Today in History

Today is Monday, July 6, the 187th day of 2009. There are 178 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On July 6, 1944, an estimated 168 people died in a fire that broke out during a performance in the main tent of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Hartford, Conn. (Among the survivors was future actor Charles Nelson Reilly, then age 13.)

On this date:

In 1777, during the American Revolution, British forces captured Fort Ticonderoga in New York.

In 1809, French troops arrested Pope Pius VII, who had excommunicated Emperor Napoleon I.

In 1885, French scientist Louis Pasteur successfully tested an anti-rabies vaccine on a boy who had been bitten by an infected dog.

In 1917, during World War I, Arab forces led by T.E. Lawrence and Auda Abu Tayi captured the port of Aqaba from the Turks.

In 1928, the first all-talking feature, “Lights of New York,” had its gala premiere in New York.

In 1945, President Harry S. Truman signed an executive order establishing the Medal of Freedom.

In 1957, Althea Gibson became the first black tennis player to win a Wimbledon singles title, defeating fellow American Darlene Hard 6-3, 6-2.

In 1988, 167 North Sea oil workers were killed when a series of explosions and fires destroyed a drilling platform.

In 1989, the U.S. Army destroyed its last Pershing IA missiles at an ammunition plant in Karnack, Texas, under terms of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

Ten years ago: Ehud Barak took office as prime minister of Israel, pledging to seek peace with neighboring Arab countries.

Five years ago: Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry chose former rival John Edwards to be his running mate. A U.S. fighter pilot who’d mistakenly bombed Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan in 2002, killing four, was found guilty in New Orleans of dereliction of duty; Maj. Harry Schmidt was reprimanded and docked a month’s pay.

One year ago: The U.S. launched an airstrike at combatants in Afghanistan’s Nuristan province; the Afghan government later said 47 civilians died. President George W. Bush arrived in Japan for his eighth and final G8 summit, where he emphasized the urgency of providing aid to Africa. Rafael Nadal won a riveting five-set Wimbledon final, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7, denying Roger Federer a sixth straight title in a match that lasted 4 hours, 48 minutes.