Today in History

Today is Thursday, July 10, the 191st day of 2014. There are 174 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On July 10, 1999, the United States women’s soccer team won the World Cup, beating China 5-4 on penalty kicks after 120 minutes of scoreless play at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

On this date:

In 1509, theologian John Calvin, a key figure of the Protestant Reformation, was born in Noyon, Picardy, France.

In 1890, Wyoming became the 44th state.

In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson personally delivered the Treaty of Versailles (vehr-SY’) to the Senate and urged its ratification. (However, the Senate rejected it.)

In 1929, American paper currency was reduced in size as the government began issuing bills that were approximately 25 percent smaller.

In 1940, during World War II, the Battle of Britain began as Nazi forces began attacking southern England by air. (The Royal Air Force was ultimately victorious.)

In 1951, armistice talks aimed at ending the Korean War began at Kaesong.

In 1962, AT&T’s Telstar 1 communications satellite, capable of relaying television signals and telephone calls, was launched by NASA from Cape Canaveral.

In 1973, the Bahamas became fully independent after three centuries of British colonial rule. John Paul Getty III, the teenage grandson of the oil tycoon, was abducted in Rome by kidnappers who cut off his ear when his family was slow to meet their ranson demands; young Getty was released in December 1973 for nearly $3 million.

In 1985, the Greenpeace protest ship Rainbow Warrior was sunk with explosives in Auckland, New Zealand, by French intelligence agents; one activist was killed. Bowing to pressure from irate customers, the Coca-Cola Co. said it would resume selling old-formula Coke, while continuing to sell New Coke.

In 1989, Mel Blanc, the “man of a thousand voices,” including such cartoon characters as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig, died in Los Angeles at age 81.

In 1991, Boris N. Yeltsin took the oath of office as the first elected president of the Russian republic. President George H.W. Bush lifted economic sanctions against South Africa.

In 1994, in the first meeting of its kind, Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin joined leaders of the Group of Seven nations for political talks following their annual economic summit in Naples, Italy.

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush said in his weekly radio address that legalizing gay marriage would redefine the most fundamental institution of civilization, and that a constitutional amendment was needed to protect traditional marriage.

Five years ago: General Motors completed an unusually quick exit from bankruptcy protection with promises of making money and building cars people would be eager to buy. Pope Benedict XVI stressed the Catholic church’s opposition to abortion and embryonic stem-cell research in his first meeting with President Barack Obama at the Vatican. Embattled Illinois Sen. Roland Burris announced he would not run for a full term in 2010. Jonathan Sanchez pitched the majors’ first no-hitter of the season in San Francisco’s 8-0 win over the San Diego Padres. British conductor Sir Edward Downes, 85, almost blind and growing deaf, and his terminally ill wife, Joan, 74, ended their lives together at an assisted suicide clinic in Zurich, Switzerland.

One year ago: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv) pleaded not guilty in the Boston Marathon bombing in a seven-minute proceeding that marked his first appearance in public since his capture in mid-April 2013. In a first, the Navy succeeded in landing a drone the size of a fighter jet aboard an aircraft carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush, off the Virginia coast. David Ortiz doubled in his first at-bat to become baseball’s career leader in hits as a designated hitter and hit a two-run homer an inning later, leading the Boston Red Sox to an 11-4 victory over Seattle.

(Above Advance for Use Thursday, July 10)