历史上的今天:07月20日

Today's Highlight in History:
On July 20th, 1969, "Apollo Eleven" astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon as they stepped out of their lunar module¹.
On this date:
In 1810, Colombia declared independence from Spain.

In 1861, the Congress of the Confederate States began holding sessions in Richmond, Virginia.

In 1871, British Columbia entered Confederation as a Canadian province.

In 1881, Sioux Indian leader Sitting Bull, a fugitive² since the Battle of the Little Big Horn, surrendered to federal troops.

In 1942, the first detachment of the Women's Army Auxiliary³ Corps⁴ -- later known as WACs -- began basic training at Fort Des Moines, Iowa.

In 1944, an attempt by a group of German officials to assassinate⁵ Adolf Hitler with a bomb failed as the explosion at Hitler's Rastenburg headquarters only wounded the Nazi⁶ leader.

In 1944, President Roosevelt was nominated for an unprecedented⁷ fourth term of office at the Democratic convention in Chicago.

In 1951, Jordan's King Abdullah Ibn Hussein was assassinated⁸ in Jerusalem.

In 1976, America's "Viking One" robot spacecraft made a successful, first-ever landing on Mars.

In 1982, Irish Republican Army bombs exploded in two London parks, killing⁹ eight British soldiers, along with seven horses belonging to the Queen's Household Cavalry¹⁰.

Ten years ago: Supreme¹¹ Court Justice William J. Brennan, one of the court's most liberal voices, announced he was stepping down. A federal appeals court set aside Oliver North's Iran-Contra convictions, reversing one outright¹².

Five years ago: Leaders of the University of California voted to drop affirmative action policies on admissions and hiring. Baseball Hall-of-Famers Duke Snider and Willie McCovey pleaded guilty in New York to tax evasion¹³.

One year ago: After 38 years at the bottom of the Atlantic, astronaut Gus Grissom's "Liberty Bell Seven" Mercury capsule was lifted to the surface.