This day in history

[July 09, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Saturday, July 9, the 190th day of 2011. There are 175 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On July 9, 1951, President Harry S. Truman asked Congress to formally end the state of war between the United States and Germany. (An official end to the state of war was declared in October 1951.)

On this date:

In 1540, England's King Henry VIII had his 6-month-old marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, annulled.

In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read aloud to Gen. George Washington's troops in New York.

In 1816, Argentina declared independence from Spain.

In 1850, the 12th president of the United States, Zachary Taylor, died after serving only 16 months of his term. (He was succeeded by Millard Fillmore.)

In 1896, William Jennings Bryan delivered his famous "cross of gold" speech at the Democratic national convention in Chicago.

In 1918, 101 people were killed in a train collision in Nashville, Tenn. The Distinguished Service Cross was established by an Act of Congress.

In 1947, the engagement of Britain's Princess Elizabeth to Lt. Philip Mountbatten was announced.

In 1974, former U.S. Chief Justice Earl Warren died in Washington, D.C., at age 83.

In 1982, a Pan Am Boeing 727 crashed in Kenner, La., killing all 145 people aboard and eight people on the ground.

In 1986, the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography released the final draft of its report, which linked hard-core porn to sex crimes.

Ten years ago: A divided court in Chile ruled that Gen. Augusto Pinochet could not be tried on human rights charges because of his deteriorating health and mental condition, a ruling that effectively brought the 85-year-old former dictator's legal troubles to an end. Wild-card entrant Goran Ivanisevic (ee-van-EE'-seh-vihch) won the men's title at Wimbledon by beating Patrick Rafter 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7.

Five years ago: A Russian Airbus A310 crashed in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, killing 124 of 203 people on board. In a penalty-plagued final, Italy won the World Cup soccer title with a penalty shootout over France after a 1-1 draw. Roger Federer ended a five-match losing streak to Rafael Nadal, winning 6-0, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (2), 6-3 to earn his fourth straight Wimbledon title.

One year ago: The largest U.S.-Russia spy swap since the Cold War took place on a remote stretch of Vienna airport tarmac as planes from New York and Moscow arrived within minutes of each other with 10 Russian sleeper agents and four prisoners accused by Russia of spying for the West.

Today's birthdays: Actor-singer Ed Ames is 84. Actor James Hampton is 75. Actor Brian Dennehy is 73. Actor Richard Roundtree is 69. Author Dean Koontz is 66. Football Hall-of-Famer O.J. Simpson is 64. Actor Chris Cooper is 60. TV personality John Tesh is 59. Country singer David Ball is 58. Rhythm-and-blues singer Debbie Sledge (Sister Sledge) is 57. Actor Jimmy Smits is 56. Actress Lisa Banes is 56. Actor Tom Hanks is 55. Singer Marc Almond is 54. Actress Kelly McGillis is 54. Rock singer Jim Kerr (Simple Minds) is 52. Actress-rock singer Courtney Love is 47. Rock musician Frank Bello (Anthrax) is 46. Actor David O'Hara is 46. Rock musician Xavier Muriel (Buckcherry) is 43. Actor Scott Grimes is 40. Actor Enrique Murciano is 38. Musician/producer Jack White is 36. Rock musician Dan Estrin (Hoobastank) is 35. Actor-director Fred Savage is 35. Country musician Pat Allingham is 33. Actress Megan Parlen is 31. Rhythm-and-blues singer Kiely Williams (3lw) is 25. Actor Mitchel (cq) Musso is 20. Actress Georgie Henley is 16.

'

Thought for today: "A good storyteller is a person who has a good memory and hopes other people haven't." -- Irvin S. Cobb, American humorist (1876-1944)

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.