Today is Wednesday, July 29, the 210th day of 2026. There are 155 days left in the year.
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Today in history:
On July 29, 2016, former suburban Chicago police officer Drew Peterson was given an additional 40 years in prison for trying to hire someone to kill the prosecutor who put him behind bars for killing his third wife.
Also on this date:
In 1836, the newly completed Arc de Triomphe was inaugurated in Paris.
In 1858, the United States and Japan signed the Harris Treaty, formalizing diplomatic relations and trading rights between the two countries.
In 1890, artist Vincent van Gogh, 37, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in Auvers-sur-Oise, France.
In 1914, transcontinental telephone service in the U.S. became operational with the first test conversation between New York and San Francisco.
In 1921, Adolf Hitler became the leader of the National Socialist German Workers’ (Nazi) Party.
In 1954, the first volume of JRR Tolkien’s novel “The Lord of the Rings” (“The Fellowship of the Ring”) was published.
In 1957, the International Atomic Energy Agency was established.
In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, creating NASA.
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In 1967, an accidental rocket launch on the deck of the supercarrier USS Forrestal in the Gulf of Tonkin resulted in a fire and explosions that killed 134 service members.
In 1981, Britain’s Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in a glittering ceremony at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. (They divorced in 1996.)
In 1986, a federal jury in New York found that the National Football League had committed an antitrust violation against the rival United States Football League, but the jury ordered the NFL to pay token damages of just three dollars.
In 1994, abortion opponent Paul Hill shot and killed Dr. John Bayard Britton and Britton’s escort, James H. Barrett, outside the Ladies Center clinic in Pensacola, Florida.
In 1999, a former day trader, apparently upset over stock losses, opened fire in two Atlanta brokerage offices, killing nine people and wounding 13 before shooting himself; authorities said Mark O. Barton had also killed his wife and two children.
In 2021, a newly arrived Russian science lab briefly knocked the International Space Station out of position when it accidentally fired its thrusters. For 47 minutes, the space station lost control of its orientation when the firing occurred after docking, altering a key position for communications and for getting power from its solar panels.
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Today’s Birthdays:
- Former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum-Baker is 94.
- Former Sen. Elizabeth H. Dole is 90.
- Artist Jenny Holzer is 76.
- Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns is 73.
- Style guru Tim Gunn is 73.
- Rock singer-musician Geddy Lee (Rush) is 73.
- Rock singer Patti Scialfa (Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band) is 73.
- Actor Alexandra Paul is 63.
- Country singer Martina McBride is 60.
- Actor Wil Wheaton is 54.
- R&B singer Wanya Morris (Boyz II Men) is 53.
- Actor Stephen Dorff is 53.
- Actor Josh Radnor is 52.
- Hip-hop DJ/music producer Danger Mouse is 49.
- NFL quarterback Dak Prescott is 33.
