This Day In History: July 30

Today's Highlight in History:
On July 30, 1945, during World War II, the battle cruiser USS Indianapolis, which had just delivered components for the atomic bomb that would be dropped on Hiroshima, was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine; only 316 out of some 1,200 men survived the sinking and shark-infested waters.

On this date:
In 1619, the first representative assembly in America convened in Jamestown, Va.

In 1729, the city of Baltimore was founded.

In 1792, the French national anthem "La Marseillaise," by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, was first sung in Paris by troops arriving from Marseille.

In 1864, during the Civil War, Union forces tried to take Petersburg, Va., by exploding a gunpowder-filled mine under Confederate defense lines; the attack failed.

In 1908, the first round-the-world automobile race, which had begun in New York in February, ended in Paris with the drivers of the American car, a Thomas Flyer, declared the winners over teams from Germany and Italy.

In 1918, poet Joyce Kilmer, a sergeant in the 165th U.S. Infantry Regiment, was killed during the Second Battle of the Marne in World War I. (Kilmer is perhaps best remembered for his poem "Trees.")

In 1932, the Summer Olympic Games opened in Los Angeles.

In 1942, President Roosevelt signed a bill creating a women's auxiliary agency in the Navy known as "Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service" — WAVES for short.

In 1965, President Johnson signed into law the Medicare bill, which went into effect the following year.

In 1975, former Teamsters union president Jimmy Hoffa disappeared in suburban Detroit — although presumed dead, his remains have never been found.

Ten years ago: Japan's Parliament declared Keizo Obuchi the country's next prime minister. "Buffalo Bob" Smith, the cowboy-suited host of "The Howdy Doody Show," died in Hendersonville, N.C., at age 80. A group of 13 Ohio machinists stepped forward to claim the $295.7 million Powerball jackpot. (The workers opted to take the cash option — one payment of about $161.5 million.)

Five years ago: In his State of the Union address, President Bush took personal responsibility for the first time for using disputed intelligence, but predicted he would be vindicated for going to war against Iraq. Iraq's U.S.-picked interim government named its first president: Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite Muslim from a party banned by Saddam Hussein. Sun Records founder Sam Phillips, who discovered Elvis Presley, died in Memphis, Tenn., at age 80.

One year ago: President Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, meeting at Camp David, forged a unified stand on Iraq. Chief U.S. Justice John Roberts was taken to a hospital after a seizure caused him to fall on a dock near his summer home in Maine. A second South Korean hostage was slain by the Taliban in central Afghanistan. Death claimed Swedish movie director Ingmar Bergman at age 87; Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni at age 94; and Hall of Fame football coach Bill Walsh at age 75.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Richard Johnson is 81. Actor Edd "Kookie" Byrnes is 75. Blues musician Buddy Guy is 72. Movie director Peter Bogdanovich is 69. Feminist activist Eleanor Smeal is 69. Former U.S. Rep. Patricia Schroeder, D-Colo., is 68. Singer Paul Anka is 67. Jazz musician David Sanborn is 63. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is 61. Actor William Atherton is 61. Actor Jean Reno is 60. Blues singer-musician Otis Taylor is 60. Actor Frank Stallone is 58. Actor Ken Olin is 54. Actress Delta Burke is 52. Singer-songwriter Kate Bush is 50. Country singer Neal McCoy is 50. Actor Richard Burgi is 50. Director Richard Linklater is 48. Actor Laurence Fishburne is 47. Actress Lisa Kudrow is 45. Bluegrass musician Danny Roberts (The Grascals) is 45. Country musician Dwayne O'Brien is 44. Actress Vivica A. Fox is 44. Actor Terry Crews ("Everybody Hates Chris") is 40. Actor Simon Baker is 39. Movie director Christopher Nolan is 38. Actor Tom Green is 37. Rock musician Brad Hargreaves (Third Eye Blind) is 37. Actress Christine Taylor is 37. Actor-comedian Dean Edwards is 35. Actress Hilary Swank is 34. Actress Jaime Pressly is 31. Actress Yvonne Strahovski (TV: "Chuck") is 26.

Thought for Today: "The fellow who says he'll meet you halfway usually thinks he's standing on the dividing line." — O.A. Battista, Canadian-born author-scientist

Courtesy of Edwin1961 at the Catholic.com forums