Hello. Welcome to your weekend. We’re glad you are here and spending a bit of it with us.
So, grab your favorite sippin drink and let’s scroll!
Tomorrow is Sunday, July 20th, the 201st day of the year.
On this day:
In 1937, Italian inventor and physicist Guglielmo Marconi died on this date. Marconi is credited as a pioneer in the creation of radio technology. He was awarded a Nobel Prize for Physics in 1909.
In 1940, “Billboard” magazine published its first list of best selling singles.
In 1942, the first members of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps began training at Fort Des Moines, Iowa.
In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated for an unprecedented fourth term of office at the Democratic convention in Chicago.
In 1968, Jane Asher broke off her engagement with Paul McCartney on live TV.
In 1968, the very first Special Olympic Games were held at Soldier Field in Chicago. About one-thousand athletes from the U.S. and Canada took part in the one-day event.
In 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the surface of the moon. He famously declared, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Buzz Aldrin later joined his colleague on the moon’s surface. Astronaut Michael Collins piloted the Apollo Eleven command ship Columbia on the historic occasion.
In 1973, martial arts actor Bruce Lee died of brain edema in Hong Kong. Lee was 32-years-old.
In 1976, Hank Aaron hit his 755th and last home run.
In 1983, “ABC News” anchor Frank Reynolds died at the age of 59. Reynolds in best known for scolding staff members while on air following the assassination attempt on President Reagan. He was upset after misinforming the nation that Press Secretary James Brady died in the attack.
In 1984, Miss America Vanessa Williams was asked to resign by pageant officials because nude photos of Williams surfaced in “Penthouse.” Williams surrendered her title three days later.
In 1985, treasure hunters began collecting 400-million dollars worth of coins and silver from the sunken Spanish galleon “Nuestra Senora de Atocha.” The ship went down off the coast of Key West, Florida, in 1622.
In 1994, O-J Simpson offered a reward of 500-thousand dollars for the capture of his wife’s “real killer.” Simpson’s legal team set up a toll-free number for leads.
In 1995, the University of California Board of Regents voted to drop affirmative-action policies in admissions and hirings at the school.
In 1999, 38 years after sinking to the bottom of the Atlantic, astronaut Gus Grissom’s “Liberty Bell Seven” Mercury capsule was recovered and hoisted to the surface.
In 2001, sixties activist-turned-fugitive Ira Einhorn was flown from France and handed over to Philadelphia police after 20 years on the run. Accused of killing his girlfriend in the late 1970s and stuffing her body in a trunk in his apartment, Einhorn fled the United States before his trial in 1981. He was convicted in absentia.
In 2005, James Doohan, the actor best known for his role as Enterprise Chief Engineer Scotty in the “Star Trek” television series and movies, passed away at the age of 85.
In 2005, Canada became the fourth country to legalize gay marriage. The law went into effect after a Supreme Court judge gave final approval. Canada followed Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain in permitting same-sex marriages.
In 2006, the Senate voted unanimously to extend the Voting Rights Act for another 25 years. A week earlier, the House voted 309-to-33 to renew the act. Conservative Republicans had blocked a vote on the measure in June, saying renewing the bill’s provision scrutinizing states with a history of voting rights violations failed to credit those states for improvements made since the 1960s.
In 2007, former televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker Messner died after a long battle with cancer at 65. Messner rose to fame co-hosting the religious television show “The PTL Club” with her first husband, Jim Bakker, from 1976 until 1987. The two became in embroiled in a scandal over their opulent lifestyle, misuse of donated money and accounting fraud.
In 2009, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins visited the White House to commemorate the 40th anniversary of man’s first steps on the moon. President Obama praised the three who participated in the history-making feat, calling them “icons and genuine American heroes.”
In 2010, actress Lindsay Lohan began serving a 90-day sentence for probation violation related to her 2007 conviction for DUI charges. She was released after serving just 14 days of her sentence.
In 2012, tragedy struck in Aurora, Colorado when a gunman opened fire on moviegoers attending the midnight-screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” at the Century 16 Movie Theaters at the Aurora Town Center. Twelve people were killed and 70 others were injured.
In 2013, veteran White House Correspondent Helen Thomas died on this date at the age of 92. Thomas was the first female member of the White House Press Corps.
In 2013, hundreds of thousands of people joined “Justice For Trayvon” rallies around the country on this date to support the slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin whose shooter, George Zimmerman, was acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges a week earlier.
In 2017, Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington died of suicide at the age of 41.
In 2018, director James Gunn was fired from the third “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie after old tweets resurface.
In 2021, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos flew to the edge of space with three others aboard a rocket and capsule developed by his company Blue Origin. Bezos made history being apart of the first unpiloted suborbital flight with an all-civilian crew.
That brings us here to this day.
Whatever plans you have for your weekend, here’s hoping there are moments along the way to record on the pages of your own personal history books.
Thanks for stopping by!
