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On This Day: Comaneci earns first 10 in Olympics gymnastics

On July 18, 1976, Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci became the first person in Olympic Games history to be awarded the score of a perfect 10 in gymnastics.

By UPI Staff
Romania's Nadia Comaneci, 14, won three gold metals and received seven perfect scores at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. The multiple exposure traces her gold metal balance beam routine. She earned the first perfect score in modern Olympics on July 18, 1976. Photo by Darryl Heikes/UPI
1 of 4 | Romania's Nadia Comaneci, 14, won three gold metals and received seven perfect scores at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. The multiple exposure traces her gold metal balance beam routine. She earned the first perfect score in modern Olympics on July 18, 1976. Photo by Darryl Heikes/UPI

July 18 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1925, Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf was published.

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In 1939, after a sneak preview of The Wizard of Oz, producers debated about removing one of the songs because it seemed to slow things down. The song: "Over the Rainbow."

In 1969, a car driven by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., plunged from a bridge into a tidal pond at Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts, killing his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne.

In 1976, Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci became the first person in Olympic Games history to be awarded the score of a perfect 10 in gymnastics.

In 1977, Vietnam was admitted to the United Nations.

In 1984, a gunman opened fire at a McDonald's restaurant in San Ysidro, Calif., killing 21 people.

In 1994, a car bombing in Buenos Aires killed about 100 people in or near a building that housed Jewish organizations.

In 2007, Michael Vick, quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League, was indicted on federal charges related to an illegal dogfighting operation. He was subsequently sentenced to 23 months in prison.

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File Photo by Haraz N. Ghanbari/UPI

In 2011, Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen took over as commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, vowing to keep "relentlessly pressuring the enemy." Allen replaced Army Gen. David Petraeus, who became director of the CIA.

In 2012, victims of a suicide bomb at Syria's National Security Bureau included Defense Minister Daoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Assef Shawkat (President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law), former Defense Minister Hassan Turkomani and NSB chief Hisham Ikhtiar.

In 2013, Detroit became the largest U.S.city to file for bankruptcy.

In 2014, in a unanimous vote, the U.S. Sentencing Commission approved guidelines under which 46,000 imprisoned federal drug offenders were eligible for reduced sentences.

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