1 of 3 | Members of the emergency services work at the site of a train accident near Sainthia station in India on July 19 2010. File Photo by Piyal Adhikary/EPA
Today is Saturday, July 19, the 202nd day of 2025 with 165 to follow.
The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Venus. Evening stars are Mars, Mercury, Neptune and Saturn.
Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include inventor Samuel Colt in 1814; artist Edgar Degas in 1834; famed murder suspect Lizzie Borden in 1860; physician Charles H. Mayo in 1865; musician Florence Foster Jenkins in 1868; former CIA agent/writer Philip Agee in 1935; musician Vikki Carr in 1941 (age 84); actor George Dzundza in 1945 (age 80); International Tennis Hall of Fame member/politician Ilie Năstase in 1946 (age 79); musician Bernie Leadon (Eagles) in 1947 (age 78); musician Brian May (Queen) in 1947 (age 78); businessman Howard Schultz in 1953 (age 72); filmmaker Atom Egoyan in 1960 (age 65); musician Kevin Haskins (Bauhaus) in 1960 (age 65); actor Campbell Scott in 1961 (age 64); actor Anthony Edwards in 1962 (age 63); sportscaster Stuart Scott in 1965; actor Clea Lewis in 1965 (age 60); TV personality Chris Kratt in 1969 (age 56); New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in 1970 (age 55); musician Urs Buhler (Il Divo) in 1971 (age 54); musician Jason McGerr (Death Cab for Cutie) in 1974 (age 51); actor Benedict Cumberbatch in 1976 (age 49); actor Vinessa Shaw in 1976 (age 49); actor Chris Sullivan in 1980 (age 45); actor Jared Padalecki in 1982 (age 43); actor Trai Byers in 1983 (age 42); actor Ryan Dorsey in 1983 (age 42); comedian/actor James Austin Johnson in 1989 (age 36); actor Steven Anthony Lawrence in 1990 (age 35); model Romee Strijd in 1995 (age 30).
On this date in history:
In 1848, “bloomers,” a radical departure in women’s clothing, were introduced to the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, N.Y. They were named after Amelia Jenks Bloomer.
In 1911, Pennsylvania became the first U.S. state to pass laws censoring movies.
In 1943, U.S. planes bombed key railway, steel factory and airport targets in Rome, killing thousands of civilians as part of World War II.
In 1946, Marilyn Monroe was given her first screen test at Twentieth Century-Fox Studios. Even without sound, the test was enough to earn Monroe her first contract. She divorced her first husband, James Dougherty, he told UPI, because of a no-marriage clause in the contract.
In 1969, John Fairfax of Britain arrived at Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to become the first person to row across the Atlantic alone.
In 1989, a crippled DC-10 jetliner crash-landed in a cornfield in Sioux City, Iowa. One-hundred-eighty-five of the 296 people aboard survived.
In 1991, boxer Mike Tyson raped a contestant in the Miss Black America pageant in Indianapolis. He pleaded not guilty to the charge, but was convicted in 1992.
In 1993, President Bill Clinton announced its “don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t pursue” policy toward homosexuals in the U.S. military. The policy was lifted in 2011.
In 1996, the Summer Olympics opened in Atlanta with a record 197 countries taking part.
In 1997, the IRA declared a cease-fire in its long war to force Britain out of Northern Ireland.
In 2005, U.S. Appeals Court Judge John Roberts was nominated by President George W. Bush to the U.S. Supreme Court, replacing Sandra Day O’Connor, who resigned. After the death of William Rehnquist, Roberts’ nomination was changed to make him chief justice.
In 2007, on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average closed at more than 14,000 for the first time.
In 2010, a speeding express train slammed into the rear of a train preparing to leave a West Bengal station in India, killing more than 60 people and injuring about 100 others.
In 2012, the U.S. Defense Department said military personnel would be permitted to march in uniform in a San Diego Gay Pride Parade.
In 2018, Israel passed a law declaring the country a Jewish nation-state, giving only Jewish people self-determination. A month later, tens of thousands protested the controversial law in Tel Aviv, calling it a form of apartheid.
In 2024, an error caused by a CrowdStrike cybersecurity software update crippled emergency services, air travel, television and public infrastructure worldwide.
A thought for the day: “When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live and in the manner in which you live.” — American journalist Stuart Scott
