Today is Wednesday, July 3, the 185th day of the yr 2024. There are 181 days left within the yr.
Today’s highlight of the story:
On July 3, 1863, the three-day, decisive Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania ended with a decisive victory for the North, as Confederate troops did not break through Union positions in an attack referred to as Pickett's Charge.
Also on this date:
In 1775, General George Washington took command of the Continental Army in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In 1944, during World War II, Soviet troops recaptured Minsk from the Germans.
In 1950, the primary carrier strikes of the Korean War occurred when the USS Valley Forge and HMS Triumph sent fighter planes against North Korean targets.
In 1971, singer Jim Morrison of The Doors died in Paris on the age of 27.
In 1979, Dan White was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison for manslaughter in reference to the shooting deaths of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone (née KOH) and City Councilman Harvey Milk.
In 1986, President Ronald Reagan presided over a gala ceremony in New York Harbor to relight the renovated Statue of Liberty.
In 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down an Iran Air passenger plane over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people on board.
In 2011, Novak Djokovic (NOH'-vak JOH'-kuh-vich) won his first Wimbledon, defeating defending champion Rafael Nadal.
In 2012, Andy Griffith, who made the down-to-earth wisdom of the American South his trademark because the smart sheriff on “The Andy Griffith Show,” died on the age of 86 in his home in North Carolina.
Today's birthdays:
- Playwright Tom Stoppard is 87.
- Attorney Gloria Allred is 83.
- Actor Kurtwood Smith is 81.
- Country singer Johnny Lee is 78.
- Humorist Dave Barry is 77.
- Actress Betty Buckley is 77.
- Talk show host Montel Williams is 68.
- Country singer Aaron Tippin is 66.
- Rock musician Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode, Yaz, Erasure) is 64.
- Actor Tom Cruise is 62.
- Actor Thomas Gibson is 62.
- Actress Connie Nielsen is 59.
- Actor Yeardley Smith is 60.
- Actress and singer Audra McDonald is 54.
- Teemu Selanne, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, is 54.
- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is 53.
- Actor Patrick Wilson is 51.
- Former mixed martial arts fighter Wanderlei Silva is 48.
- Actress Olivia Munn is 44.
- Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel is 37.
- Rock singer-songwriter Elle King is 35.
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