UPI Almanac for Thursday, July 21, 2016

Today is Thursday, July 21, the 203rd day of 2016 with 163 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Neptune and Uranus. Evening stars are Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include composer Chauncey Olcott ("When Irish Eyes Are Smiling") in 1858; author Ernest Hemingway in 1899; poet Hart Crane in 1899; Canadian communications theorist Marshall McLuhan in 1911; violinist Isaac Stern in 1920; singer Kay Starr in 1922 (age 94); producer Norman Jewison in 1926 (age 90); actor/comedian Don Knotts in 1924; former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno in 1938 (age 78); actor Edward Herrmann in 1943; singer Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, in 1948 (age 68); cartoonist Garry Trudeau in 1948 (age 68); actor/comedian Robin Williams in 1951; actor Jon Lovitz in 1957 (age 59).

On this date in history:

In 1861, the first major military engagement of the Civil War occurred at Bull Run Creek, Va.

In 1925, the so-called Monkey Trial, which pitted Clarence Darrow against William Jennings Bryan in Dayton, Tenn., in one of the great confrontations in legal history, ended with John Thomas Scopes convicted and fined $100 for teaching evolution in violation of state law.

In 1969, U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, lifted off from the moon in the Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle and docked with the command module Columbia piloted by Michael Collins.

In 1970, after 11 years of construction, the massive Aswan High Dam across the Nile River in Egypt was completed, ending the cycle of flood and drought in the Nile River region but triggering an environmental controversy.

In 2000, a report from special counsel John Danforth cleared U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and the government of wrongdoing in the April 19, 1993, fire that ended the Branch Davidian siege near Waco, Texas.

In 2007, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh and final installment in the best-selling series, sold more than 8.3 million copies on its first day in bookstores.

In 2011, Greece continued efforts to climb out of a financial chasm with a second bailout pledge from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund worth $157 billion. Earlier, the nation dealt with its debt crisis with the help of a $146 billion loan package.

In 2012, Staff Sgt. Luis A. Walker, a U.S. Air Force boot camp instructor convicted of sexual offenses, including rape, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The victims were female trainees.

In 2013, Phil Mickelson, five shots back starting the final round, birdied four of his last six holes, shot a 5-under-par 66 and won the British Open at Muirfield in Scotland -- his fifth Grand Slam title.

In 2014, former Army Staff Sgt. Ryan M. Pitts of New Hampshire was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama in a ceremony at the White House. Pitts was honored for his heroism in a fierce battle in which nine other soldiers were killed in the war in Afghanistan. "Valor was everywhere that day and the real heroes are the nine men who made the ultimate sacrifice so the rest of us could come home," Pitts said.

A thought for the day: John Wayne said, "Talk low, talk slow -- and don't say too much."