This day in history

[July 15, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Friday, July 15, the 196th day of 2011. There are 169 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On July 15, 1971, President Richard Nixon delivered a televised address in which he startled viewers by announcing that he had received, and accepted, an invitation to visit the People's Republic of China.

On this date:

In 1870, Georgia became the last Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union. Manitoba entered confederation as the fifth Canadian province.

In 1910, the term "Alzheimer's disease" was used in the book "Clinical Psychiatry" by German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin in honor of his colleague, Alois Alzheimer, who'd identified the condition.

In 1916, Boeing Co., originally known as Pacific Aero Products Co., was founded in Seattle.

In 1918, the Second Battle of the Marne, resulting in an Allied victory, began during World War I.

In 1948, President Harry S. Truman was nominated for another term of office by the Democratic national convention in Philadelphia.

In 1964, Sen. Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona was nominated for president by the Republican national convention in San Francisco.

In 1976, a 36-hour kidnap ordeal began for 26 schoolchildren and their bus driver as they were abducted near Chowchilla, Calif., by three gunmen and imprisoned in an underground cell. (The captives escaped unharmed.)

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter delivered his "malaise" speech in which he lamented what he called a "crisis of confidence" in America.

In 1985, a shockingly gaunt-looking Rock Hudson appeared at a news conference with actress Doris Day (it was later revealed Hudson was suffering from AIDS).

In 1996, MSNBC, a 24-hour all-news network, made its debut on cable and the Internet.

Ten years ago: China's President Jiang Zemin arrived in Russia to sign a friendship treaty -- the first between the former Communist rivals in more than 50 years.

Five years ago: The U.N. Security Council condemned North Korea's missile tests and imposed limited sanctions; a defiant North said it would launch more missiles. In a chilly prelude to a Group of Eight summit in St. Petersburg, President George W. Bush blocked Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization. Gunmen in Baghdad kidnapped the chairman of Iraq's Olympic committee, Ahmed al-Hijiya, and at least 30 others. (While some abductees were later released, al-Hijiya's and the others' whereabouts remain a mystery.) The space shuttle Discovery undocked from the international space station.

One year ago: After 85 days, BP stopped the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico using a 75-ton cap lowered onto the well earlier in the week. The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Goldman Sachs & Co. would pay a record $550 million penalty to settle charges that the Wall Street giant had misled buyers of mortgage investments. Argentina became the first Latin American country to legalize gay marriage.

Today's birthdays: Author Clive Cussler is 80. Actor Alex Karras is 76. Actor Ken Kercheval is 76. Former Sen. George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio) is 75. Actor Patrick Wayne is 72. Actor Jan-Michael Vincent is 67. Rhythm-and-blues singer Millie Jackson is 67. Rock singer-musician Peter Lewis (Moby Grape) is 66. Singer Linda Ronstadt is 65. Rock musician Artimus Pyle is 63. Actor Terry O'Quinn is 59. Rock musician Marky Ramone is 55. Rock musician Joe Satriani is 55. Country singer-songwriter Mac McAnally is 54. Model Kim Alexis is 51. Actor Willie Aames is 51. Actor-director Forest Whitaker is 50. Actress Lolita Davidovich is 50. Actress Brigitte Nielsen is 48. Rock musician Jason Bonham is 45. Actress Amanda Foreman is 45. Actor Kristoff St. John is 45. Rock musician Phillip Fisher is 44. Rhythm-and-blues singer Stokley (Mint Condition) is 44. Actor-comedian Eddie Griffin is 43. Actor Stan Kirsch is 43. Actor Reggie Hayes is 42. Rock musician Chi (chee) Cheng (Deftones) is 41. Rock musician John Dolmayan is 39. Actor Scott Foley is 39. Actor Brian Austin Green is 38. Rapper Jim Jones is 35. Actress Diane Kruger is 35. Actress Lana Parrilla (LAH'-nuh pa-REE'-uh) is 34. Rock musician Ray Toro (My Chemical Romance) is 34. Actor Travis Fimmel is 32. Rhythm-and-blues singer Kia Thornton (Divine) is 30. Actor Tristan Wilds is 22.

Thought for today: "A sure way to lose happiness, I found, is to want it at the expense of everything else." -- Bette Davis, American actress (1908-1989)

[Associated Press]

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