This day in history

[July 01, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Friday, July 1, the 182nd day of 2011. There are 183 days left in the year. This is Canada Day.

Today's highlights in history:

On July 1, 1971, the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which lowered the minimum voting age from 21 to 18, was ratified. The State of Washington became the first state to ban sex discrimination. The United States Post Office Department was replaced with the United States Postal Service.

On this date:

In 1861, the first issue of the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano (loh-sehr-vah-TOHR'-ay roh-MAH'-noh) was published in Rome.

In 1863, the Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, resulting in a Union victory, began in Pennsylvania.

In 1867, Canada became a self-governing dominion of Great Britain as the British North America Act took effect.

In 1910, Chicago's original Comiskey Park held its opening day under the name White Sox Park. (The home team lost to the St. Louis Browns, 2-0.)

In 1943, "pay-as-you-go" income tax withholding began.

In 1946, the United States exploded a 20-kiloton atomic bomb near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.

In 1961, Diana, the princess of Wales, was born in Sandringham, England. (She died in a 1997 car crash in Paris at age 36.)

In 1980, "O Canada" was proclaimed the national anthem of Canada.

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush nominated federal appeals court judge Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, beginning an ultimately successful confirmation process marked by allegations of sexual harassment. The Warsaw Pact formally disbanded. Actor Michael Landon, 54, died in Malibu, Calif.

In 2004, actor Marlon Brando died in Los Angeles at age 80.

Ten years ago: Vice President Dick Cheney rested at home, a day after having a new pacemaker implanted in his chest. The National Organization for Women announced in Philadelphia that delegates had chosen Kim A. Gandy to be their new president, succeeding Patricia Ireland.

Five years ago: Thunderstorms forced NASA to call off the launch of Discovery, delaying the first space shuttle flight in a year. (Discovery was launched three days later, on the Fourth of July.) A huge car bomb exploded at a bustling outdoor market in a Shiite (SHEE'-eyet) district of Baghdad, killing more than 60 people.

One year ago: California lawmakers approved a $20 million settlement with the family of Jaycee Dugard, who was kidnapped as a girl and held captive in a secret backyard for 18 years by a paroled sex offender. At least two suicide bombers attacked a popular Muslim shrine in Pakistan's second largest city, Lahore, killing some three dozen people.

Today's birthdays: Actress Olivia de Havilland is 95. Actress-dancer Leslie Caron is 80. Actress Jean Marsh is 77. Actor Jamie Farr is 77. Bluesman James Cotton is 76. Actor David Prowse is 76. Cookiemaker Wally Amos is 75. Actress Karen Black is 72. Dancer-choreographer Twyla Tharp is 70. Actress Genevieve Bujold is 69. Gospel singer Andrae Crouch is 69. Rock singer-actress Deborah Harry is 66. Movie-TV producer-director Michael Pressman is 61. Actor Daryl Anderson is 60. Actor Trevor Eve is 60. Actor Terrence Mann is 60. Rock singer Fred Schneider (B-52's) is 60. Pop singer Victor Willis (Village People) is 60. Actor-comedian Dan Aykroyd is 59. Actress Lorna Patterson is 55. Actor Alan Ruck is 55. Rhythm-and-blues singer Evelyn "Champagne" King is 51. Olympic gold medal track star Carl Lewis is 50. Country singer Michelle Wright is 50. Actor Andre Braugher is 49. Actress Pamela Anderson is 44. Rock musician Mark Pirro is 41. Rock musician Franny Griffiths (Space) is 41. Actor Henry Simmons is 41. Hip-hop artist Missy Elliott is 40. Actress Julianne Nicholson is 40. Actress Liv Tyler is 34. Bluegrass musician Adam Haynes (Dailey & Vincent) is 32. Actress Hilarie Burton is 29. Actress Lynsey Bartilson is 28. Actor Evan Ellingson is 23. Actors Andrew and Steven Cavarno are 19.

Thought for today: "American youth attributes much more importance to arriving at driver's license age than at voting age." -- Marshall McLuhan, Canadian communications theorist (1911-1980)

[Associated Press]

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