Today is Tuesday, July 30, the 212th day of 2024. There are 154 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On July 30, 1976, Caitlyn Jenner, who was then known as Bruce Jenner, set a world record of 8,618 points and won the gold medal in the Olympic decathlon at the Montreal Summer Games.
Also on this date:
In 1619, the first representative assembly in Colonial America convened in Jamestown in the Virginia Colony.
In 1864, during the Civil War, Union forces tried to take Petersburg, Virginia, by exploding a gunpowder-laden mine shaft beneath Confederate defense lines; the attack failed.
In 1916, German saboteurs blew up a munitions plant on Black Tom, an island near Jersey City, New Jersey, killing about a dozen people.
In 1930, Uruguay won the first FIFA World Cup, defeating Argentina 4-2.
In 1945, the Portland class heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis, having just delivered components of the atomic bomb to Tinian in the Mariana Islands during World War II, was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine; only 316 out of nearly 1,200 service members survived.
In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a measure making “In God We Trust” the national motto, replacing “E Pluribus Unum.”
In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Social Security Amendments of 1965, which led to the creation of Medicare and Medicaid.
In 2008, ex-Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic (RA’-doh-van KA’-ra-jich) was extradited to The Hague to face genocide charges after nearly 13 years on the run. (He was sentenced by a U.N. court in 2019 to life imprisonment after being convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.)
In 2012, three electric grids in India collapsed in a cascade, cutting power to 620 million people in the world’s biggest blackout.
In 2013, U.S. Army Pfc. Chelsea Manning was acquitted of aiding the enemy — the most serious charge she faced — but was convicted of espionage, theft and other charges at Fort Meade, Maryland, more than three years after she’d spilled secrets to WikiLeaks. (The former intelligence analyst was later sentenced to up to 35 years in prison, but the sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama in his final days in office.)
In 2016, 16 people died when a hot air balloon caught fire and exploded after hitting high-tension power lines before crashing into a pasture near Lockhart, Texas, about 70 miles northeast of San Antonio.
Today’s Birthdays:
- Former Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig is 90.
- Blues musician Buddy Guy is 88.
- Singer Paul Anka is 83.
- Actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is 77.
- Actor Jean Reno is 76.
- Actor Ken Olin is 70.
- Actor Delta Burke is 68.
- Law professor Anita Hill is 68.
- Singer-songwriter Kate Bush is 66.
- Film director Richard Linklater is 64.
- Actor Laurence Fishburne is 63.
- TV personality Alton Brown is 62.
- Actor Lisa Kudrow is 61.
- Basketball Hall of Famer Chris Mullin is 61.
- Actor Vivica A. Fox is 60.
- Actor Terry Crews is 56.
- Actor Simon Baker is 55.
- Film director Christopher Nolan is 54.
- Actor Tom Green is 53.
- Actor Christine Taylor is 53.
- Actor Hilary Swank is 50.
- Olympic gold medal beach volleyball player Misty May-Treanor is 47.
- Actor Jaime Pressly is 47.
- Alt-country singer-musician Seth Avett (AY’-veht) is 44.
- Former soccer player Hope Solo is 43.
- Actor Yvonne Strahovski is 42.
- Actor Martin Starr is 42.
- Actor Gina Rodriguez is 40.
- Actor Nico Tortorella is 35.
- Actor Joey King is 25.
