Today in History: July 14, Congress passes Sedition Act

Today in History

Today is Thursday, July 14, the 195th day of 2022. There are 170 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On July 14, 2004, 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).

On this date:

In 1789, in an event symbolizing the start of the French Revolution, citizens of Paris stormed the Bastille prison and released the seven prisoners inside.

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

In 1881, outlaw William H. Bonney Jr., alias “Billy the Kid,” was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner in present-day New Mexico.

In 1912, American folk singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie (“This Land Is Your Land”) was born in Okemah, Oklahoma.

In 1933, all German political parties, except the Nazi Party, were outlawed.

In 1945, Italy formally declared war on Japan, its former Axis partner during World War II.

In 1976, Jimmy Carter won the Democratic presidential nomination at the party’s convention in New York.

In 1980, the Republican national convention opened in Detroit, where nominee-apparent Ronald Reagan told a welcoming rally he and his supporters were determined to “make America great again.”

In 2009, disgraced financier Bernard Madoff arrived at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina to begin serving a 150-year sentence for his massive Ponzi scheme. (Madoff died in prison in April 2021.)

In 2015, world powers and Iran struck a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from international sanctions.

In 2016, terror struck Bastille Day celebrations in the French Riviera city of Nice (nees) as a large truck plowed into a festive crowd, killing 86 people in an attack claimed by Islamic State extremists; the driver was shot dead by police.

In 2020,researchers reported that the first COVID-19 vaccine tested in the U.S. revved up people’s immune systems as scientists had hoped; the vaccine was developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc. The federal government carried out its first execution in almost two decades, killing by lethal injection Daniel Lewis Lee, who’d been convicted of murdering an Arkansas family in a 1990s plot to build a whites-only nation in the Pacific Northwest.

Ten years ago: A suicide bomber blew himself up among guests at a wedding hall in northern Afghanistan, killing 23 people, including a prominent ex-Uzbek warlord turned lawmaker who was the father of the bride.

Five years ago: A Russian-American lobbyist said he attended a June 2016 meeting with President Donald Trump’s son that was billed as part of a Russian government effort to help the Republican campaign. Arab assailants opened fire from inside a major Jerusalem shrine, killing two Israeli policemen before being shot dead.

One year ago: The World Health Organization reported that COVID-19 deaths had climbed globally in the preceding week after nine straight weeks of declines; the setback triggered another round of restrictions. The U.S. government reported that deaths from drug overdoses had soared to a record 93,000 in 2021 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic; experts said lockdowns and other restrictions had isolated those with drug addictions and made treatment harder to get.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Nancy Olson is 94. Former football player and actor Rosey Grier is 90. Actor Vincent Pastore is 76. Music company executive Tommy Mottola (muh-TOH’-luh) is 74. Rock musician Chris Cross (Ultravox) is 70. Actor Jerry Houser is 70. Actor-director Eric Laneuville is 70. Actor Stan Shaw is 70. Movie producer Scott Rudin is 64. Singer-guitarist Kyle Gass is 62. Actor Jane Lynch is 62. Actor Jackie Earle Haley is 61. Actor Matthew Fox is 56. Rock musician Ellen Reid (Crash Test Dummies) is 56. Rock singer-musician Tanya Donelly is 56. Former child actor Missy Gold is 52. Olympic gold medal snowboarder Ross Rebagliati is 51. R&B singer Tameka Cottle (Xscape) is 47. Country singer Jamey Johnson is 47. Hip-hop musician “taboo” (Black Eyed Peas) is 47. Actor Scott Porter is 43. Actor/writer/producer Phoebe Waller-Bridge is 37. Rock singer Dan Smith (Bastille) is 36. Actor Sara Canning (TV: “The Vampire Diaries”) is 35. Rock singer Dan Reynolds (Imagine Dragons) is 35.

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