UPI Almanac for Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Today is Wednesday, July 28, the 209th day of 2021 with 156 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include author Beatrix Potter in 1866; suffragist Lucy Burns in 1879; French surrealist artist Marcel Duchamp in 1887; singer/actor/band leader Rudy Vallee in 1901; Tupperware founder Earl Tupper in 1907; former U.S. first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in 1929; Bill Bradley, former U.S. senator/basketball Hall of Fame member, in 1943 (age 78); "Garfield" creator Jim Davis in 1945 (age 76); actor Sally Struthers in 1947 (age 74); actor Georgia Engel in 1948; former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in 1954; actor Lori Loughlin in 1964 (age 57); Dana White, Ultimate Fighting Championship president, in 1969 (age 52); actor Elizabeth Berkley in 1972 (age 49); rapper Afroman, born Joseph Edgar Foreman, in 1974 (age 47); Papa Roach singer Jacoby Shaddix in 1976 (age 45); actor John David Washington in 1984 (age 37); actor Nolan Gerard Funk in 1986 (age 35); rapper Soulja Boy, born DeAndre Cortez Way, in 1990 (age 31).

On this date in history:

In 1868, the ratified 14th Amendment was adopted into the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing citizenship and all its privileges to African Americans.

In 1917, thousands of Black Americans marched down New York City's Fifth Avenue as part of the so-called Silent Parade to protest racial violence.

In 1945, the United States approved the charter establishing the United Nations.

In 1945, a military plane crashed into the Empire State Building in New York City, killing 14 people and setting the building ablaze.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced he was dispatching 50,000 more U.S. troops to South Vietnam almost immediately, doubling monthly draft calls.

In 1976, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the Tangshan, China, area, killing more than 240,000 people. It was among the deadliest quakes in recorded history.

In 1984, U.S. President Ronald Reagan opened the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. A Soviet-led bloc of 15 nations, as well as Iran, Libya, Albania and Bolivia, boycotted the Games.

In 1990, the collision of a freighter and two barges spilled 500,000 gallons of oil in the Houston Ship Channel near Galveston, Texas.

In 2003, J.P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup, the two largest U.S. banks, agreed to pay nearly $300 million in fines and penalties to settle charges they had aided Enron in deceiving investors.

In 2010, a plane flying in intense fog and rain to Islamabad crashed in the Himalayan foothills near its destination, killing all 152 people aboard.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first woman to accept a presidential nomination from a major U.S. political party. She edged out fellow Democratic contender Bernie Sanders, but lost the general election to Republican Donald Trump.

In 2019, 16-year-old Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf became the first Fortnite World Cup champion. His $3 million cash prize was the largest payout ever for a single player in an esports tournament.

In 2020, the MLB postponed the Miami Marlins' next six games because of the team's outbreak of COVID-19 virus.

A thought for the day: "I had felt for a long time, that if I was ever told to get up so a white person could sit, that I would refuse to do so." -- American civil rights activist Rosa Parks