Today is Tuesday, July 29, the 210th day of 2025
with 155 to follow.
The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Venus. Evening stars are Mars, Mercury, Neptune and Saturn.
On this date in history:
In 1588, off the coast of Gravelines, France, Spain's "Invincible Armada" was defeated by an English naval force under the command of Charles Howard and Francis Drake.
In 1794, the first African Methodist Episcopal Church, Mother Bethel, was dedicated in Philadelphia. The church was founded by Black members of St. George's Methodist Church who left the congregation due to racial segregation at the church.
In 1848, at the height of the potato famine in Ireland, an abortive nationalist revolt against English rule was crushed by government police in Tipperary.
In 1900, Italian King Umberto I was shot to death by Gaetano Bresci, an Italian-born anarchist who resided in the United States before returning to his homeland to kill the king.
In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration -- NASA.
In 1967, a fire aboard the USS Forrestal killed 134 U.S. service members and injured another 161. The super carrier was in the Gulf of Tonkin launching aircraft in missions against targets in North Vietnam.
In 1976, David Berkowitz, the so-called "Son of Sam," fatally shot two people in the Bronx, the first in a series of shootings that would terrorize New York City for months. Berkowitz pleaded guilty to the murders and was sentenced to more than 300 years in prison.
In 1981, British Prince Charles, son of the queen, married Diana Spencer at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. The royal couple divorced in 1996 after having two sons.
In 1999, a federal judge in Little Rock, Ark., fined U.S. President Bill Clinton $89,000 for lying about his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky in his deposition in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.
In 2004, Democrats nominated Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts to oppose Republican incumbent George W. Bush in the November presidential election.
In 2008, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, was indicted by a federal grand jury on seven felony counts accusing him of failing to disclose gifts from an oil services company. Stevens died in a 2010 plane crash.
In 2019, "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus broke the record for longest-running Billboard Hot 100 No. 1. The previous record was set by Mariah Carey's "One Sweet Day."
In 2024, a 17-year-old attacked young girls at a dance studio in Southport, England, killing three children and injuring 10 others. The perpetrator, Axel Rudakubana, pleaded guilty to murder charges and was sentenced to life in prison.
