UPI Almanac for Friday, July 9, 2021

Today is Friday, July 9, the 190th day of 2021 with 175 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include actor/singer Ed Ames in 1927 (age 94); former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in 1932; English artist David Hockney in 1937 (age 84); actor Brian Dennehy in 1938; actor Richard Roundtree in 1942 (age 79); writer Dean R. Koontz in 1945 (age 76); rock singer Bon Scott in 1946; football star/actor/convict O.J. Simpson in 1947 (age 74); former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in 1950 (age 71); actor Chris Cooper in 1951 (age 70); entertainer John Tesh in 1952 (age 69); actor Jimmy Smits in 1955 (age 66); actor Lisa Banes in 1955; businessman/reality star Kevin O'Leary in 1954 (age 67); actor Tom Hanks in 1956 (age 65); actor Kelly McGillis in 1957 (age 64); musician Courtney Love in 1964 (age 57); musician Jack White in 1975 (age 46); actor Fred Savage in 1976 (age 45); actor Ruairi O'Connor in 1991 (age 31); actor Mitchel Musso in 1991 (age 30); actor Douglas Booth in 1992 (age 29); actress Georgie Henley in 1995 (age 26).

On this date in history:

In 1850, U.S. President Zachary Taylor died suddenly of cholera. He was succeeded by Millard Fillmore.

In 1868, the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship and all people in the United States due process under the law.

In 1877, the first Wimbledon tennis tournament was contested at the All-England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club.

In 1893, Chicago surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams performed the first successful open-heart surgery.

In 1943, U.S., Canadian and British forces invaded Sicily during World War II.

In 1960, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev threatened the United States with rockets if U.S. forces attempted to oust the communist government of Cuba.

In 1982, a Pan Am Boeing 727 jetliner crashed in Kenner, La., shortly after takeoff from New Orleans, killing 154 people.

In 1992, Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Clinton picked U.S. Sen. Al Gore, D-Tenn., as his running mate.

In 1993, British and Russian scientists identify the remains of the last Russian czar's family found in a shallow grave in Yekaterinburg two years before.

In 2004, a report by the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence accused the CIA and other intelligence agencies of producing false and misleading pre-war information about Iraq's weapons program.

In 2006, a S7 Airlines Airbus from Moscow taking children to a vacation area in Siberia crashed, killing about 120 of the 203 people aboard.

In 2011, after more than half a century of struggle and violence that claimed an estimated 2 million lives, the Republic of South Sudan declared its independence from Sudan and became Africa's 54th nation.

In 2017, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over the Islamic State militant group in Mosul after months of fighting.

In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a large swath of eastern Oklahoma is still considered Muscogee (Creek) Nation reservation, meaning state prosecutors don't have authority to pursue cases against American Indians there.

A thought for the day: "If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in." -- American conservationist Rachel Carson