This day in history

[July 14, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Thursday, July 14, the 195th day of 2011. There are 170 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On July 14, 1911, Harry N. Atwood became the first pilot to land an airplane (a Wright Model B biplane) on the grounds of the White House after flying in from Boston; he was greeted by President William Howard Taft.

On this date:

In 1789, during the French Revolution, citizens of Paris stormed the Bastille prison and released the seven prisoners inside.

In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry relayed to Japanese officials a letter from President Millard Fillmore, requesting trade relations. (Fillmore's term of office had already expired by the time the letter was delivered.)

In 1881, outlaw William H. Bonney Jr., alias "Billy the Kid," was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner, N.M.

In 1902, the original, centuries-old Campanile di San Marco in Venice, Italy, collapsed. (The bell tower was rebuilt within a decade.)

In 1913, Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr., the 38th president of the United States, was born Leslie Lynch King Jr. in Omaha, Neb.

In 1921, Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were convicted in Dedham, Mass., of murdering a shoe company paymaster and his guard. (Sacco and Vanzetti were executed six years later.)

In 1933, all German political parties, except the Nazi Party, were outlawed.

In 1960, British researcher Jane Goodall arrived at the Gombe (GAHM'-bay) Stream Reserve in the Tanganyika Territory (in present-day Tanzania) to begin her famous study of chimpanzees in the wild.

In 1966, eight student nurses were murdered by Richard Speck in a Chicago dormitory.

In 1976, Jimmy Carter won the Democratic presidential nomination at the party's convention in New York.

Ten years ago: In a boost for President George W. Bush's hopes to build a defense against ballistic missile attack, the Pentagon scored a hit with an interceptor that soared into space from a tiny Pacific isle and destroyed its target, a mock nuclear warhead. China convicted American business professor Li Shaomin (lee show-mihn) of spying for Taiwan and then ordered him deported. Katharine Graham, the 84-year-old chairman of the executive committee of The Washington Post Co., suffered a head injury in a fall in Sun Valley, Idaho (she died three days later).

Five years ago: Israel destroyed the home and office of Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah (HAS'-ahn NAS'-ruh-lah), and tightened its seal on Lebanon, blasting its air and road links to the outside world. Spurred by Mideast fighting, oil prices rose to an intraday record $78.40 a barrel. Actress Carrie Nye died in New York at age 69.

One year ago: An Iranian nuclear scientist who'd disappeared a year earlier headed back to Tehran, telling Iranian state media that he'd been abducted by CIA agents. (The U.S. said Shahram Amiri was a willing defector who'd changed his mind.)

Today's birthdays: Actor Dale Robertson is 88. Actor Harry Dean Stanton is 85. Actress Nancy Olson is 83. Actress Polly Bergen is 81. Former football player and actor Rosey Grier is 79. Actor Vincent Pastore is 65. Former music company executive Tommy Mottola (muh-TOH'-luh) is 62. Rock musician Chris Cross (Ultravox) is 59. Actor Jerry Houser is 59. Actor-director Eric Laneuville is 59. Actor Stan Shaw is 59. Movie producer Scott Rudin is 53. Singer-guitarist Kyle Gass is 51. Country musician Ray Herndon (McBride and the Ride) is 51. Actress Jane Lynch (TV: "Glee") is 51. Actor Jackie Earle Haley is 50. Actor Matthew Fox is 45. Rock musician Ellen Reid (Crash Test Dummies) is 45. Rock singer-musician Tanya Donelly is 45. Actress Missy Gold is 41. Olympic gold medal snowboarder Ross Rebagliati is 40. Rhythm-and-blues singer Tameka Cottle (Xscape) is 36. Country singer Jamey Johnson is 36. Taboo, a hip-hop musician, (Black Eyed Peas) is 36. Actor Scott Porter is 32.

Thought for today: "The willing contemplation of vice is vice." -- Arabic proverb.

[Associated Press]

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