Today is Friday, July 31, the 213th day of 2020. There are 153 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On July 31, 1777, during the Revolutionary War, the Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, was made a major-general in the American Continental Army.
On this date:
In 1556, St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus — the Jesuit order of Catholic priests and brothers — died in Rome.
In 1715, a fleet of Spanish ships carrying gold, silver and jewelry sank during a hurricane off the east Florida coast; of some 2,500 crew members, more than 1,000 died.
In 1964, the American space probe Ranger 7 reached the moon, transmitting pictures back to Earth before impacting the lunar surface.
In 1971, Apollo 15 crew members David Scott and James Irwin became the first astronauts to use a lunar rover on the surface of the moon.
In 1972, Democratic vice-presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton withdrew from the ticket with George McGovern following disclosures that Eagleton had once undergone psychiatric treatment.
In 1991, President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow.
In 2003, the Vatican launched a global campaign against gay marriages, warning Catholic politicians that support of same-sex unions was “gravely immoral” and urging non-Catholics to join the offensive.
In 2014, the death toll from the worst recorded Ebola outbreak in history surpassed 700 in West Africa.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Don Murray is 91. Jazz composer-musician Kenny Burrell is 89. Actress France Nuyen is 81. Actress Susan Flannery is 81. Singer Lobo is 76. Actress Geraldine Chaplin is 76. Former movie studio executive Sherry Lansing is 76. Singer Gary Lewis is 75. Actor Lane Davies is 70. Actress Susan Wooldridge is 70. International Tennis Hall of Famer Evonne Goolagong Cawley is 69. Actor Barry Van Dyke is 69. Actor Alan Autry is 68. Actor Dirk Blocker is 63. Entrepreneur Mark Cuban is 62. Rock musician Bill Berry is 62. Actor Wesley Snipes is 58. Country singer Chad Brock is 57. Musician Fatboy Slim is 57. Rock musician Jim Corr is 56. Author J.K. Rowling is 55. Actor Dean Cain is 54. Actor Jim True-Frost is 54. Country singer-musician Zac Brown is 42.
