Today’s Highlight in History:
On July 11, 1804, Vice President Aaron Burr mortally wounded former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton during a pistol duel in Weehawken, New Jersey. (Hamilton died the next day.)
On this date:
In 1798, the U.S. Marine Corps was formally re-established by a congressional act that also created the U.S. Marine Band.
In 1859, Big Ben, the great bell inside the famous London clock tower, chimed for the first time.
In 1864, Confederate forces led by General Jubal Early began an abortive invasion of Washington, D.C., turning back the next day.
In 1914, Babe Ruth made his Major League baseball debut, pitching the Boston Red Sox to a 4-3 victory over Cleveland.
In 1955, the U.S. Air Force Academy swore in its first class of cadets at its temporary quarters at Lowry Air Force Base in Colorado.
In 1972, the World Chess Championship opened as grandmasters Bobby Fischer of the United States and defending champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union began play in Reykjavik, Iceland. (Fischer won after 21 games.)
In 1979, the abandoned U.S. space station Skylab made a spectacular return to Earth, burning up in the atmosphere and showering debris over the Indian Ocean and Australia.
In 1989, actor and director Laurence Olivier died in Steyning, West Sussex, England, at age 82.
In 1991, a Nigeria Airways DC-8 carrying Muslim pilgrims crashed at the Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, international airport, killing all 261 people on board.
In 1995, the U.N.-designated “safe haven” of Srebrenica (sreh-breh-NEET’-sah) in Bosnia-Herzegovina fell to Bosnian Serb forces, who then carried out the killings of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys. The United States normalized relations with Vietnam.
In 2006, eight bombs hit a commuter rail network during evening rush hour in Mumbai, India, killing more than 200 people.
In 2020, President Donald Trump wore a mask during a visit to a military hospital; it was the first time he had been seen in public with one.
In 2017: Emails released by Donald Trump Jr. revealed that he’d been told before meeting with a Russian attorney during the presidential campaign that the Russian government had information that could “incriminate” Hillary Clinton. MSNBC “Morning Joe” host and former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough announced that he was leaving the Republican party, partly because of its loyalty to President Donald Trump. Seattle’s Robinson Cano homered off Cubs closer Wade Davis leading off the 10th inning and the American League beat the National League 2-1 in the All-Star game.
In 2021: Billionaire Richard Branson hurtled into space aboard his own winged rocket ship over the New Mexico desert, beating out his rival Jeff Bezos and bringing astro-tourism a step closer to reality. Novak Djokovic tied Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal by claiming his 20th Grand Slam title, coming back to beat Matteo Berrettini 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in the Wimbledon final. Actor Charlie Robinson, best known for his long-running role as the court clerk Mac Robinson on the sitcom “Night Court,” died in Los Angeles at 75.