas Dorsey in 1899; film director William Wyler in 1902; cosmetics executive Estee Lauder in 1908; blues musician Willie Dixon in 1915; actresses Olivia de Havilland in 1916 (age 92) and Leslie Caron in 1931 (age 77); filmmaker/actor Sydney Pollack in 1934; actress/writer Jean Marsh and actor Jamie Farr, also 1934 (age 74); choreographer Twyla Tharp in 1941 (age 67); actresses Karen Black in 1939 (age 69) and Genevieve Bujold in 1942 (age 66); singer Deborah Harry in 1945 (age 63); actor/comedian Dan Aykroyd in 1952 (age 56); Britain's Princess Diana in 1961; and actors Andre Braugher in 1962 (age 46), Pamela Anderson in 1967 (age 41) and Liv Tyler in 1977 (age 31).

In 1847, the first U.S. postage stamps were issued.

In 1859, the first intercollegiate baseball game was played in Pittsfield, Mass. Amherst beat Williams, 66-32.

In 1867, Canada was granted its independence by Great Britain. It consisted at the time of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and future provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

In 1874, the Philadelphia Zoological Society, the first U.S. zoo, opened to the public.

In 1893, U.S. President Grover Cleveland underwent secret surgery to remove a cancerous growth in his mouth. The operation didn't become public knowledge until a newspaper article about it was published on Sept. 22, 1917 -- nine years after Cleveland's death.

In 1898, Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders led the charge up Cuba's heavily fortified San Juan Hill in a key Spanish-American War battle.

In 1916, in the worst single day of casualties in British military history, 20,000 soldiers were killed, 40,000 wounded in a massive offense against German forces in France's Somme River region during World War I.

In 1932, the Democrats nominated Franklin Delano Roosevelt for president. FDR eventually was elected to four consecutive terms.

In 1941, NBC broadcast the first FCC-sanctioned TV commercial, a spot for Bulova watches shown during a Dodgers-Phillies game. It cost Bulova $9.

In 1946, the United States conducted its first post-war test of the atomic bomb, at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.

In 1979, Sony introduced the Walkman, known as the Soundabout, in U.S. stores. It sold for about $200.

In 1990, the West and East German economies were united as the deutsche mark replaced the mark as currency in East Germany.

In 1991, the Warsaw Pact ceased to exist.

In 1993, the U.S. Congress completed action on an economic stimulus bill that fell far short of what U.S. President Bill Clinton wanted.

Also in 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton unveiled a plan for logging in federal old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest that would also protect the northern spotted owl.

In 1994, the U.N. Security Council authorized a commission to investigate acts of genocide in Rwanda.

In 1996, a dozen members of a paramilitary organization were arrested in Arizona and charged with plotting to bomb government buildings.

In 1997, Hong Kong was returned to China after 99 years as a British territory.

In 2002, cannon fire and bombs from a U.S. Air Force AC-130 struck a town in southern Afghanistan, killing about 50 people, including members of a wedding party. U.S. officials said the plane had been fired on.

Also in 2002, in a rare high-altitude accident, a passenger airliner collided with a cargo plane over Germany, killing all 71 aboard.

In 2003, U.S. President George Bush blamed rogue elements for the daily attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and claimed coalition forces were making steady progress in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In 2004, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, looking tired and shaky, appeared before a special tribunal in Baghdad for the first time to face charges of crimes against humanity and genocide.

Also in 2004, dynamic Hollywood legend Marlon Brando died of lung failure. He was 80.

In 2005, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, announced she planned to retire.

In 2006, a car bomb killed 62 people and injured another 114 at a popular market in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in northwest Baghdad.

Also in 2006, Israel launched an airstrike that hit the Gaza office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and set the building on fire. Haniyeh wasn't in the building but three security guards were reportedly hurt.

In 2007, British authorities arrested six doctors in the botched bombings in London and at the Glasgow airport in Scotland. The doctors, who worked at Britain's National Health Service, were reported to be from the Middle East or India.

Also in 2007, Moshe Katsav stepped down as president of Israel, a post he had held since 2000. Rape charges against him were dropped in exchange for a guilty plea to sexual harassment.

And, violent deaths were reported on the increase in Afghanistan where officials said NATO airstrikes over the last two days of June had claimed 45 civilians and 62 Taliban fighters.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Neptune, Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus. The evening stars are Venus, Mars and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include German novelist Herman Hesse in 1877; King Olav V of Norway in 1903; former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in 1908; singer/actor Ken Curtis (Gunsmoke's Festus) in 1916; civil rights activist Medgar Evers in 1925; Imelda Marcos, wife of former Philippine President Fernando Marcos, in 1929 (age 79); Wendy's fast-food restaurant chain founder Dave Thomas in 1932; actress Polly Holliday and former race car driver Richard Petty, both in 1937 (age 71); actor/director Ron Silver in 1946 (age 62); actor Jimmy McNichol in 1961 (age 47); former baseball star Jose Canseco, first to hit 40 or more home runs and steal 40 or more bases in the same major league season, in 1964 (age 44).

In 1788, it was announced in the U.S. Congress that the new Constitution had been ratified by the required nine states, the ninth being New Hampshire.

In 1839, African slaves being shipped to Cuba revolted and seized the ship Amistad, leading to an eventual end of the African slave market.

In 1881, U.S. President James Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau, a mentally disturbed office-seeker. Garfield died Sept. 19 and was succeeded by Vice President Chester Arthur.

In 1900, the world's first rigid airship was demonstrated by Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin in Germany.

In 1917, as many as 75 blacks were killed in rioting in St. Louis.

In 1934, 6-year-old Shirley Temple signed a contract with Fox Film Corp. and went on to become one of the biggest movie stars of the day.

In 1937, U.S. aviator Amelia Earhart and navigator Frederick Noonan were reported lost over the Pacific Ocean. They were never found.

In 1964, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In 1974, U.S President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev agreed during a meeting in Yalta on limitations on underground nuclear testing.

In 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court endorsed numerical hiring goals for minorities, rejecting the Reagan administration view that affirmative action be limited to proven victims of race discrimination.

In 1990, a stampede in a pedestrian tunnel at the Muslim holy city of Mecca during the annual Hajj killed 1,426 pilgrims.

In 1993, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahmen, whose followers were linked to two bombing plots, was taken into U.S. federal custody.

Also in 1993, South African President F.W de Klerk and African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela announced that South Africa's first election open to all races would be April 27, 1994.

In 1994, the Colombian soccer player who inadvertently scored a goal for the United States, contributing to his team's loss in World Cup competition, was shot to death in Medellin, Colombia.

In 2000, Vicente Fox was elected president of Mexico.

In 2002, after five unsuccessful attempts, American Steve Fossett completed a round-the-world solo flight in a balloon, reaching Queensland in the Australian outback to finish a 13-day, 19,428-mile trip that began in Western Australia.

In 2004, a 21-year-old man opened fire on co-workers at a Kansas City, Kan., plant, fatally wounding five people before turning the gun on himself. Several others were wounded.

Also in 2004, medical reports said post-traumatic stress disorder was appearing in 1-in-6 U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq.

In 2005, Egypt's new ambassador to Iraq was abducted in Baghdad, reportedly by the al-Qaida. He was later slain.

In 2006, Israeli bombs destroyed the Gaza City offices of the Palestinian Authority prime minister, kicking off a month of violent attacks against Palestinian militants largely in response to the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier.

In 2007, U.S. President George Bush commuted the 30-month prison sentence of Lewis Scooter Libby, former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney. Libby was convicted of obstructing a federal investigation into who leaked the identity of an undercover CIA agent.

Also in 2007, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., claimed the fund-raising lead in the Democratic presidential primary battle with $32.5 million. His top opponent, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., reported $27 million. In the GOP race, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., had to cut back his campaign because of a shortage of funds.

The moon is new. The morning stars are Neptune, Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus. The evening stars are Venus, Mars and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include actor, singer, composer George M. Cohan in 1878; Welsh poet and writer William Henry Davies (The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp) in 1871; Czech novelist Franz Kafka in 1883; actor George Sanders in 1906; journalist and columnist Dorothy Kilgallen in 1913; Jerry Gray, band leader, arranger for Glenn Miller, in 1915; English filmmaker Ken Russell in 1927 (age 81); jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain in 1930 (age 78); English playwright Tom Stoppard in 1937 (age 71); humorist Dave Barry and actress Betty Buckley both in 1947 (age 61); exiled Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Baby Doc Duvalier in 1951 (age 57); talk show host Montel Williams in 1956 (age 52); pop singer Laura Branigan in 1957; and actors Tom Cruise and Thomas Gibson (Dharma & Greg), both in 1962 (age 46).

In 1608, French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded the Canadian town of Quebec.

In 1775, George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Mass.

In 1863, the Union army under command of Gen. George Meade defeated Confederate forces commanded by Gen. Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg, Pa. The same day, Vicksburg, Miss., surrendered to Union troops led by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.

In 1928, the first color television transmission was accomplished by John Logie Baird in London.

In 1971, rock star Jim Morrison, 27, was found dead in a bathtub in Paris of heart failure.

In 1976, Israeli commandos raided the airport at Entebbe, Uganda, rescuing 103 hostages held by Arab militants.

In 1986, U.S. President Ronald Reagan re-lit the Statue of Liberty's torch in New York Harbor after a $66 million restoration of the statue was completed during the 100th anniversary year of its dedication.

Also in 1986, Rudy Vallee, one of the nation's most popular singers in the 1920s and '30s, died at the age of 84.

In 1988, missiles fired from the USS Vincennes brought down an Iranian airliner in the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

In 1992, the U.S. Air Force joined the international airlift of food and medical supplies to besieged residents of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In 1993, exiled Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide and Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, who led the coup in 1991 that ousted him, announced an agreement that would put Aristide back in power by October. Cedras later broke the agreement.

In 1996, Boris Yeltsin was re-elected president of Russia, defeating Gennadi Zyuganov in a runoff.

In 2000, blasts caused by suicide bombers in Chechnya killed at least 37 Russian soldiers.

In 2005, water temperatures in the lower Great Lakes were reported at a five-year high.

In 2007, the Czech Republic tentatively granted the United States permission to install missile-defense radar 50 miles from Prague as part of the U.S. plan to protect itself and its European allies from potential attacks.

Also in 2007, a three-month standoff turned violent between Pakistani police and radical students who had taken over an Islamabad mosque. At least nine people died.

This is Independence Day in the United States.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Neptune, Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus. The evening stars are Venus, Mars and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include author Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1804; songwriter Stephen Foster (Oh! Susannah,Beautiful Dreamer) in 1826; circus operator James Bailey (Barnum and Bailey) in 1847; Calvin Coolidge, 30th president of the United States, in 1872; innovative cartoonist Rube Goldberg in 1883; Louis B. Mayer, film mogul and co-founder of MGM, in 1885; actor/politician George Murphy in 1902; conductor Mitch Miller in 1911 (age 97); Ann Landers, advice columnist, in 1918; her twin, also an advice columnist, Abigail Van Buren in 1918 (age 90); former hotel executive Leona Helmsley in 1920; actress Eva Marie Saint in 1924 (age 84); playwright Neil Simon in 1927 (age 81); actress Gina Lollobrigida in 1927 (age 81); Al Davis, Oakland Raiders owner, in 1929 (age 79); New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner in 1930 (age 78); TV reporter Geraldo Rivera in 1943 (age 65); and tennis player Pam Shriver in 1962 (age 46).

In 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming U.S. independence from Britain.

In 1826, in one of history's notable coincidences, former U.S. Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died, 50 years to the day after the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

In 1863, Union troops defeated Confederate forces in a battle at Vicksburg, Miss.

In 1895, the poem America the Beautiful, by Wellesley College Professor Katherine Lee Bates, was published.

In 1914, director D.W. Griffith began filming his controversial film Birth of a Nation, which introduced important new filmmaking techniques and influenced many other directors.

In 1986, more than 250 sailing ships and the United States' biggest fireworks display honored the Statue of Liberty in its 100th birthday year.

In 1994, French forces in Rwanda established a security zone for refugees.

In 1995, the British Parliament reconfirmed John Majors as prime minister.

In 1997, NASA's Pathfinder landed on Mars to become the first U.S. spacecraft to land on the planet in more than two decades.

Also in 1997, Mexico's top drug lord died in a Mexico City hospital following plastic surgery to change his appearance.

In 2002, with the nation on alert for a possible terrorist attack, a gunman killed two people at the Los Angeles International Airport near a ticket counter of El Al, the Israeli airline, before he was killed by a guard.

In 2003, with the lack of international markets after a lone case of mad cow disease, Canadian beef prices in grocery stores fell to as low as 75 cents a pound.

Also in 2003, three attackers killed 50 people and injured dozens of others when they opened fire at a Shiite mosque in Quetta, Pakistan.

In 2005, NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft wound up an 85 million-mile journey by intentionally slamming into the Tempel 1 comet to learn more about comets and other aspects of the solar system.

In 2006, North Korea test launched seven ballistic missiles in what it called routine military exercises, kicking up a firestorm of anger with its neighbors and the United States. One missile, the only long-range one tested, reportedly was capable of hitting the western United States.

Also in 2006, the first U.S. space shuttle flight in almost a year began when the Discovery was launched from the space center at Cape Canaveral.

In 2007, Palestinian militants holding BBC reporter Alan Johnston prisoner in Gaza released him after nearly four months of captivity.

Also in 2007, former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who had boycotted the proceedings as unfair, pleaded innocent to sex charges at his war crimes trial at The Hague.

And, the Russian resort city of Sochi was selected to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, marking the first time the country has been the site of the Winter Games.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Neptune, Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus. The evening stars are Venus, Mars and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include David Farragut, the first U.S. Navy admiral, in 1801; showman P.T. Barnum in 1810; British colonialist Cecil Rhodes, founder of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), in 1853; Dwight Davis, founder of the Davis Cup tennis tournament, in 1879; French writer and film director Jean Cocteau in 1889; politician and diplomat Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. in 1902; actor Milburn Stone (Gunsmoke) in 1904; former football coach John McKay in 1923; actor Warren Oates in 1928; actress Katherine Helmond in 1928 (age 80); Robbie Robertson, composer, musician, member of The Band, in 1943 (age 65); Julie Nixon Eisenhower in 1948 (age 60); and rock singer Huey Lewis in 1950 (age 58).

In 1865, William Booth founded the Salvation Army in London.

In 1916, children under 16 were banned from New York City theaters due to an outbreak of polio. Some 200 theaters shut down throughout the summer.

In 1935, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act.

In 1945, U.S. Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur announced the liberation of the Philippines as World War II approached its end.

In 1946, French designer Louis Reard introduced the bikini swimsuit.

In 1954, newcomer Elvis Presley recorded That's All Right (Mama), a song he had not intended to do when he began his first recording session at Sun Records in Memphis and it became an instant local sensation.

In 1982, the Penn Square Bank of Oklahoma was declared insolvent, touching off a bank crisis that affected much of the United States.

In 1991, BCCI, with $20 billion in assets, was seized by regulators in the United States, Cayman Islands, France, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Spain and Switzerland.

In 1994, the United States stopped accepting Haitian refugees and asked that other countries provide them with safe havens.

In 1997, Martina Hingis, 16, of Switzerland became the youngest in 100 years to win the women's singles tennis championship at Wimbledon.

In 2002, baseball great Ted Williams died at the age of 83. At the time of his death, Williams, who played his entire, war-interrupted but outstanding career with the Boston Red Sox, was the last man to hit .400 in a major league baseball season (.406 in 1941).

In 2003, 16 people died during Russia's biggest rock concert in Moscow when two female suicide bombers detonated explosives.

Also in 2003, the World Health Organization said the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, appeared to be contained.

In 2006, in response to North Korea's test launch of seven ballistic missiles, the U.N. Security Council called an emergency meeting to deal with the situation and the international uproar it had caused.

Also in 2006, former Enron Chairman Ken Lay died of a heart attack while awaiting sentencing on a six-count conviction in one of the biggest business scandals in U.S. history.

In 2007, a group identifying itself as 45 Muslim doctors reportedly threatened to attack the United States with car bombs and other weapons. A group of doctors earlier had been accused in a British bomb plot.

Also in 2007, private contractors outnumbered U.S. troops in Iraq by about 20,000 people, a published report says.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Neptune, Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus. The evening stars are Venus, Mars and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include John Paul Jones, founder of the U.S. Navy, in 1747; singer Laverne Andrews, of the Andrews Sisters, in 1915; former U.S. first lady Nancy Reagan in 1921 (age 87); TV entertainer, producer Merv Griffin and rock 'n' roll pioneer Bill Haley (Rock Around The Clock), both in 1925; actress Janet Leigh in 1927; singer/actress Della Reese in 1931 (age 77); actors Ned Beatty in 1937 (age 71), Burt Ward in 1945 (age 63) and Sylvester Stallone in 1946 (age 62); U.S. President George W. Bush, also in 1946 (age 62); and actresses Shelley Hack in 1947 (age 61) and Allyce Beasley in 1954 (age 54).

In 1699, pirate Capt. William Kidd was seized in Boston and deported to England. He later was hanged.

In 1854, the Republican Party was formally established at a meeting in New York City.

In 1885, French bacteriologist Louis Pasteur inoculated the first human being, a boy who had been bitten by a rabid dog. The youngster didn't develop rabies.

In 1919, a British dirigible landed at New York's Roosevelt Field to complete the first airship crossing of the Atlantic.

In 1923, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was formed.

In 1933, the first Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The American League beat the National League, 4-2.

In 1942, diarist Anne Frank and her family took refuge in a secret section of an Amsterdam warehouse where they hid from the Nazis for two years. Finally discovered, they were shipped to concentration camps where Anne died.

In 1944, fire in the big top of the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus in Hartford, Conn., killed 167 people, two-thirds of them children, and injured 682 others.

In 1957, while attending a church picnic near Liverpool, 15-year-old Paul McCartney met 16-year-old John Lennon. Lennon's band was playing at the picnic and by the end of the day McCartney had joined the group.

In 1958, Alaska became the 49th U.S. state.

In 1967, civil war broke out in Nigeria.

In 1971, Louis Satchmo Armstrong, one of the 20th century's most influential American musicians, died at age 69.

In 1976, women were first admitted to the U.S. Naval Academy.

In 1984, U.S. President Reagan, in a TV interview, said it was a probability that many young people now paying into Social Security will never be able to receive as much as they're paying.

In 1992, a bomb exploded near the car carrying French President Mitterrand's wife during a visit to Kurdish settlements in northern Iraq. She was unhurt but at least two other people were killed.

In 1993, the flooded Mississippi River was closed to barge traffic from Sioux City, Iowa, to St. Louis.

In 1994, a firestorm killed 14 forest fire fighters near Glenwood Springs, Colo.

Also in 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton visited Latvia, becoming the first U.S. president to travel to the Baltic region.

In 1997, the Mars Pathfinder deployed the remote-controlled Sojourner to explore the surface of Mars.

Also in 1997, for the first time since it was founded in 1929, Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party failed to win a majority in voting for the lower house of Congress.

In 1999, U.S. first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton announced she was forming an committee to look into running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y. No first lady had before sought public office.

Also in 1999, Ehud Barak was sworn in as prime minister of Israel.

In 2003, Liberian President Charles Taylor, who promised to resign in the face of civil war, said he had accepted an invitation to go into exile in Nigeria.

In 2004, U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president, chose Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., as his running mate.

In 2005, New York Times reporter Judith Miller was sent to jail for refusing to name her source in connection with the leaking of a CIA agent's identity to the media.

Also in 2005, London was chosen for the site of the 2012 Olympic Games in a close decision over Paris.

In 2006, U.S. President George Bush turned 60 with Washington observers noting he was likely the healthiest president ever at that age.

Also in 2006, a record $145 billion class action award against five tobacco companies was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court.

And, Felipe Calderon of Mexico's ruling National Action Party won a tight race for president over Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

In 2007, a three-judge U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati dismissed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program.