This day in history

[July 28, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Thursday, July 28, the 209th day of 2011. There are 156 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On July 28, 1914, World War I began as Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

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 1609, the English ship Sea Venture, commanded by Adm. Sir George Somers, ran ashore on Bermuda, where the passengers and crew founded a colony.

In 1794, Maximilien Robespierre, a leading figure of the French Revolution, was sent to the guillotine.

In 1821, Peru declared its independence from Spain.

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 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced the end of coffee rationing, which had limited people to one pound of coffee every five weeks since it began in Nov. 1942.

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 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 1976, an earthquake devastated northern China, killing at least 242,000 people, according to an official estimate.

In 2002, nine coal miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek (KYOO'-kreek) Mine in Somerset, Pa., were rescued after 77 hours underground.

Ten years ago: Alejandro Toledo (al-ay-HAHN'-droh toh-LAY'-doh), Peru's first freely elected president of Indian descent, was sworn into office.

Five years ago: Actor-director Mel Gibson went into an anti-Semitic tirade as he was being arrested on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, Calif., for suspicion of driving while drunk; Gibson later apologized and was sentenced to probation and alcohol treatment. A gunman who witnesses said identified himself as a Muslim American walked into the offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle and opened fire, killing one woman and wounding five others before he was arrested. (Naveed Haq was later convicted of aggravated first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of release.) Former Peruvian President Alan Garcia was inaugurated for a second term, 16 years after leaving office.

One year ago: A federal judge put most of Arizona's toughest-in-the-nation immigration law on hold just hours before it was to take effect. A Pakistani Airbus crashed into the hills overlooking Islamabad, killing all 152 people aboard.

Today's birthdays: Movie director Andrew V. McLaglen is 91. Actor Darryl Hickman is 80. Ballet dancer-choreographer Jacques d'Amboise is 77. Art critic Robert Hughes is 73. Musical conductor Riccardo Muti is 70. Former Senator and NBA Hall of Famer Bill Bradley is 68. "Garfield" creator Jim Davis is 66. Singer Jonathan Edwards is 65. Actress Linda Kelsey is 65. TV producer Dick Ebersol is 64. Actress Sally Struthers is 63. Actress Georgia Engel is 63. Rock musician Simon Kirke (Bad Company) is 62. Rock musician Steve Morse (Deep Purple) is 57. CBS anchorman Scott Pelley is 54. Alt-country-rock musician Marc Perlman is 50. Actor Michael Hayden is 48. Actress Lori Loughlin is 47. Jazz musician-producer Delfeayo Marsalis is 46. Former hockey player turned general manager Garth Snow is 42. Actress Elizabeth Berkley is 39. Singer Afroman is 37. Country musician Todd Anderson (Heartland) is 36. Rock singer Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach) is 35. Country singer Carly Goodwin is 30. Actor Dustin Milligan is 26. Actor Nolan Gerard Funk is 25. Rapper Soulja Boy is 21.

Thought for today: "Beware of monotony; it's the mother of all the deadly sins." -- Edith Wharton, American author (1862-1937)

[Associated Press]

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