Editorials

History

Staff
Tuesday July 16, 2002

Today’s Highlight in History: 

 

On July 16, 1945, the United States exploded its first experimental atomic bomb, in the desert of Alamogordo, N.M. 

On this date: 

In 1790, the District of Columbia was established as the seat of the U.S. government. 

In 1862, David G. Farragut became the first rear admiral in the U.S. Navy. 

In 1918, Russia’s Czar Nicholas II, his empress and their five children were executed by the Bolsheviks. 

In 1951, the novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger was published. 

In 1964, in accepting the Republican presidential nomination in San Francisco, Barry M. Goldwater said “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice” and that “moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” 

In 1969, Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Kennedy on the first manned mission to the surface of the moon. 

In 1980, former California Gov. Ronald Reagan won the Republican presidential nomination at the party’s convention in Detroit. 

In 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, Carolyn, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, died when their single-engine plane plunged into the ocean near Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. 

Ten years ago: Bill Clinton delivered his acceptance speech a day after winning the Democratic presidential nomination at the party’s convention in New York. To the dismay and anger of supporters, Ross Perot announced he would not run for president. He later changed his mind. 

Five years ago: Hundreds of FBI agents, some handing out photos in gay bars and hotels, blanketed south Florida in the continuing hunt for alleged prostitute-turned-serial killer Andrew Phillip Cunanan, who was suspected of gunning down designer Gianni Versace. 

One year ago: South Asian nuclear rivals India and Pakistan failed to reach an accord on their half-century dispute over Kashmir, ending a landmark three-day summit on a solemn note. Russia and China signed their first friendship treaty in more than half a century. Jacques Rogge was elected to succeed Juan Antonio Samaranch as president of the International Olympic Committee. 

Today’s Birthdays: Rock composer-musician Stewart Copeland is 50. Dancer Michael Flatley is 44. Actress Phoebe Cates is 39. Country singer Craig Morgan is 37. Actor-comedian Will Ferrell is 35. Actress Rain Pryor is 33. Actor Corey Feldman is 31. Rock musician Ed Kowalczyk (Live) is 31.