Good morning, today is Tuesday, July 31, 2012.
On this day in history...
1777: The Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, was made a major-general in the American Continental Army.
1875: Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States, died in Carter Station, Tenn., at age 66.
1914: The New York Stock Exchange closed due to the outbreak of World War I. (Trading didn't resume until December.)
1919: Germany's Weimar Constitution was adopted.
1972: Democratic vice-presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton withdrew from the ticket with George McGovern following disclosures that Eagleton had once undergone psychiatric treatment.
1977: The "Son of Sam" killer claimed his last victims when he shot and killed Stacy Moskowitz, 20, and seriously wounded her date as they sat in a parked car in Brooklyn, N.Y. (David Berkowitz was arrested less than two weeks later. He is serving six sentences of 25 years to life.)
1981: A seven-week strike by major league baseball players ended.
1990: Nolan Ryan became the 20th major league pitcher to win 300 games as his Texas Rangers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 11-3.
1995: Walt Disney Co. agreed to acquire Capital Cities-ABC Inc. in a $19 billion deal.
2007: The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a 26,000-strong peacekeeping force for Sudan's Darfur region.
2008: Scientists reported the Phoenix spacecraft had confirmed the presence of frozen water in Martian soil.
2009: Three American tourists were arrested by Iran on suspicion of espionage during what their families have said was a simple hiking trip along the Iraq-Iran border. (One was released on bail, the others remain in Iranian custody.)
Birthdays today: Author J.K. Rowling ("Harry Potter" books) turns 47 years old today, Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware turns 30 years old today, Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts, turns 56, Bill Berry, Rock musician (R.E.M.), turns 54, Wesley Snipes, Actor, turns 50, Fatboy Slim, Rock musician, turns 49, Annie Parisse, Actress ("Law and Order"), turns 37, B.J. Novak, Actor, writer ("The Office"), turns 33, and Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Tennis Hall of Famer, turns 61.
