Today's Highlight in History:
On July 18, 1969, a car driven by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., plunged off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island near Martha's Vineyard; although Kennedy managed to escape the submerged vehicle, his passenger, 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned. (Kennedy subsequently pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and received a suspended two-month jail sentence.)
On this date:
In A.D. 64, the Great Fire of Rome began.
In 1536, the English Parliament passed an act declaring the authority of the pope void in England.
In 1792, American naval hero John Paul Jones died in Paris at age 45.
In 1872, Britain enacted voting by secret ballot.
In 1918, American and French forces launched a counteroffensive against the Germans during the Second Battle of the Marne in World War I.
In 1932, the United States and Canada signed a treaty to develop the St. Lawrence Seaway.
In 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed a Presidential Succession Act which placed the speaker of the House and the Senate president pro tempore next in the line of succession after the vice president.
In 1984, gunman James Huberty opened fire at a McDonald's fast food restaurant in San Ysidro, Calif., killing 21 people before being shot dead by police. Walter F. Mondale won the Democratic presidential nomination in San Francisco.
In 1989, actress Rebecca Schaeffer, 21, was shot to death at her Los Angeles home by obsessed fan Robert Bardo, who was later sentenced to life in prison.
In 1994, a bomb hidden in a van destroyed a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 85.
Ten years ago: Authorities looking into the disappearance of the plane carrying John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife and sister-in-law announced that the "search and rescue" operation had become "search and recovery." David Cone of the New York Yankees pitched a perfect game against the Montreal Expos, leading his team to a 6-0 victory. Paul Lawrie won the British Open in a three-way playoff after Jean Van de Velde triple-bogeyed on the 72nd hole.
