Today is Wednesday, July 15, the 197th day of 2020. There are 169 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On July 15, 1799, French soldiers in Egypt discovered the Rosetta Stone, which proved instrumental in deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.

On this date:

In 1834, the Spanish Inquisition was abolished more than 3 1/2 centuries after its creation.

In 1870, Georgia became the last Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union. Manitoba entered confederation as the fifth Canadian province.

In 1918, the Second Battle of the Marne, resulting in an Allied victory, began during World War I.

In 1975, three American astronauts blasted off aboard an Apollo spaceship hours after two Soviet cosmonauts were launched aboard a Soyuz spacecraft for a mission that included a linkup of the two ships in orbit.

In 1985, a visibly gaunt Rock Hudson appeared at a news conference with actress Doris Day (it was later revealed Hudson was suffering from AIDS).

In 1996, MSNBC, a 24-hour all-news network, made its debut on cable and the Internet.

In 1997, fashion designer Gianni Versace, 50, was shot dead outside his Miami Beach home; suspected gunman Andrew Phillip Cunanan, 27, was found dead eight days later, a suicide. (Investigators believed Cunanan killed four other people before Versace in a cross-country rampage that began the previous March.)

In 2016, Donald Trump chose Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, an experienced politician with deep Washington connections, as his running mate.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Patrick Wayne is 81. Rhythm-and-blues singer Millie Jackson is 76. Rock singer-musician Peter Lewis (Moby Grape) is 75. Singer Linda Ronstadt is 74. Rock musician Artimus Pyle is 72. Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post, is 70. Actress Celia Imrie is 68. Actor Terry O’Quinn is 68. Rock singer-musician David Pack is 68. Rock musician Marky Ramone is 68. Rock musician Joe Satriani is 64. Country singer-songwriter Mac McAnally is 63. Model Kim Alexis is 60. Actor Willie Aames is 60. Actor-director Forest Whitaker is 59. Actress Lolita Davidovich is 59. Actress Shari Headley is 57. Actress Brigitte Nielsen is 57. Rock musician Jason Bonham is 54. Actress Amanda Foreman is 54.