This day in history

[July 07, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, July 7, the 188th day of 2010. There are 177 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On July 7, 1860, late Romantic composer-conductor Gustav Mahler was born in Kalischt, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary (in the present-day Czech Republic).

On this date:

In 1846, U.S. annexation of California was proclaimed at Monterey (mahn-tuh-RAY') after the surrender of a Mexican garrison.

In 1865, four people were hanged in Washington, D.C. for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln.

In 1898, the United States annexed Hawaii.

In 1908, the Democratic national convention, which nominated William Jennings Bryan for president, opened in Denver.

In 1919, the first Transcontinental Motor Convoy, in which a U.S. Army convoy of motorized vehicles crossed the United States, departed Washington, D.C. (The trip ended in San Francisco on Sept. 6, 1919.)

In 1930, construction began on Boulder Dam (later Hoover Dam).

In 1948, six female reservists became the first women to be sworn into the regular U.S. Navy.

In 1969, Canada's House of Commons gave final approval to the Official Languages Act, making French equal to English throughout the national government.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced he was nominating Arizona Judge Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1983, 11-year-old Samantha Smith of Manchester, Maine, left for a visit to the Soviet Union at the personal invitation of Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov (ahn-DROH'-pawf).

Ten years ago: President Bill Clinton postponed the first federal execution since 1963 so that convicted murderer Juan Raul Garza could ask for clemency under guidelines being updated by the government. (Garza was later executed.) Stock car driver Kenny Irwin was killed when his car slammed into a wall during practice at New Hampshire International Speedway; he was 30.

Five years ago: Suicide terrorist bombings in three Underground stations and a double-decker bus killed 52 victims and four bombers in the worst attack on London since World War II. Al-Qaida's wing in Iraq claimed to have killed Egypt's top envoy, Ihab al-Sherif, who'd been abducted by gunmen.

One year ago: Some 20,000 people gathered inside Staples Center in Los Angeles for a memorial service honoring the late king of pop, Michael Jackson, who was tearfully described by his 11-year-old daughter, Paris-Michael, as "the best father you could ever imagine." Britain unveiled a Hyde Park memorial to mark the 4th anniversary of the London transit system bombings that claimed 52 victims. Pope Benedict XVI called for a new world financial order guided by ethics, dignity and the search for the common good in the third encyclical of his pontificate.

Today's birthdays: Blues musician Pinetop Perkins is 97. Musician-conductor Doc Severinsen is 83. Country singer Charlie Louvin is 83. Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough is 77. Rock star Ringo Starr is 70. Singer-musician Warren Entner (The Grass Roots) is 66. Rock musician Jim Rodford is 65. Actor Joe Spano is 64. Pop singer David Hodo (The Village People) is 63. Country singer Linda Williams is 63. Actress Shelley Duvall is 61. Actress Roz Ryan is 59. Actor Billy Campbell is 51. Rock musician Mark White (Spin Doctors) is 48. Singer-songwriter Vonda Shepard is 47. Actor-comedian Jim Gaffigan is 44. Rhythm-and-blues musician Ricky Kinchen (Mint Condition) is 44. Actress Jorja Fox is 42. Actress Cree Summer is 41. Actress Kirsten Vangsness is 38. Actor Troy Garity is 37. Actor Hamish Linklater is 34. Olympic silver and bronze medal figure skater Michelle Kwan is 30. Rapper Cassidy is 28. Country singer Gabbie Nolen is 28.

Thought for today: "It takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and genius, especially ambitious young men and women." -- Louisa May Alcott, American author (1832-1888)

[Associated Press]

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