Today in History: July 28, World War I begins

Today in History

Today is Thursday, July 28, the 209th day of 2022. There are 156 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlights in History:

On July 28, 1945, the U.S. Senate ratified the United Nations Charter by a vote of 89-2. A U.S. Army bomber crashed into the 79th floor of New York’s Empire State Building, killing 14 people.

On this date:

In 1609, the English ship Sea Venture, commanded by Adm. Sir George Somers, ran ashore on Bermuda, where the passengers and crew founded a colony.

In 1914, World War I began as Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

In 1932, federal troops forcibly dispersed the so-called “Bonus Army” of World War I veterans who had gathered in Washington to demand payments they weren’t scheduled to receive until 1945.

In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced the end of coffee rationing, which had limited people to one pound of coffee every five weeks since it began in Nov. 1942.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced he was increasing the number of American troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000 “almost immediately.”

In 1976, an earthquake devastated northern China, killing at least 242,000 people, according to an official estimate.

In 1984, the Los Angeles Summer Olympics opened.

In 1995, a jury in Union, South Carolina, rejected the death penalty for Susan Smith, sentencing her to life in prison for drowning her two young sons (Smith will be eligible for parole in 2024).

In 2015, it was announced that Jonathan Pollard, the former U.S. Naval intelligence analyst who had spent nearly three decades in prison for spying for Israel, had been granted parole.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton accepted the Democratic presidential nomination at the party’s convention in Philadelphia, where she cast herself as a unifier for divided times as well as an experienced leader steeled for a volatile world while aggressively challenging Republican Donald Trump’s ability to lead.

In 2019, a gunman opened fire at a popular garlic festival in Gilroy, California, killing three people, including a six-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, and wounding 17 others before taking his own life.

In 2020, President Donald Trump issued a stout defense of the disproved use of a malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, to treat COVID-19, hours after social media companies took down videos shared by Trump, his son and others promoting its use; Trump also retweeted several attacks on the credibility of Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leading member of the White House coronavirus task force.

Ten years ago: Syria’s government launched an offensive to retake rebel-held neighborhoods in the nation’s commercial hub of Aleppo. At the London Olympics, Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen set the first world record, winning the women’s 400-meter individual medley in 4:28.43. Ryan Lochte of the U.S. won the men’s 400-meter individual medley in 4:05.18.

Five years ago: The Senate voted 51-49 to reject Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s last-ditch effort to dismantle President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul with a trimmed-down bill; John McCain, who was about to begin treatments for a brain tumor, joined two other GOP senators in voting against the repeal effort. President Donald Trump announced he was appointing Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to be his chief of staff. Defrocked priest Paul Shanley, who was at the center of Boston’s Roman Catholic clergy sex abuse scandal, was released from prison at the age of 86.

One year ago: The Senate voted to begin work on a nearly $1 trillion national infrastructure plan after the White House and a bipartisan group of senators agreed on major provisions of the package, a key part of President Joe Biden’s agenda. New guidance from the federal government calling for even vaccinated people to wear masks indoors in parts of the country set off a cascade of mask rules across the nation as cities, states, schools and businesses raced to restore mandates and others pushed back against the guidelines. The Texas blues rock trio ZZ Top announced that long-bearded bassist Dusty Hill had died at age 72.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Darryl Hickman is 91. Musical conductor Riccardo Muti is 81. Former Senator and NBA Hall of Famer Bill Bradley is 79. “Garfield” creator Jim Davis is 77. Singer Jonathan Edwards is 76. Actor Linda Kelsey is 76. TV producer Dick Ebersol is 75. Actor Sally Struthers is 75. Rock musician Simon Kirke (Bad Company) is 73. Rock musician Steve Morse (Deep Purple) is 68. Former CBS anchorman Scott Pelley is 65. Alt-country-rock musician Marc Perlman is 61. Actor Michael Hayden is 59. Actor Lori Loughlin is 58. Jazz musician-producer Delfeayo Marsalis is 57. Former hockey player Garth Snow is 53. Actor Elizabeth Berkley is 50. Singer Afroman is 48. Rock singer Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach) is 46. Actor John David Washington is 38. Actor Jon Michael Hill is 37. Actor Dustin Milligan is 37. Actor Nolan Gerard Funk is 36. Rapper Soulja Boy is 32. Pop/rock singer Cher Lloyd (TV: “The X Factor”) is 29. Golfer Nelly Korda is 24.

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