This day in history

[July 14, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Tuesday, July 14, the 195th day of 2009. There are 170 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On July 14, 1789, during the French Revolution, citizens of Paris stormed the Bastille prison and released the seven prisoners inside.

On this date:

In 1798, Congress passed the Sedition Act, making it a federal crime to publish false, scandalous or malicious writing about the U.S. government.

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 1908, the short film "The Adventures of Dollie," the first movie directed by D.W. Griffith, opened in New York.

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 1958, the army of Iraq overthrew the monarchy.

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

In 1978, Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky was convicted of treasonous espionage and anti-Soviet agitation, and sentenced to 13 years at hard labor. (Sharansky was released in 1986.)

Ten years ago: Iranian hard-liners answered a week of pro-democracy rallies with one of their own, sending 100,000 people into the streets of Tehran. Race-based school busing in Boston came to an end after 25 years. Major league umpires voted to resign Sept. 2 and not work the final month of the season. (The strategy collapsed, with baseball owners accepting the resignations of 22 umpires.)

Five years ago: The Senate scuttled a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. (Forty-eight senators voted to advance the measure --12 short of the 60 needed --and 50 voted to block it.) In Iraq, a suicide attacker detonated a massive car bomb at a checkpoint near the British Embassy and the interim government's headquarters in Baghdad, killing 11 people; the governor of Nineveh province was killed in an attack on his convoy.

One year ago: President George W. Bush lifted an executive ban on offshore drilling which had stood since his father was president. The New Yorker magazine featured a satirical cover showing Barack Obama dressed as a Muslim and his wife, Michelle, as a terrorist. (The Obama campaign called the cover "tasteless and offensive.")

Today's birthdays: Playwright Arthur Laurents is 92. Actor Dale Robertson is 86. Actor Harry Dean Stanton is 83. Actress Nancy Olson is 81. Actress Polly Bergen is 79. Former football player Rosey Grier is 77. Actor Vincent Pastore ("The Sopranos") is 63. Former music company executive Tommy Mottola is 60. Rock musician Chris Cross (Ultravox) is 57. Actor Jerry Houser is 57. Actor-director Eric Laneuville is 57. Actor Stan Shaw is 57. Movie producer Scott Rudin is 51. Singer-guitarist Kyle Gass is 49. Country musician Ray Herndon (McBride and the Ride) is 49. Actress Jane Lynch is 49. Actor Jackie Earle Haley is 48. Actor Matthew Fox is 43. Rock musician Ellen Reid (Crash Test Dummies) is 43. Rock singer-musician Tanya Donelly is 43. Actress Missy Gold is 39. Olympic gold medal snowboarder Ross Rebagliati is 38. Atlanta Braves pitcher Tim Hudson is 34. R&B Tameka Cottle (Xscape) is 34. Country singer Jamey Johnson is 34. Hip-hop musician taboo (Black Eyed Peas) is 34. Actor Scott Porter is 30.

Thought for today: "I have never regarded myself as this or that. I have been too busy being myself to bother about regarding myself." -- Rex Stout, American crime author (1886-1975)

[Associated Press]

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