Flashback
Today is Saturday, July 1, the 182nd day of 2006. There are 183 days left in the year. This is Canada Day.
Today’s highlight in history: On July 1, 1946, the United States exploded a 20-kiloton atomic bomb near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.
On this date:
In 1863, the Civil War Battle of Gettysburg began.
In 1867, Canada became a self-governing dominion of Great Britain as the British North America Act took effect.
In 1898, during the Spanish-American War, Theodore Roosevelt and his “Rough Riders” waged a victorious assault on San Juan Hill in Cuba.
In 1916, Dwight D. Eisenhower married Mary (“Mamie”) Geneva Doud in Denver.
In 1961, Diana, the princess of Wales, was born near Sandringham, England. (She died in a 1997 car crash in Paris at age 36.)
In 1966, the Medicare federal insurance program went into effect.
In 1968, the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union and 58 other nations signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
In 1980, “O Canada” was proclaimed the national anthem of Canada.
In 1991, President Bush nominated federal appeals court judge Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court, beginning a confirmation process marked by allegations of sexual harassment.
In 1991, actor Michael Landon died in Malibu, Calif., at age 54.
Ten years ago: President Clinton declared an emergency in drought-stricken parts of the Southwest. Actress Margaux Hemingway was found dead in her Santa Monica, Calif., apartment; she was 41.
Five years ago: Vice President Dick Cheney rested at home, a day after having a new pacemaker implanted in his chest. The National Organization for Women announced in Philadelphia that delegates had chosen Kim A. Gandy to be their new president, succeeding Patricia Ireland.
One year ago: Justice Sandra Day O’Connor unexpectedly announced her retirement from the Supreme Court. A U.S. airstrike in eastern Afghanistan resulted in casualties; Afghan officials said 48 people were killed, including 25 members of an extended family attending a wedding celebration; U.S. officials later confirmed 34 dead. Rhythm-and-blues singer Luther Vandross died in Edison, N.J., at age 54.