July 12, Disco Demolition Night

Today is Friday, July 12, the 194th day of the yr 2024. There are 172 days left within the yr.

Today’s highlight of the story:

On July 12, 1979, in an offended response to the recognition of disco music, the Chicago White Sox held “Disco Demolition Night,” wherein a crate of disco records was blown up on the sector between games of a doubleheader. The ensuing riot and damage to the sector caused the White Sox to forfeit the second game.

Also on this date:

In 1543, the English King Henry VIII married his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr.

In 1812, U.S. forces under General William Hull invaded Canada against Great Britain in the course of the War of 1812. (However, Hull retreated to Detroit shortly thereafter.)

In 1862, in the course of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed a law authorizing the Army Medal of Honor.

In 1909, the House of Representatives and the Senate passed the sixteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, allowing for the creation of a federal income tax, and submitted it to the states. (It was declared ratified in February 1913.)

In 1962 the Rolling Stones played their first show on the Marquee Club in London.

In 1967, riots broke out in Newark, New Jersey, after police beat a black taxi driver. In the five days of violence that followed, 26 people were killed.

In 1984, Democratic presidential candidate Walter F. Mondale announced that he had chosen U.S. Representative Geraldine A. Ferraro of New York as his running mate. Ferraro was the primary woman to run for vp on a serious party ticket.

In 1991, Japanese professor Hitoshi Igarashi, who had translated Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, was found stabbed to death nine days after the novel's Italian translator was attacked in Milan.

In 1994, President Bill Clinton visited the eastern a part of Berlin during his visit to Germany. He was the primary US president since Harry Truman to accomplish that.

In 2003, the USS Ronald Reagan, the primary aircraft carrier named after a living president, was commissioned in Norfolk, Virginia.

A scathing 2012 report by former FBI Director Louis Freeh said the late Joe Paterno and other senior Pennsylvania State University officials swept child sex abuse allegations against Jerry Sandusky under the rug greater than a decade earlier to avoid negative publicity.

In 2022, Twitter sued Elon Musk to force him to finish its $44 billion acquisition of the social media company after Musk said he was backing out of his agreement to purchase the corporate. (He eventually became the owner of Twitter three months later.)

Today's birthdays:

• The author Delia Ephron is 80.
• Fitness guru Richard Simmons is 76.
• Singer Walter Egan is 76.
• Writer and producer Brian Grazer is 73.
• Actress Cheryl Ladd is 73.
• Gospel singer Ricky McKinnie (The Blind Boys of Alabama) is 72.
• Gospel singer Sandi Patty is 68.
• Actor Mel Harris is 68.
• World boxing champion Julio Cesar Chavez is 62.
• Rock singer Robin Wilson (Gin Blossoms) is 59.
• Actress Lisa Nicole Carson is 55.
• Figure skater and Olympic champion Kristi Yamaguchi is 53 years old.
• CBS news anchor Jeff Glor is 49.
• Actress Anna Friel is 48.
• R&B singer Tracie Spencer is 48.
• US Senator Kyrsten Sinema is 48.
• Actor Topher Grace is 46.
• Actress Michelle Rodriguez is 46.
• Country singer and musician Kimberly Perry (The Band Perry) is 41.
• Actress Natalie Martinez is 40.
• Actress Ta'Rhonda Jones is 36.
• Golfer Inbee Park is 36.
• Actress Rachel Brosnahan is 34.
• Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics Jordyn Wieber is 29.
• Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai is 27.
• NBA guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is 26.
• Football player Vinicius Junior is 24.