Associated Press
On July 7, 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced he was nominating Sandra Day O’Connor to become the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
1846 U.S. annexation of California was proclaimed at Monterey after the surrender of a Mexican garrison.
1865 Four people were hanged in Washington, D.C., after being convicted of conspiring with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln.
1898 The United States annexed Hawaii.
1930 Construction began on Boulder Dam on the Colorado River.
1954 Elvis Presley made his radio debut when Memphis, Tenn., station WHBQ played his first recording for Sun Records, “That’s All Right.”
1958 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Alaska statehood bill.
1987 Lt. Col. Oliver North began his public testimony at the Iran-Contra hearing, telling Congress that he had “never carried out a single act, not one” without authorization.
1990 Martina Navratilova won a record ninth women’s singles title at Wimbledon.
2003 A federal judge approved a settlement fining WorldCom $750 million for its $11 billion accounting scandal.
2005 Terrorist bombings in three Underground stations and a double-decker bus killed 52 victims and four suicide bombers in the worst attack on London since World War II.
2011 “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” the final movie based on the wizard fantasy books, debuted in London.
Today’s Birthdays:
Author David McCullough turns 82 years old today.
Doc Severinsen, Bandleader, 88
Ringo Starr, Rock musician (The Beatles), 75
Joe Spano, Actor, 69
Linda Williams, Country singer, 68
Shelley Duvall, Actress, 66
Billy Campbell, Actor, 56
Vonda Shepard Singer, songwriter (“Ally McBeal”), 52
Jim Gaffigan, Actor, comedian, 49
Jorja Fox, Actress (“C.S.I.”), 47
Robin Weigert, Actress (“Deadwood,” “Sons of Anarchy”), 46
Lisa Leslie, Basketball player, 43
Kirsten Vangsness, Actress (“Criminal Minds”), 43
Michelle Kwan, Figure skater, 35
Actress Berenice Bejo (“The Artist”) turns 39 years old today.