This day in history

[July 28, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Tuesday, July 28, the 209th day of 2009. There are 156 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On July 28, 1609, the English ship Sea Venture, commanded by Admiral Sir George Somers, ran ashore on Bermuda after nearly foundering at sea during a storm. The 140 or so passengers and crew, originally bound for the Jamestown settlement in Virginia, founded a colony on the island.

On this date:

In 1540, King Henry VIII's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, was executed, the same day Henry married his fifth wife, Catherine Howard.

In 1821, Peru declared its independence from Spain.

In 1914, World War I began as Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

In 1929, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was born in Southampton, N.Y.

In 1932, federal troops forcibly dispersed the so-called "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans who had gathered in Washington to demand money they weren't scheduled to receive until 1945.

In 1945, a U.S. Army bomber crashed into the 79th floor of New York's Empire State Building, killing 14 people. The U.S. Senate ratified the United Nations Charter by a vote of 89-2.

In 1959, in preparation for statehood, Hawaiians voted to send the first Chinese-American, Republican Hiram L. Fong, to the U.S. Senate and the first Japanese-American, Democrat Daniel K. Inouye, to the U.S. House of Representatives.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced he was increasing the number of American troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000 "almost immediately."

In 1977, Roy Wilkins turned over leadership of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to Benjamin L. Hooks.

In 2002, nine coal miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek Mine in Somerset, Pa., were rescued after 77 hours underground.

Ten years ago: The Senate opened debate on the Republicans' $792 billion tax cut bill. Surgeon General David Satcher declared suicide a serious national threat, saying, "People should not be afraid or ashamed to seek help."

Five years ago: The Democratic National Convention in Boston nominated John Kerry for president. A car bomb exploded outside a police station used as a recruiting center in Baqouba, Iraq, killing 70 Iraqis. Francis Crick, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who co-discovered the double-helix structure of DNA, died in San Diego at age 88.

One year ago: President Bush received Pakistan's new prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, at the White House, praising him as a reliable partner in confronting terrorism. Four suicide bombers believed to be women struck a Shiite pilgrimage in Baghdad and a Kurdish protest rally in northern Iraq, killing at least 57 people and wounding nearly 300.

Today's birthdays: Movie director Andrew V. McLaglen is 89. Actor Darryl Hickman is 78. Ballet dancer-choreographer Jacques d'Amboise is 75. Art critic Robert Hughes is 71. The former president of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, is 71. Musical conductor Riccardo Muti is 68. Former Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J., is 66. "Garfield" creator Jim Davis is 64. Singer Jonathan Edwards is 63. Actress Linda Kelsey is 63. TV producer Dick Ebersol is 62. Actress Sally Struthers is 61. Actress Georgia Engel is 61. Rock musician Simon Kirke (Bad Company) is 60. Rock musician Steve Morse (Deep Purple) is 55. Broadcast journalist Scott Pelley is 52. Alt-country-rock musician Marc Perlman is 48. Actor Michael Hayden is 46. Actress Lori Loughlin is 45. Jazz musician-producer Delfeayo Marsalis is 44. Former hockey player turned general manager Garth Snow is 40. Actress Elizabeth Berkley is 37. Singer Afroman is 35. Country musician Todd Anderson (Heartland) is 34. Rock singer Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach) is 33. Washington Redskins tackle Chris Samuels is 32. Detroit Lions linebacker Julian Peterson is 31. Country singer Carly Goodwin is 28. Houston Texan linebacker DeMeco Ryans is 25. New Jersey Devils forward Zach Parise is 25. Actor Dustin Milligan is 24. Actor Nolan Gerard Funk is 23. Rapper Soulja Boy is 19.

Thought for today: "All youth is bound to be 'misspent'; there is something in its very nature that makes it so, and that is why all men regret it." -- Thomas Wolfe, American author (1900-1938)

[Associated Press]

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