Sunday, July 31

This Day In History

• 1556   St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuit order of Catholic priests and brothers, died in Rome.
• 1777   The Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, was made a major-general in the American Continental Army.
• 1792   Construction started with the laying of the cornerstone in the first building to be used solely as a U.S. Government building. It was the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia.
• 1845   The French Army introduced the saxophone to its military band. The musical instrument was the invention of Adolphe Sax of Belgium.
• 1875   Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States, died in Carter Station, Tenn., at age 66.
• 1919   Germany's Weimar Constitution was adopted.
• 1948   President Harry S. Truman helped dedicate New York International Airport (later John F. Kennedy International Airport) at Idlewild Field.
• 1953   Sen. Robert A. Taft of Ohio, known as ''Mr. Republican,'' died at age 63.
• 1955   Marilyn Bell of Toronto, Canada, at age 17, became the youngest person to swim the English Channel.
• 1971   The first men to ride in a vehicle on the moon did so on this day in the LRV (lunar rover vehicle). This example of a lunar dune buggy carried Apollo 15 astronauts David R. Scott and James B. Irwin for five miles on the lunar surface.
• 1972   Democratic vice-presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton withdrew from the ticket with George McGovern following disclosures that Eagleton had once undergone psychiatric treatment.
• 1981   The leader of Panama, Gen. Omar Torrijos, was killed in a plane crash.
• 1989   A pro-Iranian group in Lebanon released a grisly videotape purportedly showing the hanged body of American hostage William R. Higgins.
• 1990   Nolan Ryan became the 20th major league pitcher to win 300 games as he led the Texas Rangers to victory over the Milwaukee Brewers 11-3.
• 1991   President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow.
• 1995   The Walt Disney Company agreed to acquire Capital Cities-ABC Inc. in a $19 billion deal.
• 1997   New York City police seized five bombs believed bound for terrorist attacks on subways.
• 2002   A bomb exploded inside a cafeteria at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, killing nine people, including five Americans.

Happy Birthday To

• 1911   George Liberace (musician: violinist, conductor; administrator of Liberace Museum; brother of pianist/entertainer Liberace; died Oct 16, 1983)
• 1918   Bill (William) Todman (game show producer: Goodson-Todman Productions: The Price is Right, To Tell the Truth, Beat the Clock, I’ve Got a Secret, What’s My Line; died July 29, 1979)
• 1966   Dean Cain (actor: Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman)