Today in History (07 JULY 2008)

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Events
1456 - A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death.
1534 - European colonization of the Americas: first known exchange between Europeans and natives of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in New Brunswick.
1543 - French troops invade Luxembourg.
1585 - Treaty of Nemours abolishes tolerance to Protestants in France.
1777 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Hubbardton
1798 - Quasi-War: the U.S. Congress rescinds treaties with France sparking the 'war.'
1799 - Ranjit Singh's men take up their positions outside Lahore.
1807 - Napoleonic Wars: Peace of Tilsit between France, Prussia and Russia ends the Fourth Coalition.
1846 - Mexican-American War: American troops occupy Monterey and Yerba Buena, thus beginning the United States conquest of California.
1863 - United States begins first military draft; exemptions cost $100
1865 - American Civil War: four conspirators in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln are hanged.
1892 - Katipunan: the Revolutionary Philippine Brotherhood is established leading to the fall of the Spanish Empire in Asia.
1898 - President William McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution annexing Hawaii as a territory of the United States.
1915 - World War I: end of First Battle of the Isonzo.
1915 - A Great Gorge and International Railway trolley with an extreme overload of 157 passengers crashes near Queenston, Ontario, killing 15.
1917 - Russian Revolution: Prince Georgy Yevgenyevich Lvov forms Provisional Government in Russia after the deposing of the Tsar Nicholas II.
1930 - Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser begins construction of the Boulder Dam (now known as Hoover Dam).
1937 - Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Lugou Bridge - Japanese forces invade Beijing, China.
1941 - World War II: U.S. forces land in Iceland to forestall an invasion by Germany.
1941 - World War II: Beirut is occupied by Free France and British troops.
1946 - Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini becomes the first American to be canonized.
1946 - Howard Hughes nearly dies when his XF-11 spy plane prototype crashes in a Beverly Hills neighborhood.
1947 - Alleged and disputed Roswell UFO incident.
1953 - Che Guevara sets out on a trip through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador.
1954 - Formation of the TANU in Tanzania
1956 - Fritz Moravec reaches the peak of Gasherbrum II (8,035 m).
1958 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Alaska Statehood Act into United States law.
1959 - 14:28 UT Venus occults the star Regulus. This rare event was used to determine the diameter of Venus and the structure of the Venusian atmosphere.
1967 - Beginning of the civil war in Biafra.
1969 - In Canada, the Official Languages Act is adopted making the French language equal to the English language throughout the Federal government.
1978 - The Solomon Islands become independent from the United Kingdom.
1980 - Institution of sharia in Iran.
1980 - The Safra massacre in Lebanon.
1983 - Cold War: Samantha Smith, a U.S. schoolgirl, flies to the Soviet Union at the invitation of Secretary General Yuri Andropov.
1991 - Yugoslav Wars: the Brioni Agreement ends the ten-day independence war in Slovenia against the rest of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
2002 - A scandal breaks out in the United Kingdom when news reports accuse MI6 of sheltering Abu Qatada, the supposed European Al Qaeda leader.
2003 - The United Communist Party of Armenia is formed.
2005 - A series of four terrorist explosions occur on London's transport system killing 56 people, including four suicide bombers.
2005 - Influenced by Live 8, the G8 leaders pledge to double 2004 levels of aid to Africa from US$25 to US$50 billion by the year 2010.
2007 - Pope Benedict XVI issues the Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum, removing restrictions on celebrating the old Tridentine Mass.
2007 - Worldwide performances by charity event Live Earth.

Births
1960 - Kevin A. Ford, American astronaut
1963 - Vonda Shepard, American singer
1965 - Paula Devicq, Canadian actress
1965 - Mo Collins, American actress
1965 - Jeremy Kyle, English television presenter
1966 - Jim Gaffigan, American comedian
1966 - Gundula Krause, German folk violinist
1966 - Neil Tobin, American magician
1967 - Tom Kristensen, Danish race car driver
1967 - Jackie Neal, American singer (d. 2005)
1968 - Amy Carlson, American actress
1968 - Jorja Fox, American actress
1968 - Jeff VanderMeer, American writer
1969 - Sylke Otto, German luger
1969 - Joe Sakic, Canadian ice hockey player
1969 - Nathalie Simard, French Canadian singer
1969 - Cree Summer, Canadian voice actress
1969 - Robin Weigert, American actress
1970 - Wayne McCullough, Irish boxer
1970 - Erik Zabel, German cyclist
1970 - Robia LaMorte, American actress and dancer
1971 - Alistair Potts, British rower
1972 - Lisa Leslie, American basketball player
1972 - Manfred Stohl, Austrian rally driver
1973 - Troy Garity, American actor
1973 - José Jiménez, Dominican baseball player
1973 - Matt Mantei, American baseball player
1973 - Kārlis Skrastiņš, Latvian ice hockey player
1973 - Natsuki Takaya, Japanese manga-ka
1974 - Patrick Lalime, Canadian ice hockey player
1975 - Tony Benshoof, American luger
1975 - Michael Voss, Australian rules footballer
1976 - Dominic Foley, Irish footballer
1977 - Felix Vasquez, New York City Housing Authority employee
1979 - Anastasios Gousis, Greek sprinter
1979 - Carl Breeze, British racing driver
1980 - John Buck, American baseball player
1980 - Deidre Downs, American beauty queen
1980 - Michelle Kwan, American figure skater
1980 - Kaisa Jouhki, Finnish vocalist (Battlelore)
1980 - Dan Whitesides, American drummer (The Used)
1981 - Synyster Gates, American guitarist (Avenged Sevenfold)
1981 - Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Indian cricketer
1982 - Cassidy, American rapper
1982 - Mike Glita, American bassist (Senses Fail)
1982 - George Owu, Ghanaian footballer
1983 - Justin Davies, Australian rules footballer
1983 - D. Woods, American singer (Danity Kane)
1984 - Minas Alozidis, Greek hurdler
1984 - Mohammad Ashraful, Bangladeshi cricketer
1984 - Marie-Mai, Canadian singer
1987 - Lena Ma, Miss World Canada 4th runner-up
1988 - Kaci Brown, American singer
1989 - Giannoulis Fakinos, Greek footballer

Deaths
1971 - Claude Gauvreau, Canadian writer (b. 1925)
1971 - Ub Iwerks, American artist, director, and cartoonist (b1901)
1972 - Athenagoras, Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 1886)
1972 - King Talal of Jordan (b. 1909)
1973 - Max Horkheimer, German philosopher and sociologist (b. 1895)
1973 - Veronica Lake, American actress (b. 1919)
1975 - Ruffian, American thoroughbred racehorse (b. 1972)
1976 - Walter Giesler, American soccer coach (b. 1910)
1980 - Dore Schary, American film producer and writer (b. 1905)
1981 - Mildred Lisette Norman a.k.a. Peace Pilgrim, American pacifist and activist
1984 - Carl Boenish, American father of BASE jumping (b. 1941)
1990 - Bill Cullen, American game show host (b. 1920)
1990 - Cazuza, Brazilian poet, singer and composer (b. 1958)
1993 - Mia Zapata, American singer with The Gits (b. 1965)
1994 - Carlo Chiti, Italian race car engineer (b. 1924)
1994 - Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte, German Luftwaffe Officer (b. 1907)
2000 - Kenny Irwin, Jr., American race car driver (b. 1969)
2001 - Fred Neil, American singer-songwriter (b. 1936)
2002 - Bison Dele, American basketball player (b. 1969)
2003 - Izhak Graziani, Bulgarian-born conductor (b. 1924)
2006 - Juan de Ávalos, Spanish sculptor (b. 1911)
2006 - Syd Barrett, original guitarist and vocalist of the band Pink Floyd (b. 1946)
2006 - John Money, Sexologist (b. 1921)