Today in History

Today is Tuesday, July 10, the 191st day of 2018. There are 174 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On July 10, 1940, during World War II, the Battle of Britain began as the Luftwaffe started attacking southern England. (The Royal Air Force was ultimately victorious.)

On this date:

In 1509, theologian John Calvin, a key figure of the Protestant Reformation, was born in Noyon, Picardy, France.

In 1890, Wyoming became the 44th state.

In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson personally delivered the Treaty of Versailles to the Senate and urged its ratification. (However, the Senate rejected it.)

In 1925, jury selection took place in Dayton, Tennessee, in the trial of John T. Scopes, charged with violating the law by teaching Darwin's Theory of Evolution. (Scopes was convicted and fined, but the verdict was overturned on a technicality.)

In 1929, American paper currency was reduced in size as the government began issuing bills that were approximately 25 percent smaller.

In 1951, armistice talks aimed at ending the Korean War began at Kaesong.

In 1962, AT&T's Telstar 1 communications satellite, capable of relaying television signals and telephone calls, was launched by NASA from Cape Canaveral.

In 1973, the Bahamas became fully independent after three centuries of British colonial rule. John Paul Getty III, the teenage grandson of the oil tycoon, was abducted in Rome by kidnappers who cut off his ear when his family was slow to meet their ransom demands; Getty was released in December 1973 for nearly $3 million.

In 1985, the Greenpeace protest ship Rainbow Warrior was sunk with explosives in Auckland, New Zealand, by French intelligence agents; one activist was killed. Bowing to pressure from irate customers, the Coca-Cola Co. said it would resume selling old-formula Coke, while continuing to sell New Coke.

In 1989, Mel Blanc, the "man of a thousand voices," including such cartoon characters as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig, died in Los Angeles at age 81.

In 1991, Boris N. Yeltsin took the oath of office as the first elected president of the Russian republic. President George H.W. Bush lifted economic sanctions against South Africa.

In 1999, the United States women's soccer team won the World Cup, beating China 5-4 on penalty kicks after 120 minutes of scoreless play at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

In 2004, President George W. Bush said in his weekly radio address that legalizing gay marriage would redefine the most fundamental institution of civilization, and that a constitutional amendment was needed to protect traditional marriage.

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush signed a bill overhauling rules about government eavesdropping and granting immunity to telecommunications companies that helped the U.S. spy on Americans in suspected terrorism cases. The Senate handily confirmed Gen. David Petraeus as the top commander in the Middle East. Former White House adviser Karl Rove defied a congressional subpoena, refusing to testify about allegations of political pressure at the Justice Department.

Five years ago: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty in the Boston Marathon bombing in a seven-minute proceeding that marked his first appearance in public since his capture in mid-April 2013. In a first, the Navy succeeded in landing a drone the size of a fighter jet aboard an aircraft carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush, off the Virginia coast. David Ortiz doubled in his first at-bat to become baseball's career leader in hits as a designated hitter and hit a two-run homer an inning later, leading the Boston Red Sox to an 11-4 victory over Seattle.

One year ago: Donald Trump Jr. acknowledged that he agreed to meet with a Russian lawyer during his father's presidential campaign in the hope that he would receive information about Democrat Hillary Clinton. Fifteen Marines and a Navy corpsman were killed in the crash of a Marine Corps refueling and cargo plane in a soybean field in Mississippi.

Today's Birthdays: Former New York City Mayor David N. Dinkins is 91. Actor William Smithers is 91. Broadway composer Jerry Herman is 87. Director Ivan Passer is 85. Actor Lawrence Pressman is 79. Singer Mavis Staples is 79. Actor Mills Watson is 78. Actor Robert Pine is 77. Rock musician Jerry Miller (Moby Grape) is 75. International Tennis Hall of Famer Virginia Wade is 73. Actress Sue Lyon is 72. Folk singer Arlo Guthrie is 71. Rock musician Dave Smalley is 69. Country-folk singer-songwriter Cheryl Wheeler is 67. Rock singer Neil Tennant (Pet Shop Boys) is 64. Banjo player Bela Fleck is 60. Actress Fiona Shaw is 60. Country musician Shaw Wilson (BR549) is 58. Bluegrass singer-musician Tim Surrett (Balsam Range) is 55. Actor Alec Mapa is 53. Country singer-songwriter Ken Mellons is 53. Rock musician Peter DiStefano (Porno for Pyros) is 53. Actor Gale Harold is 49. Country singer Gary LeVox (Rascal Flatts) is 48. Actor Aaron D. Spears is 47. Actress Sofia Vergara is 46. Rockabilly singer Imelda May is 44. Actor Adrian Grenier is 42. Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor is 41. Actress Gwendoline Yeo is 41. Actor Thomas Ian Nicholas is 38. Singer-actress Jessica Simpson is 38. Rock musician John Spiker is 37. Actress Heather Hemmens is 34. Actress Emily Skeggs (TV: "When We Rise") is 28. Rapper/singer Angel Haze is 27. Pop singer Perrie Edwards (Little Mix) is 25.

Thought for Today: "One can pay back the loan of gold, but one dies forever in debt to those who are kind." -- Malayan proverb.