UPI Almanac for Monday, July 15, 2024

Today is Monday, July 15, the 197th day of 2024 with 169 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include artist Rembrandt van Rijn in 1606; Roman Catholic nun Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first U.S. citizen to be made a saint, in 1850; writer Iris Murdoch in 1919; Hassanal Bolkiah, sultan of Brunei, in 1946 (age 78); musician Linda Ronstadt in 1946 (age 78); musician Thomas "Artimus" Pyle (Lynyrd Skynyrd) in 1948 (age 76); Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, prime minister of United Arab Emirates, in 1949 (age 75); former pro wrestler/Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura in 1951 (age 73); actor Terry O'Quinn in 1952 (age 72); musician Marky Ramone in 1952 (age 72); actor Celia Imrie in 1952 (age 72); musician Ian Curtis (Joy Division) in 1956; musician Joe Satriani in 1956 (age 68); musician Lyman "Mac" McAnally in 1957 (age 67); actor/filmmaker Forest Whitaker in 1961 (age 63); actor Brigitte Nielsen in 1963 (age 61); TV show host Adam Savage in 1967 (age 57); actor Eddie Griffin in 1968 (age 56); actor Jim Rash in 1971 (age 53); actor Scott Foley in 1972 (age 52); musician John Dolmayan (System of a Down) in 1972 (age 52); actor Brian Austin Green in 1973 (age 51); actor Diane Kruger in 1976 (age 48); comedian Gabriel Iglesias in 1976 (age 48); actor Lana Parrilla in 1977 (age 47); musician Ray Toro (My Chemical Romance) in 1977 (age 47); actor Travis Fimmel in 1979 (age 45); actor Laura Benanti in 1979 (age 45); actor Taylor Kinney in 1981 (age 43); actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in 1986 (age 38); actor Aimee Carrero in 1988 (age 36); actor/musician Tristan Wilds in 1989 (age 35); actor Mason Dye in 1994 (age 30); actor Iain Armitage in 2008 (age 16).

On this date in history:

In 1799, a French soldier discovered the Rosetta Stone, an ancient stele that served as the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics. Now housed in the British Museum, Egypt has sought for decades the artifact's repatriation.

In 1806, Zebulon Pike began an expedition to explore the American Southwest.

In 1907, three organizations -- the Publishers Press Association, the Scripps-McRae Press Association and the Scripps News Associations -- joined to form United Press, which would eventually become United Press International. The wire service started business with 460 newspaper clients, of which 400 were evening newspapers and 60 were Sunday morning newspapers.

In 1912, the U.S. Olympic team, led by all-round athlete Jim Thorpe, took more medals than any other country at the Summer Games in Stockholm, Sweden.

In 1945, Italy declared war on Japan, its former Axis partner.

In 1965, the unmanned spacecraft Mariner 4 passed over Mars at an altitude of 6,000 feet and sent the first close-up images of the planet to Earth.

In 1968, a Soviet Aeroflot jetliner landed at New York's JFK Airport, marking the beginning of direct commercial flights between the United States and the Soviet Union.

In 1968, daytime soap opera One Life to Live premiered on ABC. In its 45-year run, the television series racked up dozens of Daytime Emmy Awards, including six for actor Erika Slezak.

In 1992, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton was nominated as the Democratic Party's candidate for president.

In 1997, Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace was shot to death in front of his Miami mansion. The prime suspect was Andrew Cunanan, already wanted in four other slayings. He was found dead a week later, an apparent suicide.

In 2002, John Walker Lindh, a 21-year-old American captured by the U.S. military in Afghanistan while with Taliban forces, admitted he had fought as a soldier with them. After cooperating in the investigation of the terrorist network, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was released from prison in May 2019.

In 2009, Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran bound for Armenia. Officials said 168 people were killed.

In 2010, BP, the London energy company, announced it had capped its crippled underwater well that sent millions of barrels of crude gushing into the Gulf of Mexico over the previous three months after an offshore drilling rig explosion and fire killed 11 workers and unleashed an unchecked torrent from the depths.

In 2018, Serbian Novak Djokovic beat South African Kevin Anderson in the 2018 Wimbledon final, winning his 13th career Grand Slam. It was his fourth Wimbledon win.

A thought for the day: "It has often been said that power corrupts. But it is perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts. Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many. Hatred, malice, rudeness, intolerance and suspicion are the faults of weakness." -- American philosopher Eric Hoffer